Pros
- No membership fees
- High rewards rate
- $30 initial rewards bonus
- No foreign fee
Cons
- Spending caps on rewards
- No intro APR on purchases
- No balance transfers allowed
- Requires good/excellent credit
Sam's Club® Credit Card
- Earn 5% cash back on eligible gas worldwide, including gas at Sam's Club (on the first $6,000 per year, then 1% after)
- Earn 3% cash back on dining and takeout.
- Earn 1% cash back on other purchases at Sam's Club and wherever Mastercard is accepted
- Plus members will earn 3% cash back on all Sam’s Club purchases, plus 2% in cash rewards on eligible in-club purchases, up to a maximum reward of $500 per year.
Rewards Details
- Receive a $30 statement credit when you open an account and spend $30 on Sam’s Club purchases within the first 30 days. Terms Apply.
- Earn 5% cash back on eligible gas worldwide, including gas at Sam's Club (on the first $6,000 per year, then 1% after)
- Earn 3% cash back on dining and takeout.
- Earn 1% cash back on other purchases at Sam's Club and wherever Mastercard is accepted
- Plus members will earn 3% cash back on all Sam’s Club purchases, plus 2% in cash rewards on eligible in-club purchases, up to a maximum reward of $500 per year.
- Maximum of $5,000 in Cash Back rewards can be earned in a calendar year
Additional Info
- Identity theft resolution services
- More Details & Reviews About Sam's Club® Credit Card
Is the Sam's Club® Credit Card Worth It?
The Sam's Club® Credit Card is worth it for Sam’s Club members who spend a lot on gas and dining. It gives 5% cash back on gas (up to $6,000 spent per year), 3% back on dining, takeout and on Sam’s Club purchases for Plus members, and 1% back on all other purchases (up to $5,000 earned in cash back rewards per year). In addition to its great rewards, the Sam's Club® Credit Card has a $0 annual fee. It’s available to people with good credit or better.
What You Need to Do to Make the Sam's Club® Credit Card Worthwhile
In order to make the Sam's Club® Credit Card worthwhile, you should pay your bill in full by the due date every month. The card doesn’t provide a low intro rate, and its regular APR ranges from 20.9% to 28.9% (V), depending on your creditworthiness when you apply. That can quickly dilute the value you get from your rewards if you carry a balance from month to month.
To fully maximize the value of the Sam's Club® Credit Card, you should also make a $30 purchase within the first 30 days. You’ll get back a bonus of $30, which may not be the biggest credit card bonus out there but still is a 100% return!
While rewards are this card’s strong suit, the financing side of things isn’t as appealing, which means you should only pursue it if you pay your bill in full every month. After all, it doesn’t provide a low intro rate and its regular APR ranges from 20.9% to 28.9% (V), depending on creditworthiness.
The Highlights
- 5% Cash Back On First $6,000 In Gas Each Year: If you do the math, this particular Sam’s Club Mastercard perk is worth up to $300. Not too shabby. This earning rate applies to pretty much anywhere you can fill up your tank, except for superstores and wholesale clubs not belonging to Sam. You’ll earn just 1% after the first $6,000, but it’s not a given that you’ll reach that threshold, considering the average American spends $1,909 on gas each year. Based on that amount, this bonus earning rate would be worth roughly $95 per year.
- 3% Cash Back On Travel & Dining: This aspect of the Sam's Club® Credit Card could be considered its hidden gem. If the card had been branded to appeal to travelers, its 3% earning rate that’s agnostic toward travel providers would be a big hit in its own right. And things get even sweeter with restaurants added to the mix. The average person spends about $4,575 per year in these two major categories combined, for which this card would yield roughly $137 in annual earnings. There’s no fishy fine print to note in regard to this earning rate, either. It all depends on merchant category codes, with generous definitions given to travel and dining:
Travel Dining Airlines Restaurants Hotels Drinking Places Rental Cars Fast Food Places Passenger Rail Caterers Buses Info Cruises Info Travel Sites Info Travel Agencies Info Timeshares Info Tour Operators Info All purchases that do not qualify for the bonus categories yield just 1% back. That is slightly below the market average of 1.17% cash back.
