Costco Petrol Station 'Members Only': Who Can Fill Up in the UK (and With Which Card)

The sign on every Costco forecourt says "members only", and the price on the board is usually the reason people want to get round it. This post sets out who can actually fill up at a Costco petrol station in the UK: which memberships work, what they cost in 2026, whether your partner can use your membership, whether the card in the Costco app works at the pump, and what happens with a borrowed or expired card.

Short answer: You need an active Costco warehouse membership (Gold Star, Business, or either Executive tier) and you have to present your membership card at the pump before it will take payment. Gold Star costs £42 a year including VAT and Business £30. Each includes a free card for your spouse or partner, which works at the pump too. An Online-only membership does not get you in, Costco cards are not transferable, and we found no UK equivalent of the US Shop Card that lets non-members fill up.

Can anyone use a Costco petrol station in the UK?

No. Costco UK's Member Privileges & Conditions say "Only Costco members may purchase items", and the forecourt is no exception. The pumps are self-service and pay-at-the-pump: you present your membership card first, and only then can you pay and fuel. Trade press describes the same set-up. When the Reading forecourt opened in 2022, Forecourt Trader reported that drivers "have to swipe their Costco member's card first to give them access to the pumps."

So "can you use Costco fuel without a membership?" has a plain answer: no. There is no pay-at-kiosk lane for non-members and no cash option.

Not every warehouse has petrol, either. Of the 29 UK warehouses in our data, 22 have a petrol station. Cardiff, Chingford, Croydon, Farnborough, Hayes, Milton Keynes and Wembley don't. The full list, with today's prices, is on our UK Costco petrol stations page.

Which Costco memberships work at the pump?

Every membership that lets you shop in a warehouse works at the pump. Costco UK sells four of them, plus an Online-only membership that does not. These are the fees on costco.co.uk's membership page as of 15 October 2026:

Gold Star and Business are the current names for what Costco UK used to call Individual and Trade membership. The fees went up on 1 March 2025, the first rise in over eight years: Gold Star from £28 to £35 ex VAT, Business from £22 to £25, Executive Gold Star from £62 to £70 and Executive Business from £56 to £65 (UK Small Business Blog). Older articles quoting £33.60 for an individual membership are using the pre-2025 price.

Who qualifies for Gold Star and Business?

Warehouse membership is not open to everyone, which is the other half of "members only".

• Gold Star: Costco's qualification page lists current and retired employees of sectors including banking and finance, local government, fire and rescue, the Post Office, airlines, education, the police, the civil service and armed forces, the medical and health service, and insurance, plus professions such as accountants, solicitors, doctors, dentists, pharmacists and chartered engineers. You need an employee ID, payslip, pension statement or qualification certificate, plus photo ID.
• Business: for "business owners and managers". Costco's Business requirements accept one piece of business evidence dated within the last three months, such as a VAT certificate, Companies House certificate, business bank statement, an invoice, or a taxi driver licence, plus photo ID, shown in person at the membership desk.

The Business list is wide, and the Business fee is the lowest of the four, so sole traders often find Business membership is the cheapest way onto the forecourt.

Online-only membership won't get you fuel

Online-only membership needs no qualification, which is why people ask about it. Costco's conditions say Online-only members "will only be able to shop online at www.costco.co.uk and will not be able to shop at a Costco warehouse." The forecourt is part of the warehouse site, so treat Online-only as no fuel. Costco's terms don't mention the petrol station for this tier by name, but nothing suggests the pump will accept it.

Does Executive membership get you anything extra on fuel?

No. At the pump all four warehouse tiers pay the same price. Executive members earn a 2% reward on most purchases (capped at £500 a year for Executive Gold Star and £750 for Executive Business, per costco.co.uk), but Costco UK's conditions list "Fuel or EV Charging" among the purchases that don't earn it.

So if you are weighing up "Costco Executive membership fuel UK", the fuel side of the sum is zero. The upgrade costs an extra £35 ex VAT for Gold Star members and £40 ex VAT for Business members, and only pays for itself through in-warehouse spending. Our Executive reward guide works through the break-even using US figures; the logic is the same, the numbers differ.

Can my partner use my Costco membership for petrol?

Yes, with their own card. Costco UK's conditions say the Gold Star fee and the Business fee each include "a complimentary spouse/domestic partner card", and both Executive tiers include one too. That second card is a full membership card, so it works at the pump just like yours.

Business members can also add up to six extra cardholders at £15 plus VAT each (£18 including VAT). Costco says additional cards expire at the same time as the primary card.

