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Walmart Plus (Walmart+) is a membership program designed for budget conscious consumers who frequently shop Walmart.
It competes with the likes of Amazon Prime to build customer loyalty with member only benefits and deals.
If you enjoy shopping Walmart clearance deals, want benefits like same day grocery delivery, or a free Paramount+ subscription, then you may want to consider a Walmart Plus membership.
I recently became a member and quickly discovered the pros and cons of Walmart Plus. The membership cost is more affordable than Amazon Prime, but is Walmart Plus worth it in terms of actual value?
Here’s what I discovered.
$20 OFF Walmart Plus
*This special discount is available to new Walmart Plus Members!
Walmart Plus Cost
I’ll start with the price of a Walmart+ account. That way you can measure it against the Walmart Plus benefits.
A Walmart Plus membership will cost you $12.95 per month, or a discounted rate of $98 if you pay annually.
I decided to go the annual route to save on my membership. It saved me about $57, which I could put towards grocery or another household expense.
Additionally, I received $10 and $20 Walmart Promo Codes by enrolling with a Walmart Plus referral link. It was a pretty sweet deal, which made it worthwhile for me to join.
Walmart Plus Amex Platinum Deal
That still doesn’t compare to the Walmart Plus Platinum Amex discount.
When you use your Platinum card to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership, American Express will give you a statement credit each month for the full amount.
Essentially you’ll get a free Walmart Plus membership with your Amex Platinum card. Lucky you!
*This only works if you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership with your Amex Platinum card. If you pay for an annual W+ membership, Amex will not credit you the cost of the membership.
Walmart+ Assist 50% Discount
Walmart+ Assist memberships are half the cost of the monthly regular price, and offer the same benefits of a full-paying Walmart Plus account.
It’s similar to Amazon Prime Access, where qualifying government assistance recipients get a W+ membership for only $6.47/month or $49/ year.
If you have WIC, SNAP, Medicaid or any other similar program, then you may be eligible for this discounted membership program.
It’s worth checking out.
Walmart Plus Membership
Walmart Plus shoppers enjoy in-store and online member only benefits such as early access to select deals, scan and go capabilities, brand partner offers, fuel discounts and more.
For $98 / year or $12.95 per month, you get access to all member benefits.
For me, Walmart+ perks means saving time on unplanned trips to the store and reducing the temptation of making impulse purchases. (That Walmart clearance aisle is my Achilles heel!)
This way, I stay on budget and am able to save money for other things such as travel, adding to my investment account, and for higher ticket purchases.
Walmart Deals for Days 2023
Walmart Deals for Days (aka Walmart Plus week) is Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Anything Amazon does, you can bet that Walmart will replicate in order to compete with the e-commerce giant!
The HUGE online only event happens twice a year and runs for about 3 days long. Savings can run up to 70% off on items such as laptops, TV’s, toys, air fryers, furniture and more.
During the July 2023 deals event, Walmart Plus members were able to shop the deals a full 24 hours prior to non W+ members.
It’s a great benefit to take advantage of especially if you’re eyeing a popular item where there’s a chance it may run out fast!
Walmart Black Friday Early Access 2023
Walmart Plus members also get 3 hours early access to online Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals.
The early access shopping event for Walmart+ members means that once again you get to jump on your favorite deals prior to the general public.
This is also around the time when Walmart offers its special half off membership promotion for your first year.
So if you’ve been considering a W+ account, now is the best time to nab the Walmart Plus Membership $49 deal!
Once you claim your membership deal, you’ll be able to shop this year’s Black Friday 2023 deals.
Walmart Plus Black Friday Early Access Dates 2023
- Event 1 (Early Access Deals begin online Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. ET and continue in stores Friday, Nov. 10)
- Event 2 (Early Access Deals begin online Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 12 p.m. ET and continue in stores Friday, Nov. 24)
What’s Included in Walmart+ Membership?
Let’s go over Walmart Plus benefits since that’s what’s going to determine whether Walmart Plus is worth it for you.
Once you sign up for a Walmart Plus account, you’ll enjoy the following benefits:
- Free Delivery from Your Store – Members get free same-day grocery delivery depending on your location. Some locations require a $35 minimum in order to get free delivery.
- Free Shipping, No Order Minimum – Items shipped by Walmart ship free. Exclusions include: freight, oversized and Marketplace items.
- Member Prices on Fuel – Save up to 10¢ per gallon at over 140,000 stations nationwide.
- Mobile Scan and Go – Scan for product prices and check out as you shop in-store for a fast and contact-free shopping experience.
- Early Access – Enjoy special prices, product releases, online Friday Deals, Walmart Plus week and more.
- Returns from Home – No need to print shipping labels, leave your home or re-package items. Walmart comes to you for returns!
- Free Paramount+ Essential Plan – Stream your favorite movies and original series at no additional cost to you.
- Walmart+ Travel – Get up to 5% Walmart Cash when booking your travel through the Walmart+ portal. (powered by Expedia)
- Video Streaming with Pluto TV – Watch select ad-free streaming content that changes each month.
