Buying hearing aids at Costco…The process, details and pricing below…

Note: The content of our posts often has little to do with the photos we add. This way, we can continue to share pictures of our surroundings.

Our long-time dear reader Pam wrote requesting details about Tom’s experience buying hearing aids at Costco. Other readers have written in the past inquiring about this topic, but with many worldwide readers without a Costco store, I hesitated to share the detailed story.

However, when Pam wrote an email yesterday requesting information on the Costco procee, I decided it was time to delve into it. What do hearing aids have to do with world travel? Quite a lot based on Tom’s experiences since we began traveling in 2012. Here are some reasons why those with hearing loss may benefit from hearing aids after struggling to hear for years.

Senior travelers with hearing loss need hearing aids to stay connected, safe, and fully engaged in their experiences. Traveling—solo or with companions—relies heavily on communication, environmental awareness, and adapting to new situations. Hearing aids can make a significant difference in several ways:

1. Enhanced Ability to Communicate

Travel often involves talking with locals, fellow travelers, hotel staff, and tour guides. Without a hearing aid, conversations can become frustrating, leading to misunderstandings or missed opportunities to connect with others. Being able to hear allows senior travelers to immerse themselves in their journey without constantly asking people to repeat themselves.

2. Safety and Awareness of Surroundings

Hearing loss can pose serious safety risks, from crossing busy streets to navigating unfamiliar train stations. Announcements in airports, train stations, or buses often include crucial information about gate changes, boarding times, and delays. With a hearing aid, travelers can hear these updates clearly, reducing stress and the risk of missing important details.

3. Hearing the Sounds 

Traveling is about experiencing the world—whether it’s the sound of waves crashing on a secluded beach, a tour guide explaining ancient ruins, or a street musician’s performance in a bustling city square. Hearing aids help senior travelers fully absorb these moments rather than feeling disconnected from their surroundings.

4. Reduction of Travel Stresses

Travel can be overwhelming, especially in noisy environments like crowded airports or foreign cities with unfamiliar languages. Struggling to hear can add to the stress and fatigue. Modern hearing aids with noise reduction features help filter background noise, making it easier to focus on essential sounds.

5. Maintaining Independence and Self-Confidence

Many seniors value their independence, and hearing loss can make them feel reliant on others to repeat information or assist in understanding what’s happening. Wearing hearing aids allows them to maintain confidence while navigating new places, ordering food, or asking for directions.

6. Communicating with Travel Companions

If traveling with family or friends, being unable to hear correctly can create a sense of isolation. Conversations during meals, long road trips, or sightseeing become more challenging. Hearing aids ensure senior travelers remain active in the group rather than feeling left out.

Hearing aids aren’t just a convenience for senior travelers—they are essential for making the most of every adventure. They allow people to connect, stay safe, and enjoy the world in all its richness. For those who love to travel, investing in good hearing aids means fewer limitations and more unforgettable experiences.

Over the past twenty years, Tom’s hearing has gradually worsened from 42½ years of working on the railroad, mainly from being in the locomotive’s cab up to 16 hours a day, eventually 12 hours a day, from the diesel power plant’s steady roar. The railroad provided many hearing tests to determine his hearing loss over the years.

Since we’ve been traveling, his hearing loss seems to have escalated, and I often repeat myself in a loud tone for him to hear what I am saying. He struggles to listen to conversations in social settings, especially when there is background noise, but he learned to read lips proficiently.

He was stubborn and refused to consider it for years when I suggested the prospect of him buying the devices. Hearing loss and blindness are hereditary in his family, and he didn’t like the prospect of wearing clunky-looking hearing aids and dealing with batteries while we’re traveling.

When COVID-19 hit, he struggled even more with everyone wearing masks. It was at this time that he came to realize how severe his hearing loss had become.

While we were in Minnesota last May, he finally bought hearing aids after many expressed satisfaction with Costco’s service, process, and pricing. We made the appointment after being Costco members for many years and happy with their products and services.

Once he made the appointment, he received an email stating he needed to stop by the store to determine the amount of wax in his ears, if any, since a doctor would have to remove it before taking the hearing test. This made sense. He has no wax and is waiting for his hearing test, which was a few weeks later.

The test took less than an hour, and when he came out of the hearing aid area in the store, where I waited for him, he immediately told me how impressed he was with the audiologist’s skill and the detail and complexity of the test, more than any test he had in the past.

After the hearing aid test, he was presented with two brand options for the hearing aids: Phillips and Jabra. They were almost equally priced and could be operated by an app on one’s phone. He chose the Phillips. It took about a month for his order to arrive at the store, and he immediately made an appointment for the fitting that he’d made earlier.

The fitting appointment lasted about 30 minutes, during which the audiologist made adjustments and set up the app on his phone, which he’s been using ever since.

Either brand of hearing aids does not require batteries. They are charged daily by an included electric plug and an easy-to-use charging station. The charge usually lasts all day and evening, so he recharges them during the night.

\He makes any necessary adjustments while wearing the hearing aids using the app on his phone. There are options for different environments.

The total cost for the Phillips product was US $1700, ZAR 30995.27, and, according to Tom, was a worthwhile investment. He did not have health insurance that paid any portion of this. We charged the cost on our Costo Citibank Visa card, for which we got reward points. He was given the necessary easy-to-use cleaning supplies, which he’ll replenish when we return to the US in May/June.

He’s thrilled. I’m thrilled he can now hear, and our lives of world travel have been enhanced.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 22, 2015: