- Costco customers love its travel service, which offers members discounts on vacations and car rentals.
- It also recently started offering benefits like a 2% cash-back bonus on travel purchases for executive members and gift cards for all members on specific purchases.
- We put the system to the test and found it easy to use.
Costco's travel service is fast becoming one of its biggest assets.
The retail giant has been offering members deals on hotels, flights, cruises, and rental cars since 2000.
While it might not sound like the most glamorous way to book a trip, its customers can't get enough of it — including Business Insider's Kate Taylor, who booked a seven-day trip to Puerto Rico for just over $800, including flights, transportation, and a hotel stay.
On Wednesday, during Costco's most recent earnings call, CFO Richard Galanti explained that the quarter's improvements were partly due to its travel business, which has high margins because of the few administrative costs associated with it.
"It's not the value of that plane ticket and hotel — it's the broker commission," he said.
And it's designed to be a good value for the customer.
"Following the same philosophy as in the warehouses, we offer a limited number of products in an effort to focus on partners who consistently produce high-quality, exceptional value and superb service," Nikki Chellew, a Costco representative, told Business Insider last year. "Costco Travel adds to the overall value of the membership with savings that can exceed the cost of an annual membership."
Costco also recently added benefits like 2% cash back on travel purchases for executive members and gift cards for all members on specific purchases.
We tested what the Costco Travel site is like to use: