For those of us living on the East Coast, BJ’s Wholesale Club is a members-only grocery store that offers regular deals on groceries and bulk items. They also have members-only perks like their tire and optical services. If you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like to shop at BJ’s, finding a BJ’s membership discount is just the ticket. BJ’s does offer a 24-hour One-Day Pass, but to save more on groceries, appliances, furniture, and seasonal items at BJ’s, you’ll want to sign up for their annual membership.
And occasionally, you can get their Club Card Membership (formerly known as the “Inner Circle”) — regularly $55 — for just $20 if you’re a new member! Here’s everything we know about getting a BJ’s membership discount.
1. What’s included in a BJ’s Wholesale Club Membership?
First, let’s take a look at everything you get with a basic BJ’s Wholesale Club Membership:
- Access to exclusive club brands for better savings on groceries and home goods
- Savings of $0.10 per gallon of gas at BJ’s Gas
- Ability to use (and stack) manufacturer coupons along with in-house coupons
- Competitive pricing on grocery items for national brands (not just in-house brands like Costco)
- Access to BJ’s Tire, BJ’s Tire Center, and BJ’s Travel
- Access to BJ’s Optical, without the nonmember surcharge
Next, let’s break down the membership program tiers at BJ’s.
Occasionally, BJ’s offers membership discounts that drop that price for The Club Card Membership even lower — to around $30 for new members. Keep reading to find out more about this BJ’s membership discount and other ways to save on your annual cost.
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2. In January 2023, we saw discounted BJ’s memberships for only $30, plus a $30 credit to spend in store.
The entry-level annual membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club, aka The Club Card (formerly known as their Inner Circle), normally costs $55 a year. But in January 2023, BJ’s offered a special on memberships just for new members. If you signed up through this link, you got an annual membership to BJ’s for just $30 (regularly $55), plus a $30 award that you could use within 30 days of your enrollment. That made membership practically free.
As shown in the chart in Tip #1, with the basic membership fee, you get exclusive access to BJ’s member coupons and a complimentary membership for one person in your household. You can add additional family members for $30 per person.
Their upgraded membership level, The Club+ Card Membership ($110 per year), gets you the same benefits as the entry-level membership but also includes 2% cash back on most purchases.
3. Groupon routinely sells BJ’s memberships for 27% – 64% off.
In case you don’t see a current membership discount offer directly through BJ’s, you can also look for BJ’s membership discounts on Groupon throughout the year.
Groupon recently offered 27% off BJ’s entry-level membership for new members in June and July 2023. So you could get The Club Card membership for just $40 (regularly $55).
While the discounted price on Groupon can be enticing, there are a few things to be aware of in the fine print. While you normally have time between when you purchase a Groupon and when the deal expires, the BJ’s membership deal is valid from the date of purchase, not the date you redeem it — so you’ll have exactly one year of membership perks from the date you buy the Groupon deal.
Next, the Groupon deals are only valid for new BJ’s members who enroll in BJ’s Easy Renewal Program, which will automatically renew your membership each year. Additionally, you’ll need to pick up your membership card in store after purchasing the Groupon deal, and show a photo ID when you do.
TIP: If you’re gifting a membership, you might be better off skipping the Groupon discount and getting a deal on membership elsewhere (like the discounted membership mentioned in Tip #2).
4. Teachers and military always save 25% and get a $10 credit to spend in store.
If there aren’t any current offers available, you can still save on a BJ’s membership with their teacher or military discounts. BJ’s offers all military personnel and educators (this includes school administrators, employees, and professors) 25% off their membership, along with a $10 bonus award loaded onto their account.
This membership discount is available 365 days per year, and military and educators don’t have to wait for a promotional event to take advantage of it.
Get the BJ’s teacher discount deal:
Related: We’ve found tons more teacher and military discounts to help you save.
5. Skip the annual BJ’s membership entirely (but you’ll pay a little bit more).
You can take advantage of some BJ’s products and services even without a membership. The catch? You’ll end up paying more. Here’s a breakdown of everything you can — and can’t — do without a membership to BJ’s.
What you can do without a BJ’s membership:
- Visit their optical center. By law, they cannot turn away prescriptions. So you can shop at BJ’s Optical without a membership and with no surcharge.
- Use Instacart to buy BJ’s bulk products. But that also means you won’t get the BJ’s membership discount on any products, just the convenience of buying in bulk and having it delivered to your door.
What you won’t be able to do without a membership:
- Shop on BJs.com, the BJ’s mobile app (iOS / Android), or in store. They used to offer an online-only pass, but that’s been discontinued. So if you’re looking to shop their product sales in club or online, an annual membership is necessary.
- Use a BJ’s gift card to shop for products. Gift cards can be redeemed for memberships, but in order to shop products in club or online, you have to be a member, regardless of your payment method.
Here are the other perks and services you can’t take advantage of without a membership card:
As you can see, there are options for shopping BJ’s without a membership. But if you’ve been considering a membership to a club store and a BJ’s location is near you, the $30 annual membership discount is a pretty sweet deal.
6. Ask for the $25 membership deal when it’s time to renew.
Many BJ’s members have had success with getting a discount on their BJ’s membership just by asking customer service for one (either at the warehouse or over the phone). You may have the best chance of getting a discount on your renewal rate if you’re within the 30-day window before or after your membership expires, or if you agree to automatic renewal.
To try this method, just ask, “is there a promotion to renew my card?” and see what they can offer you.
FYI — BJ’s Wholesale Club overhauled their memberships in February 2023.
Several BJ’s Wholesale Club memberships underwent a big change on Feb. 27, 2023.
No reason was specifically offered for the conversion of the Inner Circle, Business, and Perks Rewards memberships to their new versions, but the timing coincides with BJ’s Mastercard partnership with Capital One. The partnership was first announced in October 2022 and slated to begin in early 2023.
Inner Circle memberships were converted to a ‘Club Card’ membership.
If you had a BJ’s Inner Circle membership, it was automatically converted to The Club Card. Your primary, household, and supplemental statuses from your BJ’s Inner Circle membership will stay the same.
So what is BJ’s The Club Card membership? The Club Card membership provides one primary membership card and a second free household card. You can opt for rewards sharing with The Club Card membership, which means you and your secondary household member can both accrue and use your rewards.
BJ’s Business memberships turned into the Business Club Card.
If you had a BJ’s Business membership, it was automatically converted to The Business Club Card membership. Your primary and supplemental membership statuses will remain intact.
The Business Club Card offers one primary business card and a supplemental card for a business associate. The Business Club Card memberships have resale privileges, while regular The Club Card memberships do not.
If you had BJ’s Perks Rewards, you’re now a Club+ Card member.
Beginning Feb. 27, 2023, all BJ’s Perks Rewards memberships automatically converted to The Club+ Card memberships for personal Perks Rewards memberships and The Business Club+ Card memberships for BJ’s Business Perks Rewards memberships. All of the primary, household, and supplemental memberships associated with your account will stay put.
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