Line Up for Cheaper Gas at Costco or Walmart?

[Surewhitey]

Waited 5 minutes @Sam's for $3.89 regular. Got cussed out from someone I truly didn't see in line facing the other way.

I apologized & she did too. She said that she hormonal... All good now.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Costco pumps have hoses long enough to reach the far side of a car so that's not an issue. Entry to the pumps is always from just one side.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't fill up at Sam's much these days, but when I used to it was sweet to be able to always pull up in the shorter lines since 3 out of my 4 cars have the fuel door on the passenger (less popular) side. The 4th being the Miata where the door is on the top of the rear driver fender so still very doable.

I've seen people stretch the hose over to the other side of the car but it seems just barely manageable. A lot of tension on the hose. That's when I get out my

 

[samm]

Go to Costco 6-8 am to avoid lines

No, I will not wait to buy gas especially when the lines are long and chaotic.

I plan purchases ahead and go to Costco 6-8 am to avoid lines

 

[jazz4cash]

I like the Sam’s club app for buying gas. Scan the QR code on the pump display and I have it linked to Penfed 5% cashback card. At BJ’s I usually just scan the Bj’s card barcode on a picture of the card. (I don’t actually carry the card with me). That’s how i shop at BJ’s but the pumps at some Bj’s won’t scan the picture. Then i have to go to the booth so attendant can override.

 

[rodi]

The key to costco gas is to go when the station is open but the store is closed. Filled up older son's pickup this morning - in and out easy. We were going to do it yesterday after visiting my step mom at hospice near costco... but the line was waaaaay to long. It was also causing havoc in the parking lot because it queued through the parking lot to the street - blocking normal parking lot traffic.

Filled up our scooby van on Thursday - it was during the early-bird senior hours - took DH about 10 minutes in line to get gas.

Our costco gas, as of this morning, was 50cents cheaper than the local station near the house.

 

[TrvlBug]

As I posted above, I don't mind the short Costco wait as I'm shopping there anyway. Just checked the gas along the route from Costco to home and ... ... my gas at Costco yesterday was $5.60 for PREMIUM. Out of 4 gas stations, the REGULAR price at one was $5.70 and the 3 others $5.90. Well over $6.00 for the premium. I'll wait in the relatively short Costco line

 

[pb4uski]

I needed gas.



My plan was to get gas next time I went to Costco.



We got to Costco before they opened, and I had 15 mins to kill.



Why would I drive to another gas station?

The question was rhetorical, based on a 9c difference in gas price, not necessarily your situation.

Faced with a choice to pay 9c more or wait 10-15 minutes. I would pay the 9c more.

 

[CardsFan]

The question was rhetorical, based on a 9c difference in gas price, not necessarily your situation.

Faced with a choice to pay 9c more or wait 10-15 minutes. I would pay the 9c more.

Same here. Last I checked Sam's was about 10 cents cheaper than the place we pass every time we go out. And DW has a 10 cent discount there for using the app, so it is a wash.

BTW, the lines at Sam's have been stoopid, so I would not go there to save 10 cents anyway.

 

[audreyh1]

The question was rhetorical, based on a 9c difference in gas price, not necessarily your situation.

Faced with a choice to pay 9c more or wait 10-15 minutes. I would pay the 9c more.

Rhetorical, yet you quoted my specific post?

And I guess you assumed that I should have gotten gas at Walmart instead?

But, a) I didn’t know there would be a line at Costco and b)by the time I got to Costco I was many miles away from that Walmart.

And I had to wait for Costco to open anyway.

 

[audreyh1]

Ha ha, I wasn’t waiting in line to save 9c a gallon, I was waiting in line because I was already there, needed gas, and had to wait anyway.

 

[NW-Bound]

The nearest Costco is only a few miles from my home. It's also on the way if I want to go to many other stores. No reason to not get gas there.

And the lines are never that bad. I never have to wait more than 5 minutes.

