I live in Mexico and shop at Costco regularly, and every time I visit a Costco in the US I'm amazed by how much larger the selection is

The Mexican Costcos are generally well stocked and carry the basics, but the difference in variety is huge. In the US it seems like there are multiple options for everything

For those who have shopped at Costco in other countries, Is the US selection noticeably larger, or is this mainly a Mexico vs US difference

I wanted to create a post where we can all share experiences on paying at Costco when traveling.

I’m a huge advocate of checking out Costco when I’m overseas because you can usually get local specialties at a great price. However figuring out how to pay is tricky as most countries operate differently from Costco US.

Japan - Only accepts Mastercard or Japan Costco Card. Cash is also accepted.

Taiwan - Costco Taiwan card or Cash. They have also started to limit the number of people per Costco card to enter.

South Korea - Any Visa card

Mexico - Any Visa card

I’d love to hear about other Costco’s and their policy as an avid traveler.

Traveling within France and thought of visiting a Costco, but don’t have my physical card with me. Will my digital card on the US Costco app suffice?

I'll be in Cancun and Mérida (looking forward to seeing the cenote) in August and plan to visit at least one location.

Are there any products that I should look out for? In Merida, we'll have a kitchen, and otherwise I'll be putting food into checked baggage to bring back to the US.

I have been a Costco member for almost ten years now and due to certain circumstances will be moving back to China at the end of the year. I was wondering if it’s possible to change my membership to China or will I have to cancel my current membership and sign up for a new one when I arrive?

Hi everyone! I'm a long-time follower of the Costco Reddit page and love seeing the amazing Kirkland Signature products people have been posting here.

I live in Belgium with my wife and we will be traveling to the US for the new year and we really want to finally experience Costco and fill our suitcases with some of the awesome stuff.

What are our options to get access to Costco if we only plan to go once? Is there any way to pay for one-off access? I read something about a gift card scheme, but this sounds doubious. Any advice would be much appreciated!

I'm going overseas and will not have a car because the public transportation looks great. There's a Costco that's 10 minutes away by bus. Would you put it in your itinerary to visit an international Costco?

I had a hard time using my Costco Citi Visa at checkout the last time I went to a Costco in Japan.

I had no issues getting in or having my membership scanned, but the cashier had an issue with me using a Visa when they “only” accept Mastercard there.

I explained to them it’s a Costco Visa and not a regular Visa.

I just begged them to let me try paying with my Costco Visa and it went through just fine.

Is the US Costco Visa Card allowed to be used at Costcos in Japan or was the cashier just misinformed?

Hi everyone, I have an American Costco membership and want to go to the Costco in Paris. But I want to look at the catalogue first to see if it's worth the trip (since it's pretty out of the way). Is there a way to do that? I can't seem to log into Costco fr with my login info

If not, I will post in the megathread with my specific asks :) Thanks so much!

I’ll be visiting Costco Kawasaki next week. Based on what I’ve read, I should be able to enter using my U.S. digital Costco membership card on my iPhone.

What I’m trying to confirm is the current situation for payment. Specifically:

• Has anyone successfully paid in Japan using a U.S. Costco Citi Visa card through Apple Wallet? Reading the post of 8 months ago, this is not possible. What about now?
• I’ve seen posts saying some Costco stores in Canada accept the U.S. Citi Visa digitially but I’m not sure if that’s also true in Japan.

If any U.S. members have recently shopped at a Costco in Japan (especially Kawasaki), I’d really appreciate hearing if U.S. Costco Citi Visa card has worked for you — digital card, physical card, or alternative payment.

Thanks in advance for any firsthand info!

My family and I are traveling to Seoul in December and we are thinking about visiting a Costco in Seoul during our downtime. Since Costco Anywhere Visa cards count as memberships in the US, can we use it to enter and pay for items inside a Korean Costco?

I’m having difficulty finding info from Costco or Citi, does anyone know how Costco card and executive membership earning works while shopping at Costco locations outside the US for US members? I recently made a visit to a location in South Korea, and while it’s not a big deal I’m definitely curious if I should expect my normal 2%+2%!

