Sam's Club Mastercard for Gas: 5% at Any Pump, Capped at $6,000 a Year

The Sam's Club Mastercard earns 5 percent on gas at any station, not just at Sam's Club pumps. The $6,000 annual cap binds at $500 a month in gas spending. Here is the full math, the Sam's Club membership cost layered in, and the head-to-head against Costco's Visa.

Gas Rate

at any gas station

Annual Cap

$6,000

in gas spend, then 1%

Card Annual Fee

no card fee

Membership Cost

$50

Sam's Club required

Card terms verified against the Sam's Club Mastercard product page and Sam's Club membership page as of 2026-05-19.

The $6,000 Cap in Practice

The annual cap binds at $500 a month. Below that the card delivers a clean 5 percent return on every gas dollar. Above $500 a month the over-cap portion drops to 1 percent.

Gas / month	Annual gas spend	Earnings at 5%	Over-cap @ 1%	Total cash back
$100	$1,200	$60	$0	$60
$200	$2,400	$120	$0	$120
$400	$4,800	$240	$0	$240
$500	$6,000	$300	$0	$300
$600	$7,200	$300	$12	$312
$800	$9,600	$300	$36	$336

For drivers spending under $500 a month on gas, the effective rate is the headline 5 percent. For drivers spending $600 to $900 a month, the effective rate degrades because every dollar above the cap earns 1 percent not 5 percent. At $900 a month, the effective rate annualized is about 3.1 percent, which still beats most flat-rate cards but loses ground to no-cap competitors like the PenFed Platinum Rewards.

Net Return After the $50 Membership Fee

The Sam's Club membership is an effective annual fee on the rewards card. Pure gas-card math should subtract the $50 membership cost from the card's gas earnings unless you would have paid the membership anyway for other shopping.

Net return at $200 a month gas: $120 in cash back minus $50 membership equals $70 net. Net return at $500 a month gas: $300 minus $50 equals $250 net. Net return at $300 a month gas if you already had the membership for groceries: full $180 net because the membership is not attributable to the card.

The deciding test: do you visit Sam's Club at all? If yes, the membership costs zero attributable to the card and the gas card is pure upside. If no, you are paying $50 to earn the cash back, and the math only works if you spend enough on gas annually that the gas earnings clear the fee with margin. At $100 a month gas ($60 a year cash back) you only net $10 attributable to the card. At $200 a month you net $70. The break-even is roughly $84 a month, below which the membership cost overwhelms the gas reward.

Sam's Club Mastercard vs Costco Anywhere Visa

Feature	Sam's Club Mastercard	Costco Anywhere Visa
Gas reward rate	5% on gas (any station)	5% at Costco gas, 4% elsewhere
Annual cap	$6,000 / year then 1%	$7,000 / year combined gas + EV then 1%
Annual card fee	$0	$0
Required membership	Sam's Club, $50 / year ($110 Plus)	Costco, $65 / year ($130 Executive)
Network	Mastercard	Visa
EV charging in gas category	No (must code as gas MCC)	Yes (separately confirmed)
Other bonus categories	3% dining / travel, 1% else	3% restaurants / travel, 2% Costco, 1% else
Cash back delivery	Annual reward redeemed at Sam's Club	Annual reward at Costco only

For drivers who do not fill up at Sam's Club or Costco gas pumps regularly, the Sam's Club Mastercard is structurally stronger because the 5 percent applies at any station. For drivers who do fill up at Costco regularly, the Costco Visa wins because Costco gas is 5 percent and the cap is $1,000 a year higher.

The Cash-Back Delivery Catch

Both warehouse-club gas cards deliver rewards as an annual lump-sum credit redeemable only at the warehouse. The Sam's Club reward arrives in February; the Costco reward arrives in February or March. Neither pays out as statement credit, cash deposit, or any non-warehouse use.

For someone who already shops at Sam's Club, the annual reward functions like found money: it is automatically usable on the next grocery run. For someone who does not, the reward is a constraint not a benefit. If you can imagine yourself dropping into a Sam's Club once a year to spend a $200 to $300 annual rebate, the math works. If you cannot, the structural rewards rate is high but the practical redemption value is reduced.

