I didn't even know Costco had cheaper gas! Its a good deal to shop there anyway, it's probably worth it if you shop and drive a lot (which is everyone).

I'll be trying this soon.

Penny pinching is no place for ethics. I'd save what, $1.80 on a fill up?

Kids! Daddy's super-sizing all the meals tonight!

Ethical considerations? On Consumerist? I think most people on here love to cheat "evil corporations". BTW, my nearest Costco is about 40 minutes away, so it's not worth it for me.

The store in Henderson Nevada it did not work at.
I pulled out my work AmEx card instead of my personal Costco one about a month ago on accident.

Costco is too far from my house to use on a regular basis for gas, but 2-3 times a month when I shop there I always fill up. Generally 8 cents cheaper then the average price around here.

The best is Mexican gas. Diesel fuel in Mexico is $2.21/gal.

Amex... count me out

Costco =/= "Evil Corporation"

It's definitely big, and I'm sure some of their business practices are less than perfect, but on the whole, they're a WONDERFUL company IMHO.

I have a membership. $50/year to save 10x that much? One pair of Lucky Jeans at Costco: $36. One pair of identical lucky jeans from "typical" retailer: $100. Plus their eggs are AMAZINGLY cheap - I get 3 dozen for right around $4 for the big good eggs vs $1.99 for one dozen crappy small eggs from other local retailers.

Definitely worth $50/year in my opinion.

And just my luck I dont have an american express card! I could never get approved for one back in the day (over 15 years ago) so I just gave up (And I have stellar credit).

If I had one I'd go for the costco gas... ethics-smethics.

Note: sadly, the nearest costco is about 30 miles away nowwhere near where I usually travel.

@ConsumptionJunkie: I think 7¢/gallon in Venezuela safely undercuts just about everyone.

Round here, Costco is only cheaper on Premium gas, which I don't use. Plus, my SO has a membership anyway... but I'll pass the info along.

Or, get a Costco gift card. Totally ethical. You can either buy it yourself (via a visitor's one day membership from the front desk) or have a friend pick it up for you. AFAIK you can have a minimal amount on the card, swipe it for your membership, and then pay with a debit or amex card.

Here in Hawaii, Costco gas saves 5 cents a gallon compared with the next cheapest stations. And no you can't just use your Amex card. I've tried it by mistake (instead of putting in my Costco card), and it didn't work.

Aloha, [beatofhawaii.com]

works in VA. i have a membership but i still do this trick since i dont carry my Costco card with me all the time.

Anyone consider this works in Maryland because of a state law, rather than an electronic glitch? In New Jersey, Costco sell liquor, but it has to sell that liquor to anyone, regardless of membership in a club. Perhaps the same is true in Maryland, but with gas.

Eh. CostCo gas used to save 5-15 cents per gallon, and probably still does if you live in the suburbs. I moved from M-59 and Garfield in Macomb Township, MI to Hazel Park, MI. The local CostCo sells gas for about 1-5 cents cheaper on good days, and more expensive by about the same margin on bad days then the station at 8 Mile and John R in my neighborhood.

This was the reason I didn't renew my membership.

As a note, you can also use an outdated CostCo card. I didn't have a membership for about a year once and still pulled in for cheaper gas, using my expired card. Not sure if this works with a cancelled membership, but I had no problem at multiple CostCo's around Detroit with the non-renewed card buying gas.

I have a Sam's membership, and it's usually a few cents cheaper than the other stations. It's even cheaper when you're a member (i.e., they'll sell to the general public at the advertised rates). I go because it's conveniently on my way home, but I'll buy gas just about anywhere I need it. Why? I've only got an 18 gallon tank. If I coast in on fumes, and the price difference is 10¢, that's only a friggin' $1.80. I see that people are shying away from premium lately. Around here, the typical spread is 10¢ higher for midgrade, and another 10¢ for premium (typically, that is, as there is some variation towards higher spreads). If you have a car that recommends (or requires) premium (mine does, but runs fine on regular), that's only $3.60 for a tank. As a percentage of price, premium has never, ever been cheaper than it is today. If your car can benefit (e.g., use the correct ignition timing and get more power and mpg), you should be thrilled to spend so little for the "upgrade."

