You can save BIG money with wholesale club member benefits. That’s why I joined Sam’s Club in my early twenties. But as a single lady living alone, I decided not to renew my membership (after eating one too many toaster strudels in that huge value box). Yet I found wholesale prices unbeatable on optical such as contacts and glasses. So, I went to Sam’s Club and eventually joined Costco. There’s one wholesale club member benefit that many people don’t know about or use to save more money. It’s not an easy find because you don’t see it walking down the warehouse aisles. I’m talking about saving some serious money on travel.
Wholesale members may receive big discounts on hotels, rental cars, cruises, and airfare and vacation packages. I still remember when I scored an unbelievable deal on a spring break vacation to Atlantis in the Bahamas from Chicago. The girls were so excited to leave the cold, snowy Chicagoland and make a fun splash into the incredible Atlantis waterpark.
We were surprised to see so many other Chicagoans in the Bahamas soaking in the sun. One of our transfer van drivers remarked on how savvy we were to book our trip using Costco. He knew how much money you could save using it. He was surprised that more people didn’t take advantage of the savings.
Before I booked our trip, I did some serious price comparison shopping using popular travel websites and talking to traveler’s agents also. Nothing came close to the value I received on the Costco trip that included hotel transfers, airfare, hotel stay, and free breakfast. Sometimes they even throw in money for excursions in the Caribbean vacations too.
Prior to this booking, I had only used Costco Travel to for discount rental cars. These days with high travel costs, everyone could save a little more to get away. Bankrate.com recently reported, “For a one-week vacation in the U.S., the average cost for one person is $1,991. (Budget Your Trip).” I wonder if any of these vacationers considered using their wholesale membership to save even more.
If you’re a wholesale member, I strongly encourage you to look into your membership travel deals and special pricing. You may find them available online and many of them require you to login into your account to see the pricing. Be sure to read all of the fine print like the cancellation terms and fees.
When it comes to shopping around on travel, remember to check out your club member benefit discounts. In April, I snagged an incredible deal at Sam’s Club on a four-star hotel in LA for the weekend at $510.98. My big money saving wholesale club price also included hotel perks like free daily Uber/Lyft rides and a $35 daily spending allowance on food and beverage. If this doesn’t sound like a deal to you, have you been to the Westwood area of LA? It can be very pricey.
For my LA hotel, Sam’s Club was cheaper than Costco this time. Because Costco required a car rental reservation with the booking driving up costs well over $600. I’d never experienced a car rental requirement when booking a hotel reservation before. Before checking my wholesale club membership pricing, my friend and I scoured the web checking out discount travel websites and the lowest weekend prices was coming in near $700.
Something to take in consideration when booking is the cancellation policy and the fact that you may not get —> any hotel reward benefits/points using a third party for a reservation. Always read the fine print to avoid any surprises. 😉
Happy Summer, Travels & Savings to You,
K
