Attention Sam’s Club Shoppers: Earn Easy Miles, Points, or Cash Back on Purchases!
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This page includes information about the Discover it® Cash Back that is not currently available on Million Mile Secrets and may be out of date.
| Card Name | Earn Rate on Costco Purchases |
|---|---|
| Discover it® Cash Back | - Earn 5% cash back (up to $75 each quarter) when wholesale clubs (includes Sam's Club) are included in the rotating quarterly bonus category |
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | - Earn 2 Venture miles per $1 on ALL purchases with no cap |
| Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express or Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express | - Earn 1 Starwood point per $1 on Sam's Club purchases |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | -Earn 1.5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points (1.5% cash back) with no cap |
Shoppers at Sam’s Club can earn valuable miles, points, or cash back by making purchases with the right rewards credit card!
Some cards specifically include warehouse clubs, like Sam’s Club, as a bonus category. So it’s possible to earn bonus cash back on purchases you were already planning!
I know lots of folks were disappointed that several Sam’s Club locations are closing. If your local store was affected, you can call Sam’s Club customer service at 888- 746-7726 to request a refund of your membership fee. Or you can cancel online.
Some of y’all might already have some of the top credit cards for Sam’s Club purchases in your wallet. If not, you might consider applying. A few cards on the list have no annual fee, which are great to have in your wallet because they increase the average age of your accounts and can potentially improve your credit score.
4 Best Credit Cards to Use at Sam’s Club 2018
The best card to use at Sam’s Club might depend on your recent applications.
For example, if you recently got a new card and are working to meet minimum spending requirements, I’d recommend using that card until you earn the sign-up bonus.
Earning lucrative new cardmember sign-up bonuses is the quickest and easiest way to get Big Travel with Small Money!
But after that, here are the 5 best cards to use to earn rewards!
1. Discover it
Link: Discover it Cash Back
Discover it Cash Back cardholders can earn lots of cash back by shopping at Sam’s Club in 2018. This card has rotating quarterly bonus categories, which sometimes include wholesale clubs.
In 2018, you’ll earn 5% cash back at wholesale clubs when you make purchases between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2018, and between September 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018. Just remember to log-in to your account to activate the bonus.
With the 5X bonus categories, you can earn up to $75 cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases each quarter after you activate the bonus.
And for new cardmembers, Discover will match the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first 12 billing cycles. So any purchases you made in the 5% bonus categories will get you 10% cash back!
Million Mile Secrets team member Harlan has earned over $1,500 cash back with the no annual fee Discover it Cash Back card, which is amazing!
2. Capital One Venture
Link: Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Link: My Review of the Capital One Venture Card
I recommend the Capital One Venture card to folks looking to earn easy to redeem rewards to save money on travel.
With this card, you earn 2 Venture miles per $1 you spend on all purchases, including at Sam’s Club. Then, you can redeem these miles for 1 cent each to offset nearly ANY travel purchase, including airfare, hotels, cruises, car rentals, room service, and much more!
Plus, when you sign-up for the Capital One Venture card, you can earn 50,000 Venture miles (worth $500 in travel) after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months.
While this card is worth considering, I typically recommend folks get Chase cards first. Because Chase makes it harder to get their valuable cards if you sign-up for lots of cards with other banks.
3. AMEX Starwood Cards
Link: Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Link: Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
With the AMEX Starwood (personal or small business), you don’t earn bonus points for shopping at Sam’s Club. You’ll earn 1 Starwood point per $1 spent at Sam’s Club.
But Starwood points are extremely valuable and flexible! That’s why team member Joseph says he uses the AMEX Starwood card when making a purchase that’s not in a bonus category on any of his other cards.
Besides redeeming Starwood points for free stays at amazing hotels around the world, you can also transfer points to many airline partners. When you do this, you get a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 Starwood points you transfer to airlines with a 1:1 transfer ratio!
And AMEX cardholders get access to AMEX Offers. Sometimes there are deals at Sam’s Club, which means you can save money on purchases you’re already planning!
4. Chase Freedom Unlimited
Link: Chase Freedom Unlimited
Link: My Review of the Freedom Unlimited
You earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points (my favorite flexible rewards) by making Sam’s Club purchases with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.
With this card, you earn earn 1.5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on ALL purchases (with no spending caps!), including at Sam’s Club.
You can only redeem the points you earn with the Freedom Unlimited card for 1 cent each for cash back or towards travel. But your points are worth much more if you transfer them to any of these card accounts:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Ink Business Preferred
- Ink Plus (no longer available)
- Ink Bold (no longer available)
When you combine points to one of the above accounts, you can transfer your points for Big Travel with airline and hotel partners, like Hyatt or United Airlines! Or redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for discounted airfare, hotels, or rental cars through the Chase Travel Portal.
Note: In the past, the no annual fee Chase Freedom card has included wholesale clubs as one of the rotating 5X bonus categories (up to $1,500 each quarter you activate). So keep an eye on the bonus cash back calendar in 2018 to see if using the Chase Freedom card can earn you lots of points for your Costco purchases!
Use These Cards for Purchase Protection on Big Purchases
| Card Name | Benefits |
|---|---|
| The Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN | Earn 1.5X AMEX Membership Rewards points for purchases of $5,000+ Up to 1 extra year added to warranties of 5 years or less (terms & conditions apply) |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | Up to 1 extra year added to warranties of 5 years or less (terms & conditions apply) |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | Earn my favorite flexible points Up to 1 extra year added to warranties of 3 years or less (terms & conditions apply) |
Sam’s Club sells a lot of big-ticket items like appliances, computers, furniture, and televisions.
If you’re purchasing an expensive item, you might want to give up earning bonus cash back or extra miles and use a card that provides extended warranty benefits. I’ve included some of the best cards in the above table!
For example, with the AMEX Platinum card, you can get 1 extra year added to a warranty of 5 years or less. This benefit can get you a refund up to the amount charged to your card, with a maximum of $10,000, and no more than $50,000 per calendar year.
Check out this post for more details on saving money with credit card purchase protection benefits.
Bottom Line
Paying with cash or debit at Sam’s Club means you’re giving up on earning valuable rewards. Paying with the right rewards credit card can earn you miles & points for your purchases, which can save you money on travel or put extra cash in your pocket!
These are the top cards I recommend for Sam’s Club purchases:
- Discover it Cash Back
- Capital One Venture
- AMEX Starwood (personal and small business)
- Chase Freedom Unlimited
If you’re buying a big-ticket item at Sam’s Club (like new appliances), consider using a card with excellent purchase protections, such as extended warranty benefits.
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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