The price of Gas at Costco and what else is new

General Discussion
1

What’s new at the Newport News, Virginia, Costco? We went to Costco early to buy gas and get an early start on shopping.

Today’s price for gasoline, Oct 6, 2024, $2.799 for Regular and $3.179 for Premium.

Our Costco is popular and there is always a line of shoppers waiting for the doors to open. Today, it was a bit different. Normally you only needed to flash your Costco Membership Card, It was like the door checker only wanted to make sure you did not leave your card at home…

Today, the line took longer, instead of just flashing your card, the door checker has a card scanner with a screen on the back. So all the shoppers had to remove their cards from their wallets and purses and hold them up to have the back of the card scanned, and if you are a member you know there is a little photo of you on the back of your card along with the bar code.

When you scan your card, a large full screen image of the photo can up on the screen for the door checker to see if you even remotely resembled you photo.

It was interesting to see a few of the folks ahead of us speaking in hushed tones, and as they discretely put away “their” membership card and they announced, “Oh, this is taking too long, we’ll come back another time…” or “Opps, I forgot my membership card…”

I looked at my image on the scanner and it was interesting that I was wearing the same “Sturgis Black Hills Rally - 2000” baseball cap that I had my photo taken in over 15-years ago… Some things never change…

So, if your Costco has not yet implemented the ID scanner, they are coming…

2

All the misinformed coming in for toilet paper!
Costco (why does that never get flagged as Spam🤪) is not cost effective for me, too far away 15 miles, lousy parking, same prices as the warehouse club three miles from me.

3

Do I care about the fuel price in Virginia? Nope !

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4

How about this, filled up yesterday, non-ethanol $0.20 less than premium.

5

By definition, “spam” is unauthorized advertising. It is not people talking about products and services which they personally use, or posting a link, without compensation, to a tool or car part which is sold online. If someone comes here asking for advice about doing some repair, or buying some tool, and someone else posts a link to the necessary part(s) on Rock Auto, or the necessary tool(s) on Harbor Freight, it is reasonable to assume that this person does not work for the company, isn’t affiliated with it, and isn’t profiting in any way for posting here–hence it’s not “spam”.

Unless you honestly believe that the OP works for Costco, or is somehow being compensated for mentioning Costco, this is simply not “spam”. It’s still a silly discussion, because Costco is one of many places where people can buy fuel, and it’s not the most cost-effective place to buy fuel for everyone.

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I concur fully. Do you agree also that the many posts & threads which have already been flagged and removed as spam ( b/c of similar links) should be fully restored? I think they should be, at the request of the poster who’s post was wrongly removed.

7

@George_San_Jose1 The Spam posts are removed by the Forum staff and they use good judgment. If the poster asked it to be put back they are paid spammers to start with .

8

Got gas at a Shell station last night for $1.649 a gallon, used my Kroger plus reward points for the $1.00 off… ($2.1649 normally)
Did not know you could do that… lol
My smarter than me daughter told me about it…

Shell or Exxon are the only 2 gas stations (if at all possible) I am going to run in the Tacoma due to the direct injection thingy…

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@LoudThunder, apparently your post is really about the new card scanners at Costco and you used the gas station as a way to very obliquely tie it to the card readers. Costco has been telling us for months that this was coming. I always have my card out to show the check in folks anyway and this means that I don’t have to show my photo on the card before checking out. I like checking out faster.

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10

I have thought of hanging my card on a lanyard as often as I have to use it. Check in, check id before going to self checkout, scan the card to start scanning items, scan the card to pay for the supplies. May do that!

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11

They’ve been scanning membership cards for several weeks now at my local Costco . . . I haven’t seen anyone annoyed by this so far

As for distance . . . my girlfriend’s old place had a Costco within a few minutes

Her new house isn’t particularly close to a Costco . . . 20+ minutes on streets . . . and the parking lot is kind of tiring to navigate, so she rarely shops at Costco nowadays

I’d also stop shopping at Costco if it was no longer convenient

12

That assessment is spot on, I only mentioned the gas price as a side to the latest developments at my local Costco (under General Discussions…). I know it has been planned for months and even over the last couple of months, the ID checkers at the checkout have looked at the back of the card, but that photo is a very pixelated black and white stamp size photo with very little detail.

Now, the ID checkers at the entrance have a large image of the photo that does show detail. And my intent was to give the members a heads up that it would not be a good idea to loan out their Costco to friends or family or borrow one for a quick trip for a set of tires.

If you are checking out through a cashier or self-checkout, you will still have to have your card scanned as they keep track of every purchase you make and on the Web Page, under Orders and Returns, you can see every receipt from your purchases for the last two-years.

13

I have never been inside of a Costco… none close in the past, but they just built a new one across the street from the hospital, no plans of visiting it either…

14

I have never noticed my picture coming up either at entry or using the self service. Maybe it has but never noticed. Big deal. The woodcutter in Pennsylvania though posted that an early trip to Costco was very busy with people stocking up. Before the longshoremen backed down but still weather events looming. A clerk had told them they were considering putting limits on some items. I have no idea where th3bpump# are.

I hadn’t used my bp card for years. Got a notice to use it. So I charged $15 in gas. Few months later got another notice so charged again. Now I got a third notice to use it. I refuse. Don’t want it, don’t need it. And just a hassle to send the payment in. Still waiting to see if they cancel me. Be my guest. Must be getting tough in the credit card business.

15

Hey, $1.50 for a big Polish dog and a soda is a good reason, and feeding a house full of teenagers at a sleepover with a few $10 pizzas is too. I myself can’t get out of there without a berry sundae from the food court.

1 Like
16

My youngest is now 23, oldest will be 36 next month (kids of his own), them days are long gone…
And yes we are the same age give or take…

Little Caesars Hot & Ready was the way to go back then, $5.00 each…

I did however buy my 60 gal air compressor, floor jack, 2 sets-3 ton jack stands, big engine hoist, engine stand, back around 1990 at Sam’s club, all still in use except for the long dead floor jack… But haven’t been in one in over 20 years now either… Could be wrong, but I doubt either still have the same quality of automotive shop equipment they did back then…

17

Still no Costco in the Buffalo Area and our gas is $3.40+ for regular. I live alone now and doin\t buy enough of anything to pay a membership to shop.

1 Like
18

Regular gas at my local Costco station is down to $2.75/gallon as of today.

The price of gas is essentially a non-issue for me because I typically buy only 6-7 gallons once every 2-2.5 months for my PHEV, but it’s still nice to see the price decline.

19

The warehouse club I use everything, except gas, is done with my phone. Show membership with phone, scan the barcode with my phone as the items go into the cart, pay with the phone, QR code shows on the phone, show that one the way out.

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20

Only warehouse store near me is BJs which was started by Jayre’s about the same time as Costco and Sams. It’s regional - mainly on the east coast and about 1/10th the membership of Costco. Been in Sams club many times, never been in a Costco. You walk blindly into a BJs or Sams club and then took the blindfold off - you’d be hard pressed to tell what one you were in.