Does Costco beat out the competition when it comes to travel?

You probably think of big warehouse clubs when you need to stock up on paper towels, laundry detergent or energy bars for the month. But Costco wants to help you plan your next vacation.

The big warehouse store has a travel site anyone can browse. To get the deals, you will need a $55 Costco membership.

At www.costcotravel.com, you'll find vacation packages for trips all over the world, cruises, rental cars and tickets to theme parks like Disney World.

Kyle James of the blog, Rather Be Shopping said Costco does with travel what it's known for, buying in bulk. It then passes that savings on to you.

"I was able to do some price comparisons," James explained. "I took the Costco price and I built the same vacation packages on Travelocity and Expedia. In both cases, the packages were 15 to 20 percent cheaper from Costco Travel."

Check out cruises. Consumer expert Amy Davis found a 3-night Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami for $354 Costco Travel. It's the same price on www.cruise.com,  but if you type in a Costco membership number, you can see that you'll also get a $45 Costco card through Costco Travel. The Huffington Post says you can combine that with the $50 on-board credit Royal Caribbean is already offering. In that instance, you do need to enter a Costco membership number to see the extra perks like the value of the Costco card, but James says you can see most deals without one.

"So if you're on the fence about buying a membership, you can see how the savings you'll get on your trip can easily pay for a Costco membership," said James.


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Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.