BJ’s Travel Review: Is It Worth Using for Vacations, Hotels, and Cruises?

Search interest in BJ’s Travel has surged over 36,000% recently, and if you’re a BJ’s Wholesale Club member, that curiosity makes complete sense. Most people think of BJ’s as the place they grab bulk paper towels and a year’s worth of olive oil. But tucked inside that membership is a travel booking service that can save you serious money on hotels, cruises, car rentals, and vacation packages. The question isn’t whether the deals exist. It’s whether they’re actually better than what you’d find booking elsewhere. Let’s dig into what BJ’s Travel offers, what it costs to access, and when it genuinely makes sense to use it.

What Is BJ’s Travel and How Does It Work?

BJ’s Travel is the official travel booking portal available exclusively to BJ’s Wholesale Club members. Think of it as the East Coast answer to Costco Travel: a member-only service that negotiates bulk pricing with hotels, cruise lines, car rental companies, and vacation package providers, then passes a portion of those savings on to you.

You don’t need a separate account or subscription to use it. If you’re already a BJ’s member, you log in to the member portal and access the travel section directly. From there, you can browse and book hotels, rental cars, cruises, and bundled vacation packages, all with pricing and perks that aren’t available to the general public.

The model works because BJ’s leverages its large membership base to secure preferred rates from travel suppliers. In return, those suppliers get guaranteed volume. You benefit from the negotiated pricing without having to do the legwork yourself. For frequent travelers who are already paying for a BJ’s membership, this is essentially a free add-on that can pay for itself in a single trip.

For a broader look at how warehouse club travel programs stack up against traditional booking sites, see our guide to warehouse club travel programs compared.

BJ’s Membership Cost: What You’re Paying to Get Access

Before you can use BJ’s Travel, you need an active BJ’s Wholesale Club membership. As of January 1, 2025, BJ’s raised its membership fees for the first time in seven years. The standard Club membership now costs $60 per year, up $5 from before. The Club+ tier, which comes with additional cashback on purchases, increased by $10 to $120 per year.

That said, BJ’s frequently runs promotional offers for new members. It’s not unusual to find the standard Club membership available for as low as $15 through limited-time deals, which is roughly 80% off the regular price. If you’ve been on the fence, one of those promotional windows is a low-risk way to try the service.

Whether the membership pays off depends largely on how you use it. If you travel at least once or twice a year and book hotels or rental cars, the math tends to work in your favor. The travel savings alone can easily exceed the $60 annual fee on a single booking. Factor in BJ’s in-store discounts on groceries, gas, and household goods, and the membership becomes even easier to justify.

You can review current BJ’s membership options and any active promotions directly on the BJ’s Wholesale Club official membership page.

BJ’s Travel Deals: Hotels, Cruises, Car Rentals, and More

Here’s where things get specific, because the savings numbers BJ’s advertises are genuinely worth paying attention to.

Hotels

BJ’s Travel advertises discounts of up to 50% off hotel bookings for members. The actual discount you’ll find on any given property will vary depending on the brand, location, and travel dates, but 50% off is the ceiling, not a guaranteed floor. That said, even consistent discounts in the 15-30% range add up quickly, especially for longer stays or higher-end properties.

Car Rentals

Members can save up to 35% on qualified car rentals through BJ’s Travel. This is one of the more straightforward benefits, since rental car pricing is easy to compare across platforms. If you’re already planning to rent a car for a trip, running the BJ’s rate alongside what you’d find on a third-party aggregator takes about two minutes and could save you a meaningful chunk of your travel budget.

Cruises and Vacation Packages

BJ’s Travel offers one of its more compelling perks in this category: members can earn up to a $500 BJ’s gift card when booking qualified cruises, vacation packages, or villa rentals. This isn’t a discount on the booking itself but rather a rebate in gift card form, which you can use toward future BJ’s purchases, including in-store groceries and gas. For a family booking a cruise or an all-inclusive package, that $500 effectively reduces the total cost of the trip in a way that stacks on top of any negotiated rate.