- $20 Walmart Plus Referral Bonus – Share the benefits of W+ with friends to earn unlimited $20 Walmart Promo Codes per referral.
If you have a Walmart store location near you, then you can benefit from unlimited same-day free grocery delivery. That’s a savings of about $7.95 – $9.95 per order.
My closest Walmart Superstore is a few miles away which means I have to make a $35 minimum purchase in order to qualify.
Although, I have discovered that I can mix grocery items with household items in order to reach my $35 free delivery from store minimum.
Another added bonus is that fuel discounts are available at Sam’s Club gas stations. However, a Sam’s membership is not included with your Walmart+ account. Go figure!
My Walmart Plus Review
As an avid Walmart shopper, it felt like a logical choice to sign up for a Walmart Plus membership. Outside of using the Flashfood app to save on groceries, I regularly do the bulk of my grocery shopping at Walmart.
I also purchase household items and essentials there.
Then there’s the online mystery shopping gig work I complete for Field Agent. Most of these gigs require that I purchase an item from the Walmart website in exchange for my honest review.
These were all reasons enough for me to join Walmart+.
So, Is Walmart Plus worth it? I’m not yet sold on the membership.
Walmart Free Delivery from Store
The $35 minimum for same day grocery delivery means I may have to purchase more items than needed. It’s not ideal since most of the time I really only need a few items to complete a meal.
Although, I do enjoy that I can pick the exact time (within an hour) for my shopping items to get delivered.
In a recent order, I purchased ice cream and made sure to schedule a delivery time when I knew someone would be home.
If you have a larger family and buy groceries often, then you may find it easier to meet the $35 minimum criteria for free delivery from the store.
Otherwise, there are plenty of other ways to save money on groceries without the need to overbuy just to get free shipping!
Walmart App Scan and Go
The Walmart app is convenient to scan barcodes for in-store product pricing.
Yet, when it comes time to checkout with the scan and go feature, it won’t accept payment with Walmart gift cards, nor does it allow you to add Walmart promo codes during the checkout process.
If you want to apply any of these to your order, it’s better to go through self-checkout or to a cashier, instead of using Walmart scan and go to pay.
On the other hand, if you shop online with the Walmart app and add products to your cart that way, then you can apply coupons and promo codes to your order.
This is a major inconvenience since I regularly pay with Walmart gift cards I receive from the Fetch and Ibotta shopping app.
It also defeats the purpose of a fast and contact-less checkout process. So far, this is one of my biggest Walmart Plus complaints.
Walmart Online Prices vs In-Store
Walmart in-store prices are not always the same as Walmart online prices. So you may want to compare prices before making your purchase.
For example, I recently purchased 4x Lego Blue Baseplate squares for my nephew. The online price was on sale at $5.99 per baseplate.
The next day, I walked into the same Walmart superstore where I had made my delivery from store order. The shelf price for the same item in-store was $7.97.
This discrepancy is oftentimes what people refer to as ‘Walmart hidden clearance’ deals. You can use the Walmart app price scanner to find these hidden prices.
The good news is if you find a better price on Walmart.com versus the in-store price, then you can ask for a price match. The item has to be sold by Walmart, not from a third party vendor.
Here’s exactly what Walmart states in their Price Match Policy:
‘For items purchased in a Walmart U.S. store, we will match the price of the identical item advertised on Walmart.com.’
I would have never known about this had I not become a Walmart Plus member. I only recently discovered this when I started scanning for prices in-store.
So that’s another Walmart Plus win in my book! Become a Walmart+ member.
Is Walmart Plus Better than Amazon Prime?
A Walmart Plus subscription membership is $40 less per year than Amazon Prime, has a lower minimum fee for free grocery delivery and members benefit from local fuel discounts.
Amazon Prime has a wider range of products, offers more robust streaming services, prescription discounts, and free cloud storage for photos and videos.
Whether Walmart Plus or Amazon Prime is the better option largely depends on the features you plan to make use of the most.
For members who regularly shop Walmart for groceries, a W+ membership can help you add time back into your schedule while enjoying unlimited free grocery deliveries.
Whereas, Amazon Prime members can benefit from award-winning original programming, free movies and music, and a wider selection of products to shop.
Is Walmart Plus Worth It?
A Walmart Plus membership is worth it for the right person.
In my case, a subscription membership provides me with ease of mind that I can get unlimited grocery deliveries when needed. There’s no upcharge for grocery items to be delivered, which means I continue to save with my membership.
As a person who lives in New England where winters typically include heavy snowfall and below zero temperatures, it’s a welcomed service!
Additionally, I can still use Rakuten and Swagbucks to earn even more cash back rewards on my Walmart Plus online purchases.
My only Walmart Plus complaint is that I can’t add Walmart Promo Codes nor use a Walmart gift card with the scan and go feature.
My hope is that this will change as Walmart continues to grow the program and add new features and benefits for W+ members.
Want to earn rewards from your grocery receipts? Then read next about receipt reward apps that pay you in gift cards and real cash for your receipts.
