The Costco perk that saved me $1,000 on vacation

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Most people love Costco for bulk snacks and $1.50 hot dogs, but frequent travelers can save thousands through one of its lesser-known perks: CostcoTravel.com​. Here's how it beat all other booking options — by a long shot — on my family's upcoming fall getaway.

My husband is a travel agent, yet we still book resorts and car rentals through ​CostcoTravel.com​ all the time. We do it because Costco frequently offers lower pricing for travel than you can get by booking directly, through an online travel discount site (like Expedia or Priceline), or through an agency.

Take this seven-night booking we made at the Royalton Bavaro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic over this year's fall break with our kids.

We've stayed at this property a few times in the past, and we love its sprawling pools, lazy river with swim-up bar, and huge room options for families.

This resort is part of the Marriott Bonvoy program, so you can book it for around 60,000 Marriott points per night with double occupancy.

The room type we wanted (Luxury Presidential One Bedroom Suite Diamond Club) was going for $4,780.20 if we booked directly with Royalton and within a few dollars of that price if we booked directly with Marriott.

However, booking the exact same room type through Costco Travel got us a price of $4,086.21. On top of that, we're getting back a $359 Costco Shop Card (a gift card you can use for purchases in the store).

When you subtract the value of the gift card from the booking price, we scored seven nights in this all-inclusive property we love for $3,727.21.

That's around $1,000 off the price of booking direct!

It's always worth checking Costco Travel to see if it offers you similar savings, but you'll want to keep the following things in mind before you book.

• You will not enjoy hotel elite status benefits or earn rewards. You're not supposed to earn hotel loyalty points for this type of third-party booking, nor are you supposed to be eligible for elite status benefits. You can always try to add your hotel booking number to your stay when you arrive at your hotel, but there's a good chance you'll miss out on these perks.
• You can pay with any Visa or Mastercard rewards credit card. While Costco Travel doesn't accept American Express, you can use Visa or Mastercard rewards cards to foot the bill. This means you can use your Costco Travel booking to earn rewards, work toward a credit card sign-up bonus requirement, or both.
• Costco cancellation policies are superb. Many hotel, cruise, and resort bookings through the platform require you to put down a small deposit (usually $200 or $400 for resorts), then you pay the balance a few months before your trip. However, you can often get a full refund within less than a week of departure. For my fall break trip that departs on October 12th, I can cancel and get 100% of my money back until October 9th.
• Compare pricing on resorts, cruises, and car rentals. While I have personally found the best pricing on all-inclusive resorts through the platform, there are also great deals on traditional hotels, car rentals, and cruises. Make sure to compare pricing with other booking options.