Pure-cash-back alternatives like the Citi Custom Cash, Wells Fargo Autograph, or PenFed Power Cash deliver rewards as statement credit or direct deposit with no warehouse-redemption constraint. For non-warehouse-shoppers, these are simpler tools even at lower headline rates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Sam's Club Mastercard earn 5 percent on gas at any station?+

Yes. Unlike the Costco Anywhere Visa which earns the top rate only at Costco gas stations, the Sam's Club Mastercard earns 5 percent at any gas station merchant categorized as MCC 5541 or 5542 (auto-service stations and auto-fuel dispensers). Sam's Club's own fuel pumps obviously qualify, but so do Shell, BP, Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, and any independent station that codes as a fuel merchant. The 5 percent applies up to $6,000 a year in combined gas spend.

What is the $6,000 annual cap and how fast do most drivers hit it?+

The 5 percent rate applies to the first $6,000 in gas spending per calendar year, after which gas drops to 1 percent. $6,000 is $500 a month. A driver spending $500 a month on gas hits the cap exactly at year-end. A driver spending $600 a month hits the cap in month 10 and earns 1 percent on the last two months of gas. A driver spending $300 a month never approaches the cap and effectively earns 5 percent on all gas year-round.

Do I need a Sam's Club membership to hold the card?+

Yes. The Sam's Club Mastercard is a co-branded product issued by Synchrony Bank. You must be a Sam's Club member to apply and to maintain the card. Sam's Club Club membership is $50 a year for the standard tier and $110 a year for Plus tier (which includes its own fuel discounts at Sam's Club gas stations). The membership is effectively an annual fee. For drivers who do not otherwise shop at Sam's Club, the $50 membership offsets a chunk of the rewards earned.

When does the cash back actually arrive?+

Sam's Club delivers the cash back as an annual reward issued in February of each year, calculated on the prior calendar year's earnings. The reward arrives as a credit usable at Sam's Club (in-club or online). It is not statement credit and cannot be deposited to a bank account. For drivers who shop at Sam's Club regularly, the annual lump-sum reward functions like a Sam's Club gift card. For drivers who only use the card at gas stations and never set foot in Sam's Club, the reward is harder to use; you would need to bring a non-member family member to spend it or use it on Sam's Club online groceries that ship.

How does the Sam's Club Mastercard compare to the Costco Anywhere Visa?+

Both are warehouse-club gas cards with similar structure. The Sam's Club edges Costco for any-station gas because its 5 percent applies at all gas stations vs Costco's 4 percent everywhere except Costco gas (where Costco hits 5 percent). The Costco caps higher at $7,000 a year combined gas plus EV. Costco confirms EV charging in the gas category; Sam's Club requires the EV merchant to code as a fuel station for the bonus to apply. Sam's Club membership is $15 a year cheaper than Costco. Both deliver cash back as warehouse-only credit, which suits people who shop at the warehouse and frustrates people who do not.

Does the Sam's Club Plus membership change the math?+

Sam's Club Plus members earn an additional 5 cents per gallon discount at Sam's Club gas pumps directly. This is a fuel-pump discount, not a credit card reward, so it stacks on top of the 5 percent earned through the Mastercard. A Plus member fueling up at Sam's Club at $3.50 a gallon effectively saves the 5-cent-per-gallon discount (about 1.4 percent) plus the 5 percent cash back from the card for a combined 6.4 percent effective return on Sam's Club pump gas. At other gas stations, only the card's 5 percent applies. The Plus membership costs $60 a year more than the standard membership; the math pencils out at a Sam's Club gas-fueling level of roughly $1,200 a year just to recover the Plus surcharge from the per-gallon discount alone.

Is the Sam's Club Mastercard usable outside the US?+

Yes. The card is on the Mastercard network and works everywhere Mastercard is accepted, including international acceptance. The card does charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, which makes it a poor choice for international purchases. For domestic gas spending, the foreign transaction fee never applies.

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