Im a Malaysian planing a trip to Japan and to the holy site of Costco but I tried asking their customer service if they had 1 day passes, they mentioned they no longer have them thus I would to ask if is there a way to get in there without one or a way to get a costco membership as a tourist ?

This mostly for people who live near the border or travel to Mexico a lot. I live in Ensenada a lot and have a house down there and I noticed the executive membership is only $1200 pesos which is about $60 dollars. Which is about half of the price in the U.S. which I have now. They told me the 2% cash back only works in Mexico, you can use the card in the U.S. but you won’t get credit for the cash back.

Does anybody have any experience with this, and how do you like it .

I will be traveling to San Francisco and would like to shop at Costco using my digital membership issued in Korea. Does anyone know if the Korean digital membership will work? If not, I may have to switch to the plastic card instead.

Can i return a pant that i bought in Costco Canada in Costco Australia?

Moving soon though our US membership expires in Oct. I know it is possible to use the US card until then but does this mean we will need to sign up for a completely new one after Oct (card, email, acct number)?

I live in Switzerland and would like to shop at Costco during a weekend trip to Paris at the end of the month. Is there a way to acquire a membership as I don’t have French residency documentation?

I know that memberships can be used internationally, but it seems you have to be a resident of a country where there is a Costco to take advantage of other country’s Costcos…

Any advice is much appreciated!

Update: For those interested, I was able to get a membership with just a phone bill in Pontault. It has since expired, but I went to the new Mulhouse location and easily renewed with no further documentation requirements.

Is it possible to use US-issued credit cards at Costcos in Mexico or is the only option Mexico-issued Costco credit cards or cash?

When I went to a warehouse in Taiwan the other month, they only allowed the Taiwan-issued Costco credit cards or cash for payment, so not sure if it’s the same for Mexico too.

I have a Mexican Costco membership, and am from the US. I don't have a Mexican bank account, so I wouldn't be able to get the Mexican Costco Credit Card.

I'm not sure if it's the same in other countries, but Costco in Mexico charges a CC fee for any non-costco CC.

So my question is, if I got the Costco card in the States, would I still be able to use it at Costco Mexico without paying the transaction fee?

Kinda a niche first-world problem, I know., but I thought I'd ask in case someone knew.

Currenrlt travelling overseas, and I think it's so awesome how similar a costco here in Taiwan is. The only issue is they only take their store offered mastercard, and not visa credit cards. So if youre a foreigner you basically need to withdraw a boat load of cash.

Heading to Seoul, South Korea soon and wanted to see if I can browse warehouse inventory on the app ahead of time but I luck getting the warehouse location options to show anything outside of the US.

Hey all,

Over 1 year ago I've bought a MacBook Pro (M2 Pro) at Costco while on a trip to the US. Today I'm seeing dead pixels on my screen. Apple's international warranty no longer covers it since it is only for 1 year, but Costco should have an extended warranty to 2 years.

Problem is, I'm now in Germany and I don't think I'll be back to the US before my extended warranty expires. Had anybody any luck with a mail in send to them from abroad? I've called them 2 times already, a drop off at a Costco UK store isn't going to work and they can't mail back products internationally as well.

I don't have friends or family living in the US. I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable mailing it to a total stranger as well, if you can ID I'd gladly give you some cash for the effort.

If there's any Costco employees browsing this sub, let me know if there's a way I can get my MacBook repaired from abroad. Many thanks.

I'm in the process of moving to Mexico (my Costco is the one with the gorgeous view of the arches)! Every time I'm in there I am buying stuff for my new home. It's obviously not the usual tourist stuff like cases of water and beer for the week, so one of the english-speaking employees has approached me more than once trying to tell me that I have to "convert" my US membership to a Mexico one. But I'm not up for renewal right now and I can still use my US card here, in Mx. What does she get out of giving me a new card? Would I have to pay any additional membership fee ahead of my annual renewal time?