Costco Cash vs OBC

[cvjw]

Are you saying you get 3% for using their Visa card PLUS another 2% for being an executive member?

Yes, you get both. That is why we book with costco

 

[adamki]

Are you saying you get 3% for using their Visa card PLUS another 2% for being an executive member?

The 2% Executive Membership reward is a relatively new addition. It only applies to the cruise fare portion of the cost (not on port fees/taxes/transfers/insurance).

The 3% Costco Visa reward is completely separate and handled through Citibank's system so it applies too. You don't have to use the Costco Visa in order to get the Executive Membership reward. You could also use any Visa or MasterCard, which is different than in-store purchases which are Visa only. So if you have a credit card that will do better than 3% for travel, then you can go ahead and use that and do better.

Here's the fine print from CostcoTravel.com:

For Executive Member purchases made directly from Costco Travel departing on or after September 1, 2017, a 2% Reward will be applied after travel is completed. Travel purchases departing prior to September 1, 2017 are not eligible for the Executive 2% Reward. Excludes taxes, fees, surcharges, gratuities, trip protection, and portions of travel purchased through a third party such as activities, tours, baggage fees, upgrades, rental car equipment, resort charges, port charges, resort and cruise line fees, and similar extras.

FORMS OF PAYMENT – Visa® and MasterCard are the only forms of payment accepted at Costco Travel for cruise or vacation package bookings. Please note, when using an airline credit card to make payment, airline benefits (i.e., waived baggage fees, mileage points, etc.) may not apply.​

 

[lucky1]

Just did a 2 night cruise that was booked through Costco. We felt like we cheated on our regular TA (who is wonderful, trains with Disney travel, always sends us information head of time and a gift), but when doing this we looked at this lower cost cruise and from our TA we would Get $50 OBC and from Costco we would get $95 cash card afterwords. Started through the process.. Tried to book online but it got stuck with an error, so had to call and wait on hold while they tried to do it, we PIF at the time and when our checkin window rolled around we got online and did our online checkin and booking activities. (a month before the cruise, we received an email from costco telling us it was time to checkin and book our actives). I called at one point to add gratuities to the cruise, the agent referred to the cruise as carnival and once again it was a long time waiting on hold with her to call Disney to figure out how to do it. So for $45 I wasted a bit of time and our next cruise we went back to our Travel agent who does it all for us.

 

[wombat_5606]

Just did a 2 night cruise that was booked through Costco. We felt like we cheated on our regular TA (who is wonderful, trains with Disney travel, always sends us information head of time and a gift), but when doing this we looked at this lower cost cruise and from our TA we would Get $50 OBC and from Costco we would get $95 cash card afterwords. Started through the process.. Tried to book online but it got stuck with an error, so had to call and wait on hold while they tried to do it, we PIF at the time and when our checkin window rolled around we got online and did our online checkin and booking activities. (a month before the cruise, we received an email from costco telling us it was time to checkin and book our actives). I called at one point to add gratuities to the cruise, the agent referred to the cruise as carnival and once again it was a long time waiting on hold with her to call Disney to figure out how to do it. So for $45 I wasted a bit of time and our next cruise we went back to our Travel agent who does it all for us.

So sorry about your trouble, but my experience has not been anything like yours.

I have booked 10 cruises online or by phone with Costco since 2012. I have received, on average, a $175 cash card because I virtually never book anything but inside or oceanview. They all have been booked with not one single error, hassle or mistake.

There are things that Costco are not aware of, like your Castaway Club status, therefore you aren't going to receive notification concerning when to complete your online check in. For me, that is not a big issue. I am aware of that date and I just add a notification to my personal calendar. I either go online to make my final payment, or if I wish to add a dining request or add transfers, I will call them to complete that at the same time.

You shouldn't expect Costco to have any suggestions for you concerning your PAT, dining rotations or shore excursions. If you need help with these things, you should stick with a Disney Specialist TA.

Costco is not for everyone. If you are a cruiser that needs a lot of assistance, have a lot of questions or are indecisive, then I suggest you stay with a Disney specialist travel agent. But, just so you know, not all TA are Disney specialists either.

By the way, I have also rented 32 cars from Costco since 2012, too. I have only found 1 car rental that beat their price since then. All domestic car rentals are unlimited miles and include one extra driver. Another little bit of information some people may not be aware of, once you have rented a car, continue to check on the rate. Virtually everytime my car rental price has decreased the closer I get to the pick up date, sometimes as much as half the original rate.

