Is a Costco Executive Membership worth $120/year?
Posted By RichC on November 15, 2023
After one year of Costco Executive membership it was time to ask the “is it worth it” question. Thankfully for us, after one year, it did pay for itself for the first year. For us, at least for the first year, being an Executive Member vs Gold Star Member at Costco did pay off, but we also bought too much stuff!
So how about in 2024?
After my back of the envelope calculations came up with a net gain of $26 for 2023, it was time to think about 2024; Do we upgrade or downgrade? Last year’s sign up also included the $50 signup bonus 
whereas this year’s continuation will not? Hm?
The worth now comes down to our individual shopping habits and what we intend to purchase at Costco this year?
The Executive level membership costs $120 per year, which is double the cost of a Gold Star membership of $60. However, Citibank Credit Card Executive members receive a 2% cash back reward on all eligible purchases, up to $1,000 per year and can get free shipping on most online orders (we have not used that perk yet). The added plus, if you are close enough to use a 
Costco filling station, is that there is a 4% cash back on Costco gasoline (but depressingly no diesel pump).
So … if we spend the same this year as last, the 2% cash back rewards will still offset the additional $60 on top of the membership fee. We will go for another year.
From Costco’s marketing pitch:
After all the updating, snapshotting and restarting … I think the load levels and “swappiness” (yes, that is the Linux term for RAM to harddrive) … I think the server is running normally. I’m crossing my fingers. 