What the UK does not have is the US-style "household card" for any adult at the same address. Costco UK's free card is specifically for a spouse or domestic partner, and membership is for people aged 18 and over, so a teenage driver can't have their own card. Some press coverage of the 2025 fee rise mentions a paid add-on card for Gold Star members (£20), but it is not listed in Costco's conditions we read, so ask at the membership desk if you need one.

Can I use someone else's Costco card for petrol?

Not by the rules. Costco UK's conditions say: "Your membership card is valid at any Costco warehouse worldwide and is not transferable." They also say "All transactions, including returns, can only be made by a card holder," and that membership "may be terminated at Costco's discretion and without cause."

The pump reads the card, not your face, so a borrowed card may well start the pump. That doesn't make it allowed. The card belongs to the named member, and if Costco decides it is being shared, the membership at risk is your friend's or relative's, not yours. The UK was ahead of the US on enforcement here: when Costco began testing entrance card scanners in US warehouses in January 2024, its then chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, told Axios that Costco was already using scanners in its UK warehouses.

Can I use my Costco digital card at UK pumps?

We couldn't confirm that it works, so bring the plastic card.

The Costco UK app does carry a digital membership card. Its App Store listing shows a July 2025 update that stopped screenshots of the digital membership card, and reviewers describe showing it to enter the warehouse and at the tills. But Costco UK has not published anything saying the digital card works at its petrol stations, and the only first-hand report we found, a March 2024 App Store review, says "the card does not work on the fuel stations either, so keep that in mind."

For comparison, the US Costco app card works at US pumps, while Costco Canada says its digital card is not accepted at its gas bars (details in using the Costco app at the pump). The UK has no published position either way. Until Costco says otherwise, treat the plastic card as the thing that opens the pump, and keep it with the card you pay with.

Is there any way to buy Costco petrol without a membership?

Not one we could confirm. In the US, non-members can fill up with a physical Costco Shop Card (a gift card a member buys for them). We found no UK version: costco.co.uk's gift card section sells third-party gift cards (experience days and the like), not a Costco Shop Card, and Costco UK's conditions don't mention one. Some websites repeat the US Shop Card trick as if it applies here. We could not find any Costco UK source to support that.

The legitimate routes are the ones above: your own warehouse membership, or the free spouse or partner card on someone else's.

How does the pump check your membership?

The sequence at a Costco UK pump is:

1. Scan the barcode on your membership card at the pump terminal.
2. The pump checks the card belongs to an active membership.
3. Pay by card at the same terminal. Costco UK takes Chip & PIN debit and credit cards; it does not take cash. Our guide to paying at Costco petrol in the UK covers the cards, Apple Pay and the £120 pre-authorisation.
4. Choose your fuel and fill up.

Costco says the pump "reads the barcode/membership number on the card and confirms the membership is active", so a lapsed or unrecognised card won't get you to the payment step. If the pump rejects a card you believe is valid, use the help button or go to the forecourt attendant, not the pump next door. First time at a Costco forecourt? Our UK guide to using a Costco petrol pump walks through every step.

All 22 UK Costco forecourts open 06:00–21:30 on weekdays and close earlier at weekends. Check yours on the Costco petrol opening times page before you set off, and see why the pumps open before the warehouse for Sundays and bank holidays.

What if my Costco membership has expired?

Renew first, then fill up. There is no way to renew at the pump. Costco UK's renewal page gives three routes:

• Online: sign in at costco.co.uk, go to My Account and select Renew Membership.
• In the warehouse: "the quickest way to renew is directly at the register during checkout or by visiting the Membership Desk."
• Auto-renewal: the primary cardholder can set it up in My Account, so the fee is charged each year.

Renewing late doesn't buy you free months. Under Costco's conditions, a membership renewed within two months of expiry runs for 12 months from the original expiry date, not from the day you pay. Fees are due "no later than the last day of the month your membership expires."

Is the membership worth it for petrol alone?

That depends on how much you buy. On 15 October 2026 our data showed Costco unleaded averaging 166.0p a litre across the 22 UK stations, from 161.9p at Liverpool to 170.9p at Reading. Diesel averaged 190.4p a litre, from 184.9p at Edinburgh and Watford to 194.9p at Reading and Southampton. See every station's diesel price on the Costco diesel price page.

A simple test: the Business fee is £30 and Gold Star is £42. At a saving of 5p a litre against your usual forecourt, £42 covers about 840 litres, or roughly 15 to 20 tanks for a typical family car. At 10p a litre it's half that. Our is Costco fuel cheaper post works out the real gap against the UK average and the big supermarkets. Compare your local prices first: our Costco petrol near me finder shows the nearest stations and today's prices, and the UK hub has the national picture.

Who can fill up at Costco? Every scenario