BJ's apples to apples

It was pointed out to me that the comparison I did on BJ's rewards and Fidelity's rewards was not apples to apples. BJ's is a membership upgrade and Fidelity's is a credit card.



If the writer is correct, you can upgrade to a BJ's rewards membership and pay with Fidelity's AmEx card - effectively doubling down on savings.

The earlier reason for BJ's hitting the Company Acting Badly list holds - don't market me at $35 feature that will save me $24.21 a year. And... if you want real savings, apply for a Fidelity card or a similar one from another company.

BJ's fine print

As I received another email from BJ's asking me to spend $35 a year to save $24.21 (click here for earlier post), I thought it would be worth checking out the fine print and conditions on BJ's rewards membership and comparing it to a Fidelity Rewards AmEx card I'm considering getting.

BJ's has a fee. Fidelity doesn't.
BJ's has a cap. Fidelity doesn't.
BJ's rewards expire. Fidelity's don't.

I've put a quick comparison chart together.

BJ's remains a Company Acting Badly for marketing me a rewards card that will lose me money each year and is not competitive across a range of features.

Math at BJ's

It's not often I get an email from a company telling me about a promotion that will cost me more than I can save from their promotion.

BJ's is a Company Acting Badly for either:

• thinking its customers can't do basic math, or
• thinking it can trick its customers into signing up for a rewards card that will lose them money, or
• not having someone in their marketing department who understands how to set up an email campaign

Why should someone spend $35 per year (likely charged in advance) to get rebates on purchases (likely seen monthly) that will amount to $24.21?

Good shopping, decent selection, good prices, but poor marketing puts BJ's on the Companies Acting Badly list.