BJ’s One Mastercard: Is Membership Worth the Gas Rewards? (2024)

With stubborn inflation and rising prices persisting, your paycheck may not be stretching as far these days. Any discounts and savings on everyday purchases can help.

If you’re a frequent BJ’s shopper, the BJ’s One™ Mastercard®* may help you save on bulk shopping and gas at BJ’s locations. And since most rewards credit cards don’t offer boosted rewards categories for wholesale clubs, if you’re a BJ’s loyalist, the card may offer an even better value.

Note: The BJ’s One™ Mastercard® now replaces the BJ’s Perks Plus® Mastercard®. Existing credit card holders will need to activate the new card to continue making purchases and earning rewards since the old card will no longer work.

Read on for this card’s top spending categories, program information and other cards worth considering.

Rewards and redemption

With the BJ’s One card, you’ll earn 3% cash back on eligible in-store or online BJ’s purchases and 1.5% back everywhere else Mastercard is accepted. BJ’s gas station purchases do not qualify for 3% cash back.

We like that there’s no cap on the amount of rewards you can earn, and they don’t expire. And you may have a chance to earn more rewards with bonus earnings on eligible purchases. You may have to register or activate the offer. When you’re ready to redeem them, you can redeem your rewards in $10 increments at BJ’s checkout in-store and online. You cannot redeem your rewards toward your outstanding credit card balance.

If you’re an existing cardholder that already had rewards before the new program, your rewards should automatically convert over to your new card.

This card may make sense if you visit BJ’s a few times a month. If not, other store cards or cash-back credit cards may help you earn more on all of your purchases or top spending categories.

Read more: Best Store Credit Cards for March 2023

Other cardholder perks

The BJ’s One card comes with a few big benefits for shopping at BJ’s and everywhere else. As a cardholder, you’ll save 10 cents per gallon at BJ’s Gas® when you pay with your BJ’s credit card. This card has World Mastercard status, which comes with several benefits, including:

• $5 Lyft credit once a month if you take three rides with Lyft in a month
• Three free months of DoorDash DashPass and $5 off their first order per month (new members only)
• Free ShopRunner membership
• 30-day free McAfee trial and a one-year subscription discount to McAfee Total Protection
• Mastercard Global Services
• Mastercard ID Theft Protection™

Fees

The BJ’s One card doesn’t charge an annual fee, but it does require a BJs membership -- which costs $55 per year. The card also has a $41 late or returned payment fee.

If you don’t renew your BJs membership when it expires, you can still shop at BJs, earn and redeem rewards with this card. However, there’s a non-member charge on all BJ’s purchases -- (20% of your total in-club purchases and $5 per BJs.com purchase).

If you cancel your membership, you’ll keep the rewards that you earned, but won’t be able to earn any going forward. Aside from losing card benefits, you’ll also pay the non-member price for purchases.

So, if you’re on the fence about keeping your membership for the coming years or often switch between wholesale clubs in your area, you may want to consider another card. The non-member fees can be costly, and the card won’t be as valuable.

Comparable cards

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

This Bank of America credit card* is one of the few that offers boosted rewards at wholesale clubs. You’ll earn 3% cash back on the category of your choice and 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs on the first combined $2,500 each quarter, then 1%. Plus, you’ll earn 1% on all other purchases.

This rewards card also comes with a $200 cash rewards welcome bonus after you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days of account opening. You can redeem your rewards as a statement credit, deposit into a Bank of America account or credit to an eligible Merrill account in $25 increments.

The big difference is that the BJ’s One doesn’t have category spending caps. That means you can earn unlimited 3% rewards on BJ’s purchases and 1.5% rewards on all other purchases. But the Bank of America card gives you the flexibility to choose your top spending category and lets you earn higher tier rewards at different, eligible stores. This may be beneficial if your spending habits change from month to month, or you don’t shop at BJ’s regularly.

For more information, read our Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card: Choose Your Rewards review.

Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

You’ll have more flexibility to earn and redeem rewards on your purchases with the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card. You’ll earn unlimited 2% cash rewards, including at wholesale clubs.

Just like the BJ’s One card, you won’t have an annual fee. But the Active Cash comes with a 0% introductory APR on purchases and qualifying balance transfers for the first 15 months from account opening (then, 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% variable APR), and you can earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first three months.

The BJ’s card only lets you redeem rewards in $10 increments towards future BJ’s purchases. If you want more flexibility, the Active Cash lets you redeem rewards in $25 increments as a credit toward your billing statement, a deposit into a Wells Fargo account or by check. Your Wells Fargo rewards also don’t expire as long as you have an account. That means you can use the rewards earned with your Active Cash card toward BJ’s purchases, travel or more.

For more information, read our Wells Fargo Active Cash Card review.

If you’re not close to BJ’s, but still want to consider other wholesale club credit cards, these cards may be worth considering:

• Sam’s Club Mastercard: Are the Gas Rewards Worth It?
• Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi: Should I Buy a Costco Membership for Gas Rewards?

FAQs

*All information about the BJ’s One Mastercard and BJ’s One+ Mastercard, and Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

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