Is Booking Through Costco Travel The Right Choice For Your Next Vacation?

It's no secret that Costco has a massive fan base. The membership based warehouse store is a fantastic place to shop for just about everything. You can buy food in bulk, ceramic dishes, houseplants, clothing, and fun outdoor items for a thrilling summer vacation. Costco really does have something for everyone. The company even sells vacation packages.

If you're someone who longs to travel but you don't know where to start, booking a pre-planned vacation package could be a good idea. Planning a trip takes a lot of time and effort, especially if you're traveling abroad. Some tourists rely on travel agents to do the grunt work for them, but it can be expensive. You could decide to plan everything yourself, but be prepared to spend countless hours with your nose buried in a travel guidebook, or on the computer researching travel blogs and reading reviews. Booking a vacation package from Costco could be a great choice if you want to avoid the stress of trip planning, but still prefer to have some control over your itinerary.

We decided to do a deep dive into Costco Travel to help you decide if one of their vacation packages is the right choice for your next trip. Based on our research we concluded that it's a good choice for travelers who prefer to stay in nice hotels and those who don't want to spend a ton of time researching where to stay. If you're traveling on a tight budget or you prefer to spend most of your time away from tourist hot spots then Costco Travel may not be the right option.

If you're looking to vacation within the United States, Costco travel could have an option that's ideal for you. The United States is massive and exploring the entire country could take months. Trip planning might take even longer. Regardless of whether you've lived in the United States for your entire life, or you're visiting from abroad for the very first time – sometimes you just need to keep things simple with a predetermined itinerary. Costco offers several different vacation packages.

If you're looking to experience the gorgeous landscapes of the Southwest check out Costco's multi-city packages in Arizona. You'll get to spend a few days in Scottsdale, which is a great destination for a relaxing romantic getaway. Then, you'll hop in your rental car (part of the package) and head to Sedona. The luxurious destination is a must-visit if you're a fan of natural beauty, Indigenous history, and new-age spirituality. The price for a six-night stay for two adults starts at around $1,500. Your package includes a rental car and your accommodations at three or four star hotels. You can also choose to add round-trip flights to your package for an additional cost.

Costco also offers similar vacation packages in the state of Texas. You can choose to visit Austin or San Antonio. The funky city of Austin is one of the best U.S. destinations for music lovers and it's well worth adding to your bucket list. San Antonio is also a must-visit destination for history buffs. Costco has over 15 different hotel packages to choose from between both cities. California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Louisiana, and Tennessee are a few other states you can visit through Costco Travel.

Costco Travel can take you to some of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. Options include England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, Scotland, and Spain.

A multi-country journey through historic European cities can be difficult to navigate if you're new to traveling. Even if you're a seasoned jet-setter, sometimes it is nice to keep things simple with a pre-planned package. The big decisions like where to stay and which trains to take will be taken care of so that you can focus on planning how to spend your days. You'll get to decide where to eat, which tourist attractions to visit, and how much time you want to spend in each city. As an example, Costco offers a 10-day trip for two that visits London, Paris, and Rome costs for around $7,200. The price includes three and four star hotels for the duration of your trip – with complimentary breakfasts. It also includes your train from London to Paris, and a flight from Paris to Rome. Flights to and from Europe are not included in the price, but you can book them through Costco Travel for an additional fee.

The hotels are located in popular areas for tourists in each city. In France you'll stay in the charming neighborhood of Le Marsais, which has amazing places to shop for trendy vintage clothing. If you're someone who likes to stay in nice hotels and you don't like doing a ton of planning this could be a great option. If you're traveling on a budget you may want to do the planning yourself. It's certainly possible to plan a similar trip for much less money.

All-inclusive resorts aren't usually the move if you're looking to immerse yourself in authentic local culture, but they can be the perfect choice if you just want a relaxing vacation without any fuss. Staying at an all-inclusive resort is a great way to ensure that you stick to a budget because all of your food and beverages are usually covered in one upfront cost. Costco offers all-inclusive stays at resorts in Mexico and Costa Rica where you can enjoy beautiful beaches and warm sunny weather. If you're the type of traveler who is satisfied with never leaving the resort, Costco Travel could be the right choice for you.

