Walmart began selling Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus as one package for $120 a year on Tuesday, October 20, putting two US memberships that cost $218 when bought separately under a single annual fee.
The package is annual only. There is no monthly plan and no free trial, although Walmart pitches the price as the equivalent of $10 a month. Shoppers still keep two accounts, one with each chain, and have to link them to switch the combined perks on.
What the $120 covers
- Entry to Sam’s Club warehouses and member-only prices, including the Member’s Mark house brand.
- Free delivery from Walmart on scheduled orders of $35 or more, and from Sam’s Club on orders of $50 or more.
- One ad-supported streaming service, Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential, which members can swap every 90 days.
- Fuel discounts of 10 cents a gallon at more than 17,000 participating stations (5 to 10 cents in Alabama).
- 2% back as Sam’s Cash on qualifying purchases, up to $750 a year.
The calculation, with the working shown
On its own, Walmart+ costs $98 a year and Sam’s Club Plus costs $120. Bought separately, the pair comes to $98 + $120 = $218. Take away the new $120 price and the difference is $218 − $120 = $98, or 45% of the old total ($98 ÷ $218 = 0.45). Walmart rounds that up to “almost $100 less” in its announcement.
Seen from the other side, the bundle costs exactly what Sam’s Club Plus already did, so for a Plus member the Walmart+ half now adds $0. On a monthly basis that is $120 ÷ 12 = $10, against $218 ÷ 12 = about $18.17 for the two plans paid separately.
The upgrade prices for current members follow the same sums. A Walmart+ annual member pays $22 more, which is $120 minus $98. A member on the basic Club tier pays $60 more to move up to Plus and gets Walmart+ included. Households already paying for both only need to link accounts, and Walmart says most of them will be eligible for a prorated refund on the Walmart+ side.
Where the package gives less than the headline number
A common mistake is to count every perk once for every adult on the card. Sam’s Club memberships usually come with a free second cardholder at the same address, but only the primary Plus member can activate the included Walmart+. That primary member can invite one other adult in the home to share some Walmart+ benefits. The second person needs a Walmart account of their own, orders on a payment card the primary member shares, and can use it online and in the app only, not in stores. The streaming choice stays with the primary member.
Streaming is also one service at a time, not both. Anyone who gets Walmart+ through a credit card perk or a promotional deal should check the terms first, because switching to the package could mean losing that discount or statement credit.
Location matters as well. Sam’s Club runs about 600 US clubs across 44 states and Puerto Rico, with none at all in Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington. A household far from a club would be paying the extra $22 mostly for perks it may rarely reach.
How it lines up against Prime and the warehouse rivals
Walmart frames the price against what a household might already be paying: $139 for a delivery-focused retail plan, $130 to join a warehouse club, and $129.99 for one stand-alone streaming service, close to $400 in all. Amazon Prime’s annual fee is $139, so the Walmart package undercuts it by $19 while adding warehouse access that Prime does not include.
Walmart+ launched in September 2020, and Sam’s Club, founded by Sam Walton in Midwest City, Oklahoma, in 1983, is the second-largest US warehouse club by sales, behind Costco. Last week we looked at how Costco says under-40 shoppers now make up more than a quarter of its 84 million paid members.
“For $120 a year, we’re raising expectations for what a membership can deliver: more money in their pockets and more time to call their own,” Walmart president and CEO John Furner said in the company’s announcement. Walmart’s US field associates at both chains will also receive the two memberships as part of their benefits, and the company says the cost of the change is not expected to materially affect the fiscal third-quarter or full-year guidance it gave on August 20.
Joining, upgrading and linking accounts all run through the Walmart and Sam’s Club apps or Walmart’s combined membership page, with the $120 billed once a year.
Further reading
Image: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
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