BJ's Rewards membership?

[Disneefun]

Does anyone here have the BJ's rewards membership? Not talking about their rewards credit card, but the upgraded membership ($75/year) that allows you to earn reward points. I'm up for renewal and I figured that just taking into account the reward $$$ I would probably accrue, I would just come out a little bit ahead over the cost of the upgraded membership. But in the literature, BJ's says rewards members get special offers and coupons throughout the year. I'm wondering if the offers are good enough to increase the value of the upgraded membership or if they're nothing special. Hope this makes sense. Anyone have any input. TIA!

 

[mgrebenc]

Around Thanksgiving they sent a coupon for a free apple pie. Around Christmas they sent a save 10.00 when you spend 50.00 coupon. There were probably others throughout the year but I just don't recall.

My check on my anniversary was for 94.00 so I made out. I covered the cost of the membership as well as the upgrade plus a little more.

Mary

 

[Liv2CdWorld]

We upgraded ours during the last renewal. To be honest, we haven't received any additional coupons/discounts than we have in the past under the normal membership.

I'm not sure if we will be renewing the $75 membership at the end of this year. Time will tell.

 

[Disneefun]

Just a little bump to see if anyone else had an opinion. I think I'm leaning towards trying it out, but I'd like any other opinions. Thanks

 

[MrsPete]

I did the math and decided that we'd never recoup the additional cost. They exclude a number of things from the rewards program -- gas is one of them. I forget how much my husband calculated we'd have to spend before we "broke even", but it was definitely more than we spend at BJs.

 

[dis-happy]

I'm up for renewal and trying to decide what to do too. If a regular card is $45. then it's only $30. more for the upgraded cash back version, right? Or is it $40. plus $35.? Anyway, even though we also have a Sam's card through dh's business, I really, really like BJ's and do most of my shopping there. So easy to get in and out without the long lines, plus they carry several food items I can't get at Sam's. Did anyone figure out the break even point? I usually spend at least $300. per month there, probably more. TIA

 

[MrsPete]

Okay, there's no use in wondering whether it's a good deal . . . let's figure this thing out . . . the upgraded card is $30 extra. I'm operating on the assumption that you've already decided to pay the $45 for the regular membership, so I'm ignoring that portion of the cost. Only the $30 is in question.

With the upgraded membership you get a 2% rebate on things you buy at BJs. So . . . every time you spend $100 you get $2 back . . . so you will "break even" once you've spent $1500 (or $125 per month) and you'll get back your $30. After you pass the $1500 mark you start "earning money".

Keep in mind that not everything at BJs counts towards your rebate totals (I took this straight from BJ's website); these items do not count: Food Court, travel, optical, cellular phone services, one-hour photo processing, auto buying, tobacco, alcohol, gasoline, BJ’s Gift Cards or Gift of Membership Certificates, Membership fees, and prescription drugs. Too bad -- some of those things would've really added up!

Keep in mind, too, that you won't get a check for the 2%. You'll get BJs credit. So you can't use it as a savings account, but you can use it as a grocery account.

Personally, I would not buy because of the promise of "extra coupons and offers". We all know that when we look through a pack of coupons we usually find 2-4 that we want and 25-30 for items that don't interest us. I'd make the decision based upon the numbers and consider any good coupons a bonus.

A good deal for you? You have the numbers now -- you decide based upon your family's needs.

 

[dis-happy]

THANK YOU Mrs. Pete---I needed some hard figures and good logic applied to this problem and really appreciate you filling in the missing numbers of the equation.

Another plus to BJ's (vs. Sam's and Costco)--I am able to pay with my VISA card (Disney of course), so get to add in the free points on that as well.

Sounds good to me!