Cheap COSTCO gas without membership - use AMEX card

[GuyOnTheAir]

Using the AMEX card for a Costco membership card works in San Bernardino, CA, as of 2/19/03. But, gas is still $1.76/gallon.

 

[V00DOO]

Hawk Said:
Well, supposedly Cheveron is better than Mobile. I know gas is gas, but I don't think I would ever put Arco in my car.

FYI Arco is own by BP. I'll pump who ever has the cheapest price given they are one of the major chain: Shell, Arco, Mobile...

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: MowSow
From experience, Shell makes my car knock .. while chevron doesn't .. assuming I keep the boost under 14PSI on my TTZ since the highest octane we have in Cali is 91.

You need to add a little sake to your blend...

 

[PandaBear]

Just to clear some myth up:

Yes, gas is gas and especially in Northern California, they all use the government RFG Phase 2 formula, will be soon Phase 3 otherwise face a heavy fine for emission. WTF are they? the percentage of sulfur maximum, MTBE/Ethanol requirment, etc.

Yes, the difference is in the additive, so they are all pretty much the same. Some may feel better (I like 76 that makes my car FEEL smoother) but they all have the same HP and MPG.

No, all station are different. Gas gets old very quickly so the one with high sales volume have the better gas and less corrosion from their tank/volume. It also have less water leaking into the tank as well. How the h**l do you think we try to ban MTBE? They leak through those gas tank into the ground water supply, and ground water leak into gas tank.

So this is what I do: buy from the cheapest "semi new or well maintained" station to minimize contamination. In my case it is Quik-Stop and ARCO.

 

[jrichrds]

Good post PandaBear.

I buy from Costco not only for conveience and price, but because of their high volume (tanker comes 3 times a day) and more assurance that the place is better maintained (filters are changed more often, etc.). Also, no worries about unscrupulous gas station owners dumping extra regular grade fuel from the tanker into the premium tank, etc. The downside of high volume is that there's more of a chance that the tanker is there when you want to fill up. And filling up when the tanker is pumping in gas and stirring up all the sediment from the bottom of the tanks isn't a good idea.

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: TechDreamer
I can confirm that an expired Costco card will work. I had a manager admit to me that the system is not set up to check membership status. I can also confirm that you can use an American Express card without putting the Costco card in first. This works because Costco offers an American Express membership card. The system cannot tell the difference between a Costco Amex card and a regular Amex card. This worked for me in Torrance California last night. I guess they haven't updated the system there yet.

One other thing I noticed is that Costco is now giving out coupons that let anybody signup. Im guess they want to be like Sams Club now.

I was just at the Torrance, CA location, and it wouldn't let me use my AMEX Blue card as my membership card. It used to work in the past, at this location and others. Maybe they're able to now differentiate between some, but not all, AMEX cards. Doesn't matter for me though, as I have a Costco card.

 

[randybdavis]

I was going by the North Austin Costco and needed gas so tried with AMEX and worked like a charm, $1.42 vs $1.46 which was cheapest I saw today.

 

[azoomee]

Just wish my costco had gas

 

[cape123]

I'll stick to RACETRAC. The prices are always comparible to that of Sam's and costco.

 

[Cheapipay]

Originally posted by: ronniejay
I happened to be near a COSTCO in Houston, TX and needed gas. I am not a member. I saw this on a forum and did it before. Just used my AMEX Blue - any AMEX works probably. It took my card when it asked for COSTCO member card and I got unlead for $1.50. HAPPY MOTORING!

Used to be the same at my Costco in Burlington, WA. But they fixed the problem now, can't just use my Amex Blue to pay. -costco member.
I find it a hassle having to swipe 2 card just for filling up.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: cape123
I'll stick to RACETRAC. The prices are always comparible to that of Sam's and costco.

[shudders]

Racetrac

[/shudders]

 

[randybdavis]

Seems like the north Austin Costco has "fixed" their gas pumps so you have to swipe your Costco card first.
:frown:

 

[PreDatoR]

what a pack of idiots in this thread. they all may get the gas from the same place but there are different addatives in it all. addatives can make a big difference in the way the car runs. this is why one place it may run like crap and the other good. So NO gas is not gas. If it was straight up gas then that statement would be true. but their shitty addatives screws the gas up for some people. ARCO really needs to learn how to cut back on the sh!t addatives...

