How we check our numbers
A calculator is only as good as the numbers in it. Here is every one we use, and where it comes from.
Last checked October 18, 2026.
The numbers
| What | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Star membership | $65 / yr | Costco U.S. membership fees |
| Business membership | $65 / yr | Costco U.S. membership fees |
| Executive membership | $130 / yr | Costco U.S. membership fees |
| Upgrade cost to Executive | $65 / yr | Executive fee minus Gold Star fee |
| Executive reward rate | 2% | Costco Executive reward terms |
| Reward cap | $1,250 / yr | Costco Executive reward terms |
| Sam's Club membership | $60 / yr | Sam's Club renewal page |
| Sam's Club Plus membership | $120 / yr | Sam's Club renewal page |
| Sam's Cash on Plus (rate and cap) | 2%, $750 / yr | Sam's Cash FAQ |
| BJ's Club and Club+ | $60 / $120 / yr | Regular fees as reported by ConsumerAffairs; BJ's own site shows only new-member offers |
| BJ's Club+ rewards (rate and cap) | 2%, $500 / yr | BJ's membership terms |
| 90-day return items, membership refund | 90 days | Costco customer service |
| Costco Anywhere Visa cash back | 5/4/3/2/1% | Citi rewards page (checked October 14, 2026) |
| Price adjustment window | 30 days | Costco price match page (checked October 14, 2026) |
| Executive early shopping hour | 9 a.m. weekdays | News reports; Costco's hours page doesn't list times |
| Auto Program and insurance | 15% service | Costco Auto Program and Costco's insurance page (checked October 18, 2026) |
| New-member offers | $20 / $40 | Costco membership page (promotion, checked October 20, 2026) |
| Shop Card rules | $10,000/day | Costco Shop Card FAQs and member terms (checked October 18, 2026) |
| Pharmacy hours | 13 sampled | Costco.com warehouse pages (checked October 18, 2026); non-member rule as quoted from Costco's FAQ |
| Cancelling and refunds | n/a | Costco: how to cancel and auto-renewal (checked October 18, 2026) |
| Rotisserie chicken storage | 3 to 4 days | USDA FSIS (price is commonly reported; lawsuits from news coverage) |
| Costco Travel rewards and perks | n/a | Costco Travel, Costco reward terms and Citi (checked October 17, 2026) |
| Business Center list and hours | 27 | Costco's store locator data via All The Places (October 10, 2026) and Costco's Business Center page |
| Usual warehouse hours | n/a | Costco's store locator data via All The Places (October 10, 2026) and Costco warehouse pages |
| Accepted payment methods | n/a | Costco payment methods page (checked October 16, 2026) |
| Break-even spend | $3,250 / yr | Calculated: upgrade cost divided by the reward rate |
How we keep them current
- We read the numbers from each company's own published U.S. terms, not from other websites. Third-party articles are only used as a prompt to go and check.
- Each number is stored in one place. Every calculator and page on the site reads from that one list, so a change can't leave one page out of date.
- We re-check after any announced fee change and at least every few months, and update the date at the top of this page.
The gas and EV finders
Costco doesn't publish a downloadable list of its gas stations, so our gas station and EV charging finders use open data instead: warehouse locations from All The Places, which reads Costco's own locator, gas stations from OpenStreetMap (both downloaded October 14, 2026) and public EV chargers from the U.S. Department of Energy (downloaded October 14, 2026). A charger counts for a warehouse if it is within about 250 meters. Which stations sell diesel comes from Costco's own diesel locations list (checked October 14, 2026). We refresh all of these every few months.
What isn't official
Some popular topics have no official source. Costco doesn't publish its food court prices online, so that page uses the prices most often reported by news outlets and says so. Our price tag guide is one: Costco has never published what its price endings mean, so that page says how widely each reading is reported rather than presenting it as fact.
What we don't cover
Our calculators use U.S. fees. Fees, rewards and the list of purchases that earn the reward differ in other countries and can change at any time. Your own receipts and Costco's membership desk are always the final word.
Spotted a mistake?
Please tell us. We fix confirmed errors as soon as we can and update the date above.