Sam's Club to Limit Guest Card Activations to Curb Resale
Sam's Club announced plans to update its membership terms, limiting guest card activations to curb resale. The new rule, effective October 16, 2026, allows a user to activate only two primary member guest cards per year.
Sam's Club is set to implement new membership regulations that will restrict the activation of its guest cards, a move aimed at combating the resale of membership benefits. The proposed changes, pending a seven-day public comment period, are scheduled to take effect on October 16, 2026.
Under the new policy, an individual will be permitted to activate guest cards linked to a maximum of two primary Sam's Club members within any 365-day period. Furthermore, only one guest card can be activated at a time. This contrasts with the previous system, which had no annual limit on the number of guest cards a person could activate.
The company provided an example illustrating the rule: a user activating a guest card on November 1, 2026, and then seeking to activate another from a different primary member on January 1, 2027, must first deactivate the initial card. After activating the second card, no further activations are allowed until the 365-day cycle renews.
Sam's Club stated that these changes will not affect primary members and are intended to prevent the misuse and unauthorized resale of guest passes. The retailer believes this will help ensure that membership privileges are used appropriately by eligible individuals.