A stay at the Westin Conchal Resort and Spa costs around $5,000 for five nights if you book through Costco Travel. The five star hotel is located on a 2,400 acre private nature reserver near the beach in the popular Guanacaste province. There's an 18-hole golf course and a pool. The all-inclusive price includes unlimited food and drinks throughout your stay. Transportation to and from the airport is also included. 

Costco Travel offers all-inclusive stays in several different regions of Mexico. You'll find the most choices in Cancun and a few options in Los Cabos and Nayarit. In reviews posted on Costco's website, customers call their vacations incredible. There are over ten thousand five star reviews between all of the properties. "Our experience there was absolutely amazing to say the least! The service and how kind every single employee there was superb, the food was all so delicious, and the resort itself was so beautiful it was pristine and very well kept." wrote one customer who visited Los Cabos.

Nothing beats an island getaway when you're in need of some relaxation. Sandy beaches, ocean breezes, the nectar of a freshly cracked coconut, and endless hours spent soaking up the sun is the perfect recipe for a wonderful vacation. Costco offers trips to multiple islands all over the world – from the South Pacific to the Caribbean. If you're ready to ditch your smart watch and start living on island time, Costco can help make it happen.

Hawaii is a popular tourist destination and traveling there can be quite expensive. One customer found that Costco offered a budget-friendly option. "Booked my 25th year anniversary Hawaii vacation through Costco travel, and saved nearly $3.5K for an 8-day trip to two islands. The hotel Costco suggested was magnificent both at Kauai and Maui. In addition, the convertible vehicles we rented were top rate and hassle free. What I spent on the car and hotel at both islands was almost as much as one island when I tried to book on my own. And the hotel I selected was not even on the water. Costco put us in an ocean front resort, and it was just perfect. I will never travel again without checking Costco travel first," they wrote in a review posted on Trust Pilot.

You can also book island getaways in Fiji or Tahiti. The Royal Davui Island Resort Package starts at around $5,600 per person for seven nights. The package includes your stay at the resort, all of your meals, nonalcoholic beverages, and your airfare. A five-night stay in Tahiti with airfare costs around $3,700 per person. You can also travel to islands in the Caribbean and the Cook Islands.

One of the major perks of using a travel agency is that your agent will be with you every step of the way if anything goes wrong during your trip. Costco Travel is kind of like a combo between a travel agency and an online vacation booking platform like Booking.com or Expedia. You shouldn't expect the same kind of service that you would from a travel agent. We would be remiss if we neglected to mention the many negative reviews posted on Trustpilot from dissatisfied customers. Overall, there is a 1.8 star average rating. Many customers claim that when things went wrong during their trip, Costco Travel did not step up to save the day. Others faced problems when they attempted to claim their refunds.

"I will never use Costco travel again. We had a flight delay that caused us to miss a tour and two nights at one of our hotels. Although I had even purchased the very expensive Zurich travel insurance, the amount I was refunded was ridiculously low. They will not tell you the value of the rooms for travel insurance claims. It was not worth the extra expense. I paid close to 30K for a 10 day trip for 3 people," wrote one dissatisfied customer.

Others claimed that they weren't notified of flight delays or cruise cancellations Costco Travel, which left them in sticky situations. The consensus among most customers who posted reviews on Trustpilot is that customer service was subpar. Some also claimed that the hotels, resorts, and car rentals did not live up to their expectations.

In order to give you the best idea of whether or not Costco Travel could be a good fit for your future vacations, we spent hours reading through each and every vacation package offered by the company. We compared prices with other similar trips, and read dozens of customer reviews. We also cross referenced our findings with various travel blogs, including a few blog posts featured on Costco Travel's website. It was difficult to determine which blog posts were sponsored by Costco, or whether or not bloggers were offered free trips in exchange for articles, so we decided to rely heavily on our own research and customer reviews.