Costco Is Pushing Its Executive Memberships — and Customers Aren’t Happy About It

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Is a Costco executive membership right for you? Read on to find out. 

Some people refuse to join Costco because they don’t want to take the risk of paying an annual membership fee only to not get great use out of it. But many people find that shopping at Costco means racking up lower credit card tabs compared to other retailers. So you might find that a membership more than pays for itself.

When it comes to joining Costco, you have choices. You could stick with a basic membership, which costs $60 a year and gives you access to a host of benefits, from access to Costco’s warehouse club stores to its auto and travel services. But if you’re willing to upgrade to an executive membership, you might benefit even more.

A Costco executive membership costs twice as much as a basic one — $120 a year. (It’s worth noting that Costco has not raised its membership fees for several years, so these numbers have the potential to change in the near term.) In exchange for paying $120 versus $60, your Costco executive membership will give you 2% back on all Costco purchases you make, including online orders. And that could result in a lot of extra cash back, depending on your shopping habits.

Costco is eager to have its members benefit from its executive membership program. To that end, it commonly advises cashiers to remind customers with a basic membership that the option to upgrade exists.

But some members insist that Costco has gotten too pushy in promoting its executive membership. And they’re tired of being ambushed every time they go to check out.

Are you being pressed to get an executive membership?

Eat This, Not That! reports that the bulk of Costco members — about 57% — maintain a basic membership rather than an executive one. Since Costco generates a lot of its revenue from membership fees (in 2022, it took in more than $4 billion), it makes sense for the warehouse club giant to train cashiers and customer service reps to push members to pay for the upgrade.

Meanwhile, some Costco customers have taken to complaining on Reddit that they’re tired of being pressured to upgrade their memberships. And that’s understandable.

That said, signing up for an executive membership could end up working out well for you financially. So before you write off the idea, you may want to crunch the numbers.

Do you spend more than $3,000 a year at Costco?

If you spend over $3,000 a year at Costco, then an executive membership makes financial sense. The reason? It costs an extra $60 to upgrade to an executive membership, but when you spend $3,000, you get $60 back on your purchases. So if you spend more than $3,000 in a year, you come out ahead with the costlier membership.

Here’s another lesser-known fact about the Costco executive membership. If you decide to downgrade after a year and you didn’t spend enough to earn $60 back from it, Costco will actually refund you the difference. So, let’s say you spend $120 for an executive membership, only when you get your annual reward certificate, it only amounts to $50. You could then simply go to customer service, downgrade to a basic membership, and get your $10 back.

It may be annoying to get hassled about a Costco membership upgrade when you’re trying to do your grocery shopping and move on. But in many cases, getting an executive membership makes sense, so don’t be too quick to write it off.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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