The sneaky way to get Costco food court access with no membership

Most retailers don't charge people a fee just to walk in the door. But Costco isn't like most retailers.

If you want access to Costco, you'll need to pay up. Right now, a Gold Star membership costs $65 a year, while an Executive membership costs $130.

For people who can't afford these fees or don't want to pay them, there are plenty of options for buying low-cost food and household essentials.

Walmart, for example, is known for its everyday low prices, while discount grocers like Aldi can help stretch a budget.

But while many of Costco's competitors don't charge a membership fee, they can't always match Costco's ultra-low prices without compromising on quality. So for many people, it pays to join Costco despite the up-front cost.

The sneaky way to get Costco food court access with no membership.

Image source: Shutterstock-Ant DM

Costco takes food court access away from non-members

Part of the reason Costco is able to offer such low prices is that it offsets its costs with membership fee revenue. Put another way, Costco doesn't have to make such a huge profit on each product it sells because it's getting revenue elsewhere.

For this reason, it's in Costco's best interest to grow its membership base. And one tactic it used to utilize to that effect was welcoming anyone into its food courts.

Last year, however, Costco decided to do away with that practice. Now, food court meals are limited to members only.

This move might seem counterintuitive. But as much as Costco wants to gain new members, it also wants to keep its existing members.

Part of the company's decision to limit food court access to members alone came after far too many customers complained about overcrowded stores and parking lots, particularly on weekends.

Even though non-members couldn't shop at Costco without joining, allowing them in to eat meant having more bodies crammed into those warehouse club stores and having more parking spots filled.

It was getting to be too much at popular locations, so Costco halted the practice altogether.

Secret hack could get you food court access

Costco's food court is, for many members, a highlight of shopping at the store. Members tend to love the soft serve ice cream, budget-friendly pizza, and unbeatable $1.50 hot dog combo.

If you're a non-member who used to waltz into Costco to grab a food court meal but haven't been able to do that for far too long, there may be a trick you can use to get in.

Whether it's the right thing to do, however, is another story.

As a non-member, you can ask to go to customer service to sign up and join. You can also ask to go over to customer service to simply ask a question.

Once you're let into the store, there's really nothing to stop you from walking over to the food court and ordering a meal or snack. That's because you can pay for a food court meal in cash without having to show or scan a membership card.

So say you're passing Costco on the way home from work and you're jonesing for a food court chicken bake. At the door, all you need to do is say you want to speak to customer service, and that's your ticket in.

To be clear, this trick won't work if you actually try to buy something at Costco. Even if you're paying in cash, to check out, you need to either show a membership ID card or show that you've been given a Shop Card (Costco's version of a gift card, which only members can purchase).

But since the food court accepts cash without having to show a membership card, it's a different story.

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Now just because this hack exists doesn't mean it's ethical. And if too many people start doing it, Costco could change its policy and require all customers to show a membership card at the food court.

That, frankly, could be borderline disastrous and cause a host of bottlenecks, so let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.