Walmart Bundles Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus for $120 a Year: Who Actually Saves

Walmart is selling its two paid memberships as one package. Starting October 20, shoppers can buy Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus together for $120 a year, a price the company says is almost $100 less than buying them separately, according to Walmart’s announcement. CBS News and Fox Business both covered the launch the same day.

This is a company announcement, not independent reporting, so the details below come from Walmart’s own release as read alongside those two outlets. The numbers are worth a slow read, because a membership is a small recurring commitment, and small recurring commitments are where household budgets quietly leak or quietly improve.

What the $120 bundle includes

Per Walmart’s release, the package carries five main benefits. Members get Sam’s Club member pricing on brand-name and Member’s Mark items. They also get free delivery from both retailers, with a $35 minimum on scheduled Walmart orders and $50 on Sam’s Club orders. Streaming is part of it too: a choice of Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential, which Walmart describes as an ad-supported service, with extra registration and terms. Fuel savings come in at 10 cents off per gallon at more than 17,000 participating stations, with a smaller discount in Alabama. And there is Sam’s Cash, 2% back on eligible purchases, up to $750 a year.

Terms apply to nearly all of it. Delivery availability, fuel program restrictions and streaming registration are each flagged as subject to conditions, and Walmart notes the gas program can change.

How the pricing works

Fox Business reports that Walmart+ currently costs $98 a year on its standard plan and Sam’s Club Plus costs $120. Added together that is $218, so a $120 bundle saves about $98, which squares with the company’s “almost $100” claim. Fox also notes the bundle is annual only, with no monthly option and no free trial, and compares it with Amazon Prime at $139 a year.

Existing members have their own routes in. Walmart+ annual members can move to the bundle for $22 more a year. Sam’s Club members can upgrade to Sam’s Club Plus, which includes Walmart+, for $60 more a year. Sam’s Club Plus members can activate Walmart+ at no extra cost. People already paying for both can link their accounts, and Walmart says most are eligible for a prorated Walmart+ refund. Sign-up is through the Walmart or Sam’s Club app or walmart.com/plus/samsclub.

Why Walmart is doing this now

CBS News frames the move as a bet on cash-strapped shoppers. Consumer prices rose at a 3.7% annual rate in September, and a recent CBS News poll found nine in 10 Americans say prices are the most important factor in their economic outlook. Walmart’s chief executive, John Furner, said, as CBS News reports, that the company is “raising expectations for what a membership can deliver” at this price, a line that is the company’s own framing rather than a measured outcome.

Memberships also matter to Walmart’s finances. Fox Business notes that on its August 20 earnings call, Walmart said membership fee revenue rose 17% to an all-time high. Walmart told investors it expects the bundle to have no material impact on its fiscal third-quarter or full-year guidance from that call.

A reasonable reading, and it is only a reading, is that a paid membership gives a retailer a reason to be the first place a household shops. That is true of every membership program, and it is worth keeping in mind when a perk list gets long.

The math worth doing before you sign up

The useful question is not how many perks the bundle lists, but how many you would use without the membership prompting you. A few checks can settle it quickly.

• Count what you already pay for. If you hold both memberships, the bundle looks like a clear saving on paper. If you hold neither, you are comparing $120 against zero, and the bar is how much you would actually spend and save.
• Price the fuel perk honestly. As an illustration only: 10 cents off per gallon on a 15-gallon fill is $1.50. Forty fill-ups at participating stations in a year would be about $60, half the fee. Your own driving and nearby stations decide the real number.
• Treat streaming as a discount only if you would pay for it. A free service you would not have bought is not a saving.
• Mind the delivery minimums. Free delivery starts at $35 for scheduled Walmart orders and $50 at Sam’s Club, so small top-up orders may not qualify.
• Look for the exit. This is a yearly commitment, and the sources I reviewed do not spell out cancellation or refund terms for new buyers. Read them before paying.

The bottom line

For households that already pay for both memberships, the bundle is a straightforward way to stop paying twice. For everyone else it is a $120 annual decision that deserves the same discipline as any purchase meant to last: count real use, ignore the long list of perks, and compare it with what you spend now. The bundle is a retailer’s pitch to a price-weary customer, and the most useful thing a shopper can bring to it is a calculator.

This article is general information, not financial advice.

Sources

• Walmart (company statement), “Meet Your $120 Life Hack: Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, Together,” Oct. 20, 2026: corporate.walmart.com
• CBS News, “Walmart offers a discounted joint membership with Sam’s Club as inflation stays high,” Oct. 20, 2026: cbsnews.com
• Fox Business, “Walmart rolls out discounted membership bundle as inflation squeezes shoppers”: foxbusiness.com