Costco Membership Changes (Extended Hours, Self-Checkout Improvements, New Credits)

Costco has been making several changes recently, and it’s not just the new hours. As someone who has recently joined Sam’s Club, it is interesting to see how the competition between them has actually made them both better.

All Members

Using hand scanner to quickly zap at Self-Checkout. Although Costco does not (yet?) use the nifty Scan&Go system using your mobile phone, they have started allowing you to use the wireless hand scanner at Self-Checkout. No longer do you have to pick up every single item and put it on the scale. Now you can use the hand scanner and try to match the speed-zapping skills of the veteran cashiers. They are also testing out the equivalent of Scan&Go, but this is already pretty close. Costco Digital Membership card. I don’t really mind the new door scanners, as at least now I don’t have to carry my physical membership card anymore. The Costco app works at the door, at checkout, and at the food court. Coke products at Food Court. I’m old enough to remember Coke in the food court, but it has been Pepsi for the last 12 years. By the end of June, all of the fountain drinks should be Coke products again. Not a big deal, but I am Team Coke, so that makes me happy. Sam’s is still Pepsi. Long live the $1.50 hot dog! Extra hour on Saturdays. This is for all members, and they will close at 7pm instead of 6pm traditionally. Should start 6/30. Extended gas station hours. Earlier in 2025, Costco extended its gas station hours to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sundays. New types of specialty stores. There are now smaller, separate Costco locations popping up that only focus on furniture and appliances. I guess this how Costco plans to keep growing its sales volume, because they will eventually get saturated with their normal stores.

Executive Members *Only* (starts 6/30)

New Early Shopping Hours Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. Saturday: 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Sunday: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Sam’s Club has kept their extra hours for Plus members this entire time, I know that it is usually 8am to 10am on weekdays at my nearest Sam’s.

Monthly $10 credit towards “Same-Day” or Instacart orders of $150+ for US and Canadian members. At $130 a year for Executive instead of $65 for Gold, the breakeven spending amount given the 2% Executive cash back is now $3,250 a year, or an average of ~$271 per month. If you include your Costco gas purchases, you may find yourself very close to this number.

Still missing the best feature from Sam’s Club? The best thing about Sam’s Club (now that I will eventually run out of my 20% off gift cards from Pepper) is their Pick Up service. Their app has solid inventory accuracy, and this way I can just shop on the app, have them bring everything directly to my car, and save a lot of time with no price markup. Sam’s Club has copied the Kirkland private label and I see Member’s Mark everything now. I wonder if/when Costco will copy the Sam’s Club Pick Up service.

Have you noticed any other changes at Costco?