- No Annual Fee: There are many cards with terms that are far less attractive than what the Sam's Club® Card offers yet cost considerably more. Without an annual fee, it can be free to use if wielded wisely, and free is always a compelling perk.
The Lowlights
- Regular APR As High As 28.9% (V): Depending on your creditworthiness at the time of account approval, you will be assigned a regular APR of either 20.9% to 28.9% (V). The former actually is well below the 23.93% average for “good credit” credit cards, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report, while the latter obviously is well above it. In fact, it’s higher than the 27.48% charged by the average “fair credit” credit card. This all just goes to show that carrying a balance from month to month with this card is not advisable, especially if you get the higher of the two available APRs. What’s more, it’s worth noting that while you may be tempted by the 0% promotional financing deals the Sam's Club® Credit Card offers from time to time, it’s best to rest given the downside potential of such “deferred interest” arrangements.
- Sam’s Club Membership Required: Only Sam’s Club members can get the Sam's Club® Credit Card, which effectively attaches an annual price tag of at least $45 to the plastic. It also means the lifespan of your Sam's Club® Card is directly dependent upon your Sam’s Club status. If your membership goes, so too does your credit-card account.
- No Grocery-Specific Rewards: It’s a tad confusing that the Sam's Club® Credit Card offers extra cash back on gas, travel and dining, but not groceries. This may be a letdown for people looking for a way to minimize the cost of all Sam’s Club purchases, not just those made at the pump. You’ll just have to be content with the savings derived from your Sam’s Club membership.
Other Things To Consider
- Doubles As Your Membership Card: You won’t have to worry about carrying both a Sam’s Club membership card and a Sam's Club® Credit Card because the latter doubles as the former. That’s organizationally important, at least.
- 0% Foreign Fee: The Sam’s Club Mastercard used to charge a 3% foreign fee, applicable to any transaction processed outside the United States, whether you were physically abroad or not. However, this international surcharge went away making the card suitable for international travel.
- Rewards Earning & Redemption Restrictions: You can earn no more than $5,000 in rewards with the Sam's Club® Credit Card, but that’s unlikely to affect most people considering that you’d have to spend at least $100,000 (over roughly 17 years) or nearly $163,000 in a single year to hit that threshold, based on the card’s earning rates and category limits. Instead, it’s the fact that cash-back earnings are only distributed once each year, in the form of a February check that can only be cashed in person at a Sam’s Club location. But you have to earn a minimum of $5 to receive the check, which expires after 180 days. What’s more, your earned rewards will be revoked if your account falls out of good standing or your Sam’s Club membership is closed.
Compared To The Competition
| WINNER | ||
|---|---|---|
annual fee$0 | annual fee$0 | annual fee$0 |
rewards rate
| rewards rate
| rewards rate
|
bonus offer $30 | bonus offer LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn $300 in welcome bonuses. Enjoy a $100 credit to use towards flights, stays and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel during your first cardholder year. Plus, earn a $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening | bonus offer Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. |
Purchase Intro APRN/A | Purchase Intro APR0% for 15 months | Purchase Intro APRN/A |
transfer intro aprN/A | transfer intro apr0% for 15 months Transfer Fee: 3% for the first 15 months, 4% at a promo APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time | transfer intro apr0% for 18 months Transfer Fee: 3% intro fee ($5 min) for each transfer in first 4 months, after that 5% ($5 min) for each transfer |
Regular APR20.9% - 28.9% (V) | Regular APR18.99% - 28.99% (V) | Regular APR17.99% - 27.99% (V) |
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Sam's Club® Credit Card Review Methodology
This Sam's Club® Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Sam's Club® Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Sam's Club® Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Sam's Club® Credit Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Sam's Club® Credit Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
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