Perhaps most people should look at Costco travel as a booking agency. I don't think they have ever advertised that they were anything more than that. For the most part, that's all they do and that's all you should expect from them.

 

[DahliaRW]

I book through Costco because 1) My experience using a "disney trained" TA was awful anyways, so no reason to go back and 2) we shop at Costco, so we use the rewards card for things we would buy anyways. Because money is fungible, it ends up being a significant savings on the trip. I find it easiest to book online thorugh DCL (I haven't booked since the silver can book early thing started) and transfer to Costco within 30 days. I've never had an issue with booking or calling to get things changed with Costco.

 

[slmjam]

Can I transfer my booking to Costco and get the cash card? Or would I need to cancel it, and then let Costco rebook it for me?

 

[Sytrace]

Can I transfer my booking to Costco and get the cash card? Or would I need to cancel it, and then let Costco rebook it for me?

You can transfer it as long as it was booked no more than 30 days ago and has not been paid in full.

 

[Billinaz]

Our first cruise in 2004 I used Expedia. Biggest mistake ever. They screwed up my preferences, and the last thing they did was not get the cruise docs to me. Despite all the guarantees, and promises they kept saying they were sent to me. I found them by my front door.... when we returned from the cruise.

I then used DU, and they were always good about making sure my reservation was set up the way I wanted it but the OBC was always small. We book concierge rooms and got the same OBC as someone booking an inside room.

When I found out about Costco, the cash card was much larger than any OBC out there. We booked onboard and named Costco as our TA. Then they took away the discount for concierge rooms so I didnt need to book placeholders anymore.....

I only wish I knew about it earlier. I gave away a lot of money...

Now DCL really hiked the concierge room prices. Luckily, the 8.5% Costco cash card grows with the cruise cost. Our next cruises get us a cash card for $1045. This also pays for my executive membership so I can add another 2% (about $240) on top of that. I have not found anyone that would give me $1300 back. The max I ever got from a TA was $300.

There is nothing I need to call Costco for. I set up the reservation with DCL, then transfer it to Costco. Its already set up and unless I change dates or rooms, then there is nothing I need them for. There is a misconception that you need a TA to book excursions, dinners, experiences, etc. You do that all online yourself after your booking window opens.

I have friends who are "Disney Certified" TAs and they cannot seem to understand that I dont need them to hold my hand in exchange for giving them the bulk of the incentive that they want to keep. They keep telling me they offer "personalized service". OK, I can call Costco and get the same thing done. I honestly cannot see how TAs are still in existence with the internet the way it is now. I can remember the only way to get an airline ticket was to go to a TA and you had to get a paper ticket.

The bottom line is that if you dont care about the amount of the return on your cruise cost then you can deal directly with DCL. Other than that its about maximizing your return on the incentive offered to you. If you are not in the USA, then the Costco card wont help much. Even if you dont live near a Costco, you can use the card at the Costco.com website.

 

[Billinaz]

Looking at the opening day prices posts and I noticed that some folks are getting crazy ($500+) Costco Cash and from past experience, TA's usually provide $100-200-ish in OBC. I realize the Costco money can't be used on the ship, but I'm sure there's something I need at Costco. Am I missing something or misunderstanding something as to why more people don't use Costco?

I really think its just about people not knowing about it. Costco does not advertise massively like "Disney Certified" TAs. That only puts the money back in your pocket, not an advertisers....

 

[Billinaz]

We just booked three rooms through Costco for 2019 westbound PC.

Pros: we will receive almost $2000 in Costco cash cards, plus 2% for executive membership and 3% for using Costco Visa card.

Con: took over 5 hours to book the rooms. We live in California and got up at 5am to start the process. It took about 30 minutes to reach a Costco travel agent, then Disney’s phone lines were busy for almost an hour, finally had to wait 2 hours for a Disney representative to come on the line once we were able to get through.

It did take an extraordinarily long time to book but given what we receive back, I would use Costco again in a heart beat.

What I do is call DCL and set up the booking. Then you have the time (30 days) to call Costco and transfer it to them. Thats what I did on opening day this year. I only had about 30 minutes on hold with DCL. They actually had my booking done before I called. A CM that I spoke to a few days prior said she would have it booked for me.... and she did.

Then I emailed them the transfer form, and the next day I called Costco and DCL had proceed the transfer and Costco set it up.... took minutes (not hours)

 

[Billinaz]

We're costco members and I did look at the cash card vs OBC. If we had been able to go on the 3 day this coming summer I wanted to do then we would have booked using Costco. For a 2019 trip I'm going to book darn it, I called the TA. Why? Because I knew the TA was going to be the one spending hours on the phone dealing with opening day madness. This is going to be a 20th anniversary trip for just DH and I, and there are several on board things we'll do as it's just the two of us. (Mixology, palo brunch etc) i just didn't want to deal with booking those things, and the OBC will lower our on ship costs. In this instance that has more value to me.

Now, if we're looking at going again as a family of 4 (When our focus would be more on excursions and doing things as a family) then I'd probably book through Costco. That being said, the length of the 2019 trip is short enough we're also not talking hundreds of dollars difference between the cash card and the OBC.

You can have a DCL CM book it for you. Then transfer it to Costco. Best of both worlds.

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you are not in the USA, then the Costco card wont help much. Even if you dont live near a Costco, you can use the card at the Costco.com website.

FYI - We have Costco in Canada, as well. Furthermore, due to the difference in the exchange rate, I end up with a larger return - more like 11% in CAD funds. So my room that's costing me $6192 USD is returning $690 CAD. It probably works out to the same, but it sounds better than $520 USD. Of course, as you said, there's also the 2% cashback for executive membership, which isn't much more than a regular membership, so it's a no-brainer for many people. And, as you mentioned, the cards can be used on the online site - Costco.ca

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If you want service, use specific TAs.

Costco works for people who are self service, who like hummus. The difference between OBC and a Costco card is just accounting if you typically soend buckets of $ there anyway.

 

[bumbershoot]

Please don't get me wrong, I love my DU TA, she's awesome. I was just wondering why folks choose Costco over a TA and vice-versa, especially when looking at the difference in "rewards".

I choose Costco bc I don’t need hand holding. I’ve never had a TA book and so all sorts of things for me, and using a small TA actually slowed down a process for our first Disney Cruise.

I also like booking directly through a website, not having to go through a quote request.

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you want service, use specific TAs.

Costco works for people who are self service, who like hummus. The difference between OBC and a Costco card is just accounting if you typically soend buckets of $ there anyway.

No hummus here, but I do love a roasted chicken every week. The gift cards can be used towards the next cruise, as well, so while it's all going back to Costco, I'm getting more for my money out of it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

No hummus here, but I do love a roasted chicken every week. The gift cards can be used towards the next cruise, as well, so while it's all going back to Costco, I'm getting more for my money out of it.

Next cruise = "spend buckets of money."

Between two adults in glasses, contact lenses, sport snacks and general needs (hey, I NEED that box of guacamole singles), I can blow whatever Costco cash they give me in 30 seconds flat.

 

[abuck75]

Yeah, I haven't applied for the costco credit card yet for some silly reason, but still, on our upcoming cruise the ~$1k costco cash + 2% executive + 2% disney rewards to transfer OB for using Disney Visa plus flexibility of 6 months interest free is a pretty nice combination.

 

[AngelaC]

Wow, tomorrow will be 29 days since we booked our 2018 cruise while on board the Fantasy. So all I have to do, tomorrow, is call Costco, and they transfer the booking to Costco. And then I continue to pay the rest of the cruise cost directly to Costco rather than online with Disney? But I still keep the onboard credit I got from Disney while booking it on the Fantasy?
And if I use any Visa, I still get 2% off through Costco, but if I get a Costco credit card, then it becomes 2% + 3%?
Can I still book my own excursions, if I want them through Disney, directly through Disney's online system?
This is amazing! Do I have all these details right?

 

[FigmentSpark]

Um, can you try calling Costco tonight? We had paperwork to fill out and email back that they, in turn, had to send to DCL. If you can get the paperwork started tonight, you might make the 30 day cut off. They told us to expect it to take 3 days, but maybe they'll rush it for you.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Sorry, should have added:

Yes, pay Costco or pay through the Costco site.

Yes, you keep the OBC and the 10% discount on the price that you already got. Nothing changes there.

If you have an Executive membership, you get 2% cashback when you usually get your Executive Membership bonus (but after you take the cruise, so next year).

You also get the 8%-ish back in Costco gift cards after you take the cruise. They'll tell you on the phone how much you get back.

I don't know anything about the Visa, but if you're putting your payments on a card with cashback, then, yes, you also get that.