Perhaps that's because there are many Costco stores here. I counted 14 stores in this metropolitan area. For comparison, Dallas has 8 stores. LA area has 20. Houston has 9. Chicago has 19. Albuquerque has 3.

 

[W2R]

The nearest Costco is only a few miles from my home. It's also on the way if I want to go to many other stores. No reason to not get gas there.

And the lines are never that bad. I never have to wait more than 5 minutes.

Perhaps that's because there are many Costco stores here. I counted 14 stores in this metropolitan area. For comparison, Dallas has 8 stores. LA area has 20. Houston has 9. Chicago has 19. Albuquerque has 3.

That's a lot of Costco stores! New Orleans has 1 (One!).

 

[NW-Bound]

Statewide, Louisiana has 3. Rhode Island has 0. Massachusetts has 5, all around Boston area.

Given how few Costco stores are to the east, I am surprised people even know about the chain out there.

In contrast, there are no BJ's stores in the West, but NYC/Long Island has 11 BJ's stores.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

My husband just filled up with diesel at Costco, arriving just as they opened and as more pumps opened.

He paid $5.349 on our 4% card.

 

[MichealKnight]

I don't go to Costco

I live in PA, on border with NJ. My area is great for schools and safety but for food, to each his own - but for me it's a bunch of the farm-to-fork, organic, trendy stuff. Less food, less flavor, served lukewarm, priced higher. And the locals who won't allo a fast food place or pizza joint to build - seem to prefer it this way. Well, Namaste to them I guess - as if they know what that means. Point being I go to NJ to eat all the time.

Luckily, gas in NJ is 20-30 cents cheaper in NJ. So I only fill up when I go to lunch in NJ. I was gonna make the trip anyway....I figure it saves us around $30 bucks a month. Hey, why not - I'm retired early and I feel part of my job is to maintain a lifestyle I want - BUT, find ways to create money. This is a small way to do it, and easy. $360 per year is another 35 pizza lunches for me. Or a free Ruth's Chris night for me and DW. Why the heck not.

 

[ScoopKona]

I drive up to Costco roughly once per month -- because there's a hydrogen filling station across the street. ;-) Never once encountered a line. Frankly, I've never met another H2 vehicle driver. I think there's only a few of us on the island.

 

[dadu007]

I declared a couple months ago to my wife that I will no longer wait in line at Costco for gas, no matter the cost savings. (If there is absolutely no line whatsoever, fine, then I'll get gas there.)
Getting gas at Costco is ALWAYS stressful to me. I always have the worst luck and get behind the people who've never seen a gas pump before.
The worst (and by far the biggest stress) is when two cars move to two available pumps one behind the other. Then, if the front person finishes first, the car waiting behind the second car will maneuver around that second car to get in front of it and get gas, thereby totally throwing off the "efficient" sequence of taking turns.
It's maddening to me that people just can't wait a few more minutes to keep the linear progression of cars.
I finally had enough. It's literally not worth it me anymore, $-wise and stress-wise!

 

[target2019]

I'm assuming you checked to be sure they didn't have a gas station nearby? Where we used to live, BJs had no gas station, but you could get BJs prices at a station a couple of miles away. We never bothered, but at least the option existed.

There are two stations, each about 10-11 miles away. The estimated drive time is 25-30 minutes. I used this site to find locations. https://www.bjs.com/gas

$4.08 at one spot, $4.19 at the other. We're in a congested area. Going through towns in NJ can take 15-20 minutes. We're pretty much WaWa because the company has policies that result in better customer experience at the pump. It's been that way around here for a long time. We have attendants in NJ. Just two states without pump-your-own inconvenience.

 

[Car-Guy]

We just got back from a fast food outing at the nearby town located on interstate. As I've said before there are four gas stations there and they always have the same gas prices. (4.06) for regular today... They were about as busy as I have ever seen. I'd estimate there are at least 90 to 100 gas pumps between these four stations (yes these are pretty big stations) and it looked like they were about 75+% full. No lines, but pretty busy... I told the DW that looked very odd then she reminded me, that its the start of spring break around here. Doesn't look higher gas prices are deterring many around here from hitting the road.