How many have to have their two Starbucks coffees every day? Or buy impulse stuff needlessly? A few damned cents per gallon is nothing. Being willing to fraudulently purchase club-only gasoline to save a lousy dollar is the epitome of indecency.

@sicknick: LOL. I don't know if it's so at the pump, but my general experience with Sam's is they renew your card. It's part of the membership agreement. Not sure how that'd even work at the pump, though. But again at Sam's, if you don't use the card, you just pay the posted price.

@ianmac47: Same here in Michigan. Just tell the card-checker on the way in that you're buying booze if you just want to look around. Or buy booze.

@sicknick: The expired Card trick works in OR and WA.... uh... someone told me it does. ;)

@balthisar: How many have to have their two Starbucks coffees every day? Or buy impulse stuff needlessly? A few damned cents per gallon is nothing.

You're going on the assumption that most people have SOMETHING. Any extra money I can eek out so I can have ONE workday lunch a month that isn't "Cup of Noodles Ramen" is worth it. Go ahead and chide me for indulging in one luxury, if you can consider one fast food meal a luxury.

In NJ, it's illegal to offer lower gas prices with a paid membership, so the Costco gas prices are good for anyone, no matter how you want to pay.

In what way is this not theft? I thought getting what you paid for included paying for what you get. Some of you should be on the list of worst consumers in America. Save money, steal.

@creativecstasy: I misremembered (or it changed recently), and was going to say the Costco Cash gift card didn't work for gas, but I would have been wrong (a sad and rate happening). FWIW, the gift cards sell for over their value on eBay because of the savings on membership fees for those who only rarely shop Costco. (And who are therefore fools! fools! in my opinion.)

Some thoughts on Costco:

1) They do have fewer workers per customer and per sales volume than Wal-Mart, thus may expect more from them and so pay more. (The same is true of Sam's Club.)

2) The sample servers / product demonstrators you see are NOT Costco employees. I wonder what their pay and benefits look like.

3) If I were not a member, I think I would respect the "Members only" signage on every gas pump and gas price sign, and just take my business to Sam's Club which is near my nearest Costco with gas and often has the same price just for using a WM gift card.

I wondering if it would be economically practical to just take a tanker truck to Mexico and fill it up there.

Ethics? It's already been shown with the "get most foods free by saying you're not satisfied" a while ago that the Consumerist really doesn't care about ethics. Different people, different ethics.

@bohemian:

Not really since gas goes bad. Not sure what would happen if you used a gasoline stabilizer.

This seems like a pretty cut-and-dry case of Consumerist encouraging readers to defraud Costco.

Telling people how to find good deals is one thing, but how to exploit an oversight in a system to authenticate paying members? Going to far.

You may also want to consider what the true cost is (including cash back). One thing if you did not know is that Costco gas DOES NOT accept Visa/MC/Discover.

You can easily find a 5% cash back for gas via Visa/MC, but not particularly easy for Amex. Even the Costco Amex only gives 3% back (and if you already have the Costco Amex, why are you trying defraud it?)

A 2% difference on $4 gas 8cents. A 4% difference is 16cents.

Just FYI.

I used to buy all our gas with our Sam's membership, but with prices up we started only doing my wife's car on midgrade, which Sam's doesn't offer. And we found the new AMPM is cheaper anyway (half the time even with the $.49 debit surcharge, or we just swing by the bank on the way and grab $40 or $60 in cash and pay at the pump.)

@Clold:
@smarty:
@Panamapeter:

Consumerist has long forgotten the difference between a "deal" and "illegitimate loophole". I'm waiting for the day they start posting price mistakes. Whatever gets readers, right?

I'm not saying I'm all high and mighty and won't try my hand at ordering what is obviously a price mistake once in awhile. I'm saying crap like that does NOT belong in Consumerist.

It's like those security hole researchers. When they find a security hole in a software, they don't go and tell everyone how to do it and then ask if it's ethical. They try to contact the software company first and hope the issue a fix fast.

