Costco announces change to $1.50 hot dog combo for the first time in 40 years

Amber RaikenFri, May 1, 2026 at 1:46 PM UTC

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Costco shoppers have discovered that the retailer has changed its iconic $1.50 hot dog combo.

Since 1985, the wholesale club has offered a 20-ounce refillable fountain drink and a quarter-pound beef hot dog for less than two dollars. The price of the meal, sold in Costco food courts, has remained unchanged for the last 40 years.

However, shoppers have realized that they can now make a slight modification to their order. According to a Reddit post shared by a Costco member in Virginia, customers can pair their hot dog with a 16.9-ounce bottle of Kirkland Signature water, instead of a soda.

In the comments, Costco members in Nevada and California said that they also noticed the change to the offer in their stores. It’s not clear if and when all U.S. locations will include the bottled water as an option.

The Independent has contacted Costco for comment.

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Costco has been offering its signature $1.50 hot dog combo since 1985 (Getty Images)

Costco customers can pair their hot dog with a water bottle instead of a soda when buying the iconic $1.50 combo (Getty Images)

Despite the minor change, Costco prides itself on keeping one thing about the combo the same: the $1.50 price. During a 2024 quarterly earnings call, Costco’s chief financial officer, Gary Millerchip, declared that the deal wouldn’t be hit with a price hike, regardless of how the cost-of-living crisis impacted the food industry.

“As inflation has leveled off, our members are returning to purchasing more discretionary items,” he said. “Oh, and to clear up some recent media speculation, I also want to confirm the $1.50 hot dog price is safe.”

In 2018, Costco’s former CEO, Jim Sinegal, jokingly warned his successor, Craig Jelinek, to keep the hot dog at the $1.50 price, no matter what.

“I came to [Mr. Sinegal] once, and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.’ And he said, ‘If you raise the ef**** hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out,” Jelinek recalled in a presentation at the time, reported on by 425 Business.

Aside from food court offerings, Costco has recently made changes to its shopping policies. For years, members of the warehouse club were able to return nearly anything and receive a full refund, regardless of how long ago the purchase was made or if they had lost the receipt.

However, in February, shoppers found that Costco workers began requiring extra proof of purchase for some returns, with managers even checking to see how often customers are returning their purchases. The discovery came as social media users shared stories of customers returning Christmas trees well after the holiday season was over — and other instances of members clearly taking advantage of the 90-day return policy.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”