 

[38Chevy454]

I declared a couple months ago to my wife that I will no longer wait in line at Costco for gas, no matter the cost savings. (If there is absolutely no line whatsoever, fine, then I'll get gas there.)

Getting gas at Costco is ALWAYS stressful to me. I always have the worst luck and get behind the people who've never seen a gas pump before.

The worst (and by far the biggest stress) is when two cars move to two available pumps one behind the other. Then, if the front person finishes first, the car waiting behind the second car will maneuver around that second car to get in front of it and get gas, thereby totally throwing off the "efficient" sequence of taking turns.

It's maddening to me that people just can't wait a few more minutes to keep the linear progression of cars.

I finally had enough. It's literally not worth it me anymore, $-wise and stress-wise!

So when a small car in front is done quick with 10 gallons and a big truck behind getting 30 gallons, the person waiting should let the front spot stay open that whole time after the front small car leaves? That is inefficient. Costco has plenty of room to maneuver around in my experience. I don't see your "double pumping" making it more efficient.
What does effect efficiency is people that can't get their card to work, trying 2, 3, or finally the 4th card for approval. Or the person who once fueled up takes exceptionally long to start their car and leave the pump open for the next vehicle to move in.
Yes, Costco gas process can frustrate me. If too long of lines I will not wait.

 

[Jerry1]

I kind of like the two at a time versus cutting in front when the first pump clears. Not sure if it’s more efficient, but somehow, I just like it more.

 

[Aerides]

I kind of like the two at a time versus cutting in front when the first pump clears. Not sure if it’s more efficient, but somehow, I just like it more.

It's always better when two cars go, pump, and leave, together (the 10 gallon and 30 gallon fill-ups are not common pairs IME).

The bigger issue with moving around car 2 to get into slot 1: Most ppl in those slots currently pumping are barely inside the safelines - navigating that single lane to get thru, then reverse into slot 1, lining myself up so that I'm not out of bounds, and safely far enough back...eh, can be a little stressful. Especially if slot 2 on the other side is someone who is standing in the middle, having pulled on the "wrong" side and is stretching the line to pump (why do ppl do that?)

I'm always happier when #2 is looking ready to go close enough, and I can just pull forward into #1 nice and easy.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

So when a small car in front is done quick with 10 gallons and a big truck behind getting 30 gallons, the person waiting should let the front spot stay open that whole time after the front small car leaves? That is inefficient. Costco has plenty of room to maneuver around in my experience. I don't see your "double pumping" making it more efficient.

+1

It's not cutting in, it's the best way to keep both pumps in use as much as possible, which gets all the customers through the queue quicker.

Let's say you were in line at a supermarket checkout, and there were 2 separate cashier stations for that line, would you really not go to whichever one freed up first?

 

[Car-Guy]

I always have the worst luck and get behind the people who've never seen a gas pump before.

Sounds like my DW was getting gas ahead of you. She'll try to use her credit card(s), then when she can't get that to work, she'll walk over to the cashier or store and stand in line to pay cash, then come back and pump the gas (eventually) and when she is done, she'll go back to the cashier or store, stand in line again to get her change and receipt, then stroll back to the car. Then another few minutes to fix her hair, check to make sure she has her purse and credit cards, buckle up, start the car, check her mirrors and slowly pull away...

 

[aja8888]

Sounds like my DW was getting gas ahead of you. She'll try to use her credit card(s), then when she can't get that to work, she'll walk over to the cashier or store and stand in line to pay cash, then come back and pump the gas (eventually) and when she is done, she'll go back to the cashier or store, stand in line again to get her change and receipt, then stroll back to the car. Then another few minutes to fix her hair, check to make sure she has her purse and credit cards, buckle up, start the car, check her mirrors and slowly pull away...

You mean she doesn't go back in the store to get some munchies or bottled water and leave the car at the pump again?