I guess we can never really expect Consumerist to be of that quality. And yet I had high hopes when they just started. Sigh...

@TVGenius: You might want to read your car's manual. There is a specific quality of gas that it requires. If it requires 87, pumping in 92 may damage the engine. Vice versa, if your car requires 92 and you pump in 87, it may damage the engine. You car may seem to run fine, but several years down the road, you may start experiencing engine problems quicker than if you had followed the gasoline requirement.

I believe no car actually requires 89 (the midgrade) and was only introduced take advantage of the human mentality. People don't want to pay for the most expensive grade, but they're willing to pay for the 2nd highest (just like the reason why Wendy's introduced the 3 patty burger was to get people to buy the 2 patty burger).

I have been told that in older cars, pumping in 89 when it requires 87 may help out a bit engine knocking.

As for getting cash to purchase gas, you may want to consider the amount of cash back you're losing. I'm not sure how much you fill each time, but $40 of gas at 5% cash back nets you $2 back and $60 of gas at 5% cash back nets you $3 back.

Course, Oregon and New Jersey being some of the only states that you can't pump your own gas. I'm sure it would work technically, but the attendant would notice that it isn't the right card.

If you shop at Costco all the time then upgrade to the Executive membership. It costs $100 but you get cash back on what you purchase in store. We have had it for 2 years now and we get back a little over $100 each year. The price difference on the gas here in Seattle/metro is about .20/gal usually so this pays for the card itself over the course of the year. Since we are going to Costco for our regular shopping we really are saving money on gas. A penny saved is a penny earned....

Doesn't matter to me, because BJs is right across the street and we are already members. Probably saves me close to $20 a week between me and my wife.

As was said earlier, New Jersey does not permit members-only pricing on gasoline (BJ's got themselves in trouble for it here.) There, the price is good for everyone.

It all sounds great, but think about it. The only reason Costco can offer that reduced-price gas is because of all the dues-paying members. If we all started doing this, Costco would have to raise the price of its gas, thus ruining it for EVERYONE.

So it's a bad idea.

You can get $.10 off a gallon if you just use your shoppers club card a few times at Tom Thumb (Texas) or Tops (New York). Plus there's no membership fees.

@TVGenius:
@krunk4ever:
The Octane rating of the fuel is actually a reluctance to burn. The cetane rating of the the fuel is how readily it burns. High performance engines need a higher octane gas so the gas will ignite when the spark plugs tell it to, not when it gets really hot from compression like a diesel does. Most cars that don't have turbos and/or high compression ratios just need 86/7 what ever the manual calls for, its really just wasting money to put the high octane. Also, most modern engines will have an anti-knock detector which de-tunes the engine so you don't damage it from putting in lower octane fuel but you get worse gas milage and performance, and increased emissions.

@SkiAliG:

Beat me to it. Yeah, in Texas Tom Thumb gives you 10 cents off if you spend 50 dollars in the store, but even if you don't buy anything you get 3-5 cents off just by putting in your phone number or swiping your Tom Thumb card.

I'm a regular Costco visitor, but rarely buy the gas. It's not much of a better deal, and the wait usually makes it not worth my time.

Wait, wait wait. What person who cares this much about saving money would not actually be a Costco member already? You save staggering amounts of money just by buying your stuff there instead of elsewhere. It's like half to a third of the price of buying it at Ralphs or Albertsons or Vons or those guys and the service is much better. Or are you all just Sam's Club members?

Many of these factors are local, so one answer will not fit all here. I buy my gas at Sam's because it is nearby, always cheaper than other stations in the area (only members can pump gas), and my business pays for the membership anyway.

If we're talking about shenanigans with expired cards just to save a few cents on a fill-up, I can think of many other ways to save a quarter that don't involve teaching my children how to defraud others.

Or if you know someone with a membership, just get their membership number, print out a barcode on any printer, then scan it at the pump.

