CostcoGasHours

Our Data Sources

Transparency is key to our platform. Here is exactly how we get our data and how we ensure its accuracy.

1. Community Reports

Community-reported prices are the core of our pricing data. When a driver visits a Costco station, they can submit the price they saw at the pump through our platform. Each report is timestamped and labeled so you always know how recently the price was recorded. Prices may change — always verify at the pump.

2. Data Aggregation

We supplement community reports with verified station listings — manually reviewed and imported from publicly available information. New stations are added by our admin team before community price reports begin.

Station location data (coordinates, addresses, opening hours) is sourced from OpenStreetMap, a free, editable map of the world maintained by a global community of contributors.

Station location data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

Our Confidence Scoring System

Not all data points are created equal. An update submitted 5 minutes ago by a trusted user is much more reliable than an automated feed from two days ago. That's why we apply a Confidence Score (0-100) to every price we display.

90-100
High Confidence (Verified)Price was reported very recently (typically today) or corroborated by multiple independent sources within a short timeframe.
50-89
Medium ConfidencePrice is likely accurate but is starting to age (24-48 hours old) or comes from a single unverified source. Prices marked yellow should be treated as estimates.
< 50
Low Confidence (Needs Verification)Price data is old (typically 3+ days) and may no longer reflect the reality at the pump. We display these primarily for historical context until a new report is received.

Station Hours

Station hours are generally more static than fuel prices. We maintain a database of regular operating hours for each location. We update this database periodically to account for seasonal shifts, daylight saving time adjustments, and permanent schedule changes. During major holidays (like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), we apply global overrides as nearly all locations follow the same holiday closure schedule.

Google Maps & Google Places

Some station pages optionally display a "View on Google Maps" link and may show supplemental information retrieved live from the Google Places API, including ratings, listed phone numbers, and last-known fuel prices.

Google Places may provide last-known fuel price data for some stations via the fuelOptions field. Where shown, these prices are labelled clearly as "Google listing prices" and are displayed in a separate card, distinct from our community-reported prices.

  • We use our own station database as the source of truth. Google data is supplemental only.
  • Google-derived prices are displayed separately from community-reported and imported prices. They are never merged into our price history.
  • Google-derived prices are not treated as our own verified price data unless explicitly reviewed and approved.
  • Google Maps data, where displayed, is shown with required Google attribution ("Powered by Google").
  • We store only the Google place_id and the Google Maps URI. No other Google Places content is stored permanently.
  • Fuel prices from Google are fetched on demand and cached in memory for up to 55 seconds. They are never written to our database.
  • Prices may change without notice. Always verify at the pump.
  • We are not affiliated with Costco Wholesale Corporation or Google LLC.
  • We do not scrape Google Maps. All Google data is fetched through the official Google Places API (New) with proper attribution and in compliance with Google's Terms of Service.

Google enrichment workflow

Stations are linked to their Google Place ID through an admin review process. Each link is verified individually by an admin before being saved. No automated bulk-matching is performed without human review.

The enrichment workflow assigns each station a status: matched (a Place ID is confirmed), skipped (deferred for later review), or no match found (no corresponding Google Place exists). These statuses are for internal tracking only and are not displayed publicly.

What can be stored: place_id, Google Maps URI, and enrichment workflow status fields (matched/skipped/no_match). What must not be stored: fuel price values, price timestamps, ratings, or any other transient Google Places content. Fuel prices are always fetched live and never persisted.

Disclaimers

CostcoGasHours.com is an independent, community-run directory. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Costco Wholesale Corporation. Station data, hours, and prices are provided for informational purposes only and may not reflect current conditions. Always verify information directly at the station or via Costco's official website.