Costco Travel and America West Airlines today announced they have entered
into a partnership that will provide Costco Members access to exclusive
vacations to Las Vegas and Reno/Lake Tahoe. Nevada vacations are available
to Costco Members immediately, for travel beginning Jan. 1, 2004, by
calling Costco Travel. Effective Dec. 29, 2003, these packages will become
the first Costco Travel vacation product available for online booking at
http://www.costco.com/ .

“Costco Travel proudly stands behind its vacation products by partnering
with travel providers known for their quality and value,” said Court
Newberry, president of Costco Travel. “Our Members indicated they wanted
access to vacations to two of the most popular leisure destinations in our
country, Las Vegas and Reno/Lake Tahoe, and we have delivered. With its
Las Vegas hub and full service, low fare product, America West is a
natural partner for Costco Travel. By partnering with America West
Vacations, Costco Members traveling to Nevada can now book the same high
quality, value driven vacations they have come to expect from their Costco
membership.”
“We are extremely pleased to partner with Costco Travel and believe our
services will offer great value to their Members,” said Scott Kirby,
America West Airlines executive vice president, sales and marketing.
“America West offers a full service air product with service to Las Vegas
from 75 U.S. cities, first class upgrade opportunities and an award
winning frequent flyer program. In addition, America West Vacations, known
as the Vegas Experts, sends more than 400,000 people on vacation every
year and calls upon 15 years of experience in Nevada. We know the city
well and have developed long-term relationships in Las Vegas with a wide
variety of the high quality venues Costco Members have come to expect when
they book with Costco Travel.”
Costco Travel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Costco Wholesale.
Costco Wholesale is the premier membership warehouse club, offering its
members high-quality, brand-name and private-label merchandise at low
warehouse prices. The company has more than 43 million Costco cardholders
and 100,000 employees worldwide. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ
exchange under the symbol COST. Costco Travel stands behinds its vacations
by guaranteeing that the hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise lines, rental
car companies and ground transfer companies are of the highest quality and
consistently uphold the standards expected of all Costco products.

Founded in 1983 and proudly celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2003,
America West Airlines is the nation`s second largest low-fare airline and
the only carrier formed since deregulation to achieve major airline
status. America West`s 13,000 employees serve nearly 55,000 customers a
day in 93 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica.

America West Airlines editorial, based on news release distributed by PR Newswire

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