Costco varies in the Phoenix market for gas prices. There is one fairly close to my office so it's a *short* trip out of the way to get gas there. Phoenix-metro is like a zillion square miles but my GPS knows where the Costco stores are. I know exactly the distance and can choose to go out of the way or not.

ARCO/ AM/PM is a scam - 45c extra for debit card. By the time I go to my bank etc. and then go to ARCO - well I'd never do it anyway since I log all my mileage as either business or personal and pay for the gas with my business debit card at Costco.

Food at Costco is generally cheaper than at the supermarket - especially on things like bananas, ham steaks, breakfast cereal and other fruits/vegetables.

Costco employees get better benefits and pay than the disposable slaves at Sam's/Wal-Mart and its reflected in the level of service. The company has lower employee turnover than Sam's and for that matter, than in the retail sector in general.

I frankly don't care that the people inside Costco offering samples are outsourced. Been to any other supermarket lately? Coca Cola/ Pepsi have their own outsourced folks who enter the stores to re-stock, same with most of the snacks and most of the bread. Why demonize Costco for doing the same?

Besides, everyone cuts their own deal for an income. Granted, that's becoming harder and harder in the USA - but Americans are in serious denial about their gradual drop in their standard of living.

@Smarty: Consumerist readers have wised up to the fact that 99% of the businesses they may have an opportunity to deal with are ethically bankrupt. What's wrong with paying 'em with the same coin?

@Bohemian: Taking the tanker truck to Mexico might work - until you got to the USA border. The taxe$ on that Mexican gasoline /diesel that the USA will levy as well as whatever the border state's cut is... not economically viable. Besides, you need all manner of permits to be in the fuel business. Look at the cases of the poor bastards who've done the ecologically correct thing and brewed up some biodiesel - the states they live in come after them for the taxes.

Of course, officially under Mexican law I'm sure it requires some special permits and licenses to buy directly from a Pemex refinery or depot. That might discourage some, but with knowledge of Spanish and your friends Jackson and Benjamin the realm of what is "possible" in Mexico is astonishing.

The last time I was in Mexico, once I did the liters-gallons conversion and then adjusted pesos to dollars, gas was on a par with the nearest border state. This was about four months ago.

@sarusa: I tend to disagree, unless you have kids Costco doesn't save you that much. You can buy toilet paper and stuff, but most of the food is just too much for one or two people to eat. Some things can actually cost more. For example, soda is always more expensive at Costco because at the grocery store, either Coke or Pepsi is going to be on sale cheaper than the regular Costco price.

Gas prices at costco in Seattle are about 20 cents/gallon lower than surrounding stations. If you use the American Express Business card, you get a 5% rebate on gas as well, taking another 20 cents/gallon off the price.

I like Costco much better than other places. You can get some organic stuff on the cheap- like milk- and the 3 half gallons I buy last 3 weeks unopened. Eggs are cheap, fruit is cheaper.. and it also makes me happy that these folks get a decent wage. They are happier, and when they help me, I am happier.
I have the costco amex, and it pays for itself...2-3% back a year and I have the exec membership.. love this.

I despise "big, evil corporations" like anyone else, but Costco seems to be doing things well. I mean, they (like any retailer) have flaws but appear to pay their employees sufficiently, have great customer friendly policies, and enable me to save $ every month on groceries and gasoline (even though I commute exclusively on a motorcycle, it adds up). When I think about shopping at the local corporate grocery stores (Safeway being the first on my shit-list) I shudder. Wasting time scanning weekly sales fliers for deals, consequently traveling to various grocery stores across town to get everything I need, clipping coupons, paying more for less product and enduring the total lack of variety make shopping there completely unappealing. That said, Wal-Mart sucks.

I actually joined Costco when they opened thier first store in my area and for awhile they were significantly cheaper than any other gas station in town. Now that they have been open for six months, they are just about the same cost as everyone else or maybe 2 cents cheaper on occasion.

@eelmonger - I am single and can see that pitfall of Costco - some of the packages ARE just too large. I avoid that stuff and still make the best of the membership. I've been a member of Costco and of Sam's Club and much prefer Costco. All the cost savings add up to FAR beyond what I pay annually for a membership.