Thread: Sams Club Discover Card Review: Will It Benefit You or Not?

Should you apply for Sams Club Discover card? This review of their Discover credit card reveals what you need to know about the rewards program.

Even though America has recovered from the Great Recession, our economy is still a far cry from what it was during the "good ‘ol days." For this reason, being frugal and saving money is a must and shopping at Sam’s warehouse club stores is a great way to do that!

But how much money will the Sam’s Club Discover card actually save you? Here’s what you need to know about it…

Why doesn't Sam’s Club take Visa or AmEx?
Sam’s club has a special partnership with Discover. It’s very similar to the agreement Costco has with American Express.

But did you know that you can use any Discover card to pay for purchases at Sam’s Club? So you can use the Discover Sams Club card – or – you can use a different Discover credit card.

How well do you know the rewards program?
The Sams Club Discover credit card actually has two different reward programs. The one you get depends upon the level of membership you have at Sam’s Club – one program is for Advantage Members and the other is for Advantage Plus Members.

What they have in common: The rewards are given out once per year, every February. This rebate is based on total spending during the prior 12 months. Each bracket of spending is given a different percentage of cash back.

What’s different about them: For higher amounts of spending, the Sams Club Advantage Plus Members get better rewards.

The annual cash back brackets for Sam’s Club Advantage Members:

• Qualified spending up to $1,500 will earn 0.25% cash back
• Spending between $1,500.01 and $3,000 will earn 0.50% cash back
• Spending between $3,000.01 and $250,000 will earn 1% cash back

The annual cash back brackets for Sam’s Club Advantage Plus Members:
The first two brackets are the same as above, but after that it changes…

• Spending between $3,000.01 and $5,000 earns 1% cash back
• Spending between $5,000.01 and $10,00 earns 1.75% cash back
• Spending between $10,000.01 and $250,000 earns 2% cash back

As you can see above, with the Sams Club Discover the maximum rewards Advantage Members can earn is what most people would probably consider an average rebate. On the other hand, the Advantage Plus Members will earn an above average rebate on the portion of spending the falls into the higher brackets.

Either way, you need to understand that even when the higher brackets are reached, the cash back on the prior purchases remains the same. i.e. The amount spent between $1,500.01 and $3,000 will always equal a 0.50% rebate, regardless of whether or not a higher bracket is reached after.

Fine print exclusions: When I was looking over the application I found something interesting... it appears no rewards are given when the Discover version is used at competing wholesale stores. For example, it lists over a dozen stores where no rewards are given such as BJ’s Wholesale, GFS Marketplace, Sysco, etc.

How’s the Sams Club Discover card’s customer service?
Discover consistently has top-rated customer service (based in America) and that is what you can expect with the Sam’s Club Discover as well as every other Discover credit card.

What’s the APR?
As of February 2011, the time of writing, the Sams Club Discover application listed two tiers of interest rates and the one given depends on the cardholder’s creditworthiness – 22.90% or 14.90%.

Verdict?
Both Sam’s Club and Discover are top notch companies. If you choose to get their credit card, it would make the most sense to become a Sams Club Advantage Plus Member because of the higher brackets. If you don’t spend much then your rewards will only be around average due to the way the rewards program is set up.

Alternatives?
The credit card below is NOT affiliated with Sam’s Club in any way, but you can still use it to pay for purchases at Sam’s Club since it is a Discover card.

In my personal opinion, the Discover More card is the best rewards card on the planet. It has two very unique advantages:

• You get up to 5% cash back at grocery stores, gas stations, home improvement stores, department stores, movies, hotels, airlines, cruises, restaurants and other categories which rotate.

• You can get 5% to 20% cashback for your online shopping at nearly 200 popular retailers through ShopDiscover which is a free, exclusive program just for cardholders.

Right now, if you apply you can get this limited time sponsored offer:

Good idea buying and using Walmart gift cards at Sam's.

I used to shop at Sam's but for me it wasn't convenient enough for the savings. Now I go to Target with my 5% off Target card. It may cost more but I don't miss the often very long checkout lines at Sam's.