 

[NeuroSurg]

Originally posted by: PreDatoR
what a pack of idiots in this thread. they all may get the gas from the same place but there are different addatives in it all. addatives can make a big difference in the way the car runs. this is why one place it may run like crap and the other good. So NO gas is not gas. If it was straight up gas then that statement would be true. but their shitty addatives screws the gas up for some people. ARCO really needs to learn how to cut back on the sh!t addatives...

I really don't have an opinion on this issue at all. But if you're going to be calling people a "pack of idiots," it seems like you should have some evidence. Can you point to some references? Studies? Even some sketchy random websites? Because otherwise, you're just another member of the pack. Only on the other side of the fence.

 

[wshtb000]

I used to think gas is gas, there are no difference. I was always paying $1.29/gallon at Raceway until one day I happened to run out of gas near a Mobile station. I paid $1.49/gallon and feel being ripped off. BUT when I drive a while, I found the sound from the broken muffler is much quieter. In the next few month I tried a few more brands from Raceway/Sunoco/Amico/Mobile/Shell/Exxon. Mobile stands out in terms of gas-milage and LOW engine noise.

Now I always stick to Mobile even it is nearly 20 cents more expensive.

 

[jrichrds]

Quality can also come down to individual stations and how well they're maintained.

 

[Dacus]

All I need is my amex card in Memphis Tn.

 

[yodayoda]

in california, costco buys gas from all the distributors EXCEPT arco. my dad works for the AQMD which routinely tests gasolines in the area. he says arco gasoline is always the worst, with the highest levels of water and impurities, lower MPG, and higher emissions. luckily, costco knows this and does not buy their gas. they buy tosco (aka unocal 76), texacochevron, exxonmobil, shell, but not bp arco.

gasoline is not gasoline--you are believing arco advertisement propoganda if you think otherwise.

 

[MrScott81]

this doesn't really have anything to do with costco, but i just got back from Beverly Hills and gas cost me $2.19 for the cheap 87 stuff...what the hell is going on?!?!

 

[TemurKhan]

All grades of gasoline are identical until branded by the manufacturer. The 83 octane gas is chemically the same regardless of who makes it. The branding is what makes it different. In the case of low octane Sunoco it is only a blue dye. The higher grades get extremely small amounts, (parts per million), chemicals that will 'clean the fuel system', 'clean the injectors' ect. But until the branding is added, there is no chemical difference. Regardless of the station you buy your gas at, if a competitors bulk terminal is closer, you will most likely get the competitors unbranded gas with your stations branding chemicals added by the truck driver from a stash kept in the truck.

The way the gas is kept will change the contents as delivered at the station but at the bulk terminals it will be the same

 

[smartshopping]

I can use an expired Costco Amex Cash Rebate Card to pump gas in CT

 

[HarryK]

Originally posted by: yodayoda
gasoline is not gasoline--you are believing arco advertisement propoganda if you think otherwise.

You're the one believing the gas company propaganda, not us.

For the last 18 years I have always filled up at the cheapest pump I could find within a 15+ mile radius. I have never had knocking, low mileage or any other engine problems as a result of that decision. As others stated above, the only difference between brands are the added detergents

From the American Petrolium Institute:

"I can't say one brand is better than another, base gas is a freely traded commodity that must meet certain government specifications. It flows through common pipelines into commingled storage tanks."

"the major brands spend R-and-D money on patented additives, which they add to the basic gas."

Ron Baker, director of the Petroleum Extension Service of the University of Texas at Austin, is well informed on these additives. Which brand does Baker choose? "I buy cheap gas," he said. "All U.S. gas is of good quality."

Gabriel Shenhar, the senior auto test engineer for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, has experience that ought to make him a determined scoffer at brand preference.

"We tried to conduct tests a few years ago to measure the differences in acceleration and fuel economy of different gasoline brands," he said. "We bagged the test, because any differences we found were not greater than those you find day to day caused by changing air temperatures or humidity."

Whoever is paying 20-cents MORE per gallon at the pump to keep his broken muffler quet should try saving his money and getting that muffler fixed instead of wasting it on overpriced gasoline.

And you people call yourselves members of the Hot Deals forum. tisk-tisk

 

[ronniejay]

Mallow asked if this trick would work at Sam's. Sam's does not take AMEX for anything at all. Have not even tried any other card before my Sam's.

 

[rhong]

I've been doing this for over a year now, but the CostCo that I go to in Plano, TX doesn't accept my AMEX as a membership card anymore! It stopped working around the end of Feb. Is it my AMEX?

 

[k0rww]

I'm a Costco member and have been using just my Amex card until this week. It no longer works in the St. Louis Costco I frequent.