The 110% Best Price Guarantee

This policy is worth knowing about before you book anything. If you find a lower price for a rental car, cruise, or vacation package within 48 hours of booking through BJ’s Travel, the service will refund you 110% of the price difference. That’s not just a price match; it’s a small bonus on top. The 48-hour window is tight, so it rewards people who do their comparison shopping before committing, but it’s a meaningful consumer-friendly policy that most third-party booking sites don’t offer.

When BJ’s Travel Makes the Most Sense to Use

BJ’s Travel isn’t the right tool for every trip. Like any warehouse club travel program, it works best in specific situations.

It makes the most sense when you’re booking something substantial: a cruise, an all-inclusive vacation package, or a multi-night hotel stay at a name-brand property. Those are the bookings where the percentage savings translate into real dollar amounts, and where perks like the gift card offer come into play. If you’re booking a single night at a budget motel, the effort of logging in probably isn’t worth the marginal savings.

It also makes sense when you’re planning far enough in advance to comparison shop. Use the 48-hour price guarantee to your advantage: price out your trip on BJ’s Travel, then check competing sites. If BJ’s is competitive or better, book it. If you find a lower price elsewhere within 48 hours, you can either rebook through BJ’s and claim the guarantee or stick with the competitor. Either way, you’re making an informed decision.

Where BJ’s Travel is less useful is for last-minute bookings or highly specific niche travel, like boutique hotels, small-group tours, or off-the-beaten-path accommodations. The platform skews toward major brands and packaged travel, which suits many travelers just fine but won’t cover every type of trip. For independent travel planning tips beyond what warehouse clubs offer, our guide to how to find cheap flights and travel deals has you covered.

BJ’s Travel vs. Costco Travel: How Do They Compare?

The obvious comparison is Costco Travel, which has been around longer and has a larger national footprint. Both programs follow the same basic model: member-only access, negotiated bulk pricing, and perks like gift cards or onboard credits for cruises.

Costco Travel has a slight edge in terms of brand recognition and the breadth of its vacation package offerings, particularly for Hawaii and Mexico resort packages. BJ’s Travel, on the other hand, is more accessible if you live in the Eastern U.S. where BJ’s Wholesale Club locations are concentrated, and its membership fee is currently lower than Costco’s ($60 versus $65 for Costco’s basic Gold Star membership).

If you’re already a BJ’s member for grocery and household shopping, using BJ’s Travel is a no-brainer. If you’re specifically evaluating which warehouse club membership to buy for travel purposes alone, Costco’s slightly larger travel inventory may give it the edge, though BJ’s promotional membership deals can close that gap considerably. The real answer is that neither program will disappoint a deal-conscious traveler who plans ahead. For a deeper side-by-side comparison, check out The Points Guy’s guide to warehouse club travel programs.

Frequently Asked Questions About BJ’s Travel

Do you need a BJ’s membership to use BJ’s Travel?

Yes, BJ’s Travel is exclusively available to active BJ’s Wholesale Club members. You’ll need either a Club ($60/year) or Club+ ($120/year) membership to access the travel portal. New members can sometimes get promotional rates as low as $15 for the first year, which makes trying out the travel benefits fairly low-cost.

How does the $500 gift card offer for cruises work?

When you book a qualifying cruise, vacation package, or villa rental through BJ’s Travel, you can earn up to a $500 BJ’s gift card as a rebate on that booking. The exact amount depends on the booking value and the specific promotion active at the time. The gift card is issued after your travel and can be used for in-store or online BJ’s purchases.

Is the BJ’s Travel 110% Best Price Guarantee easy to claim?

The guarantee applies to rental cars, cruises, and vacation packages, and you have 48 hours from the time of booking to find and submit a lower price. If you find one, BJ’s will refund you 110% of the difference between their price and the lower price you found. The 48-hour window is strict, so it rewards travelers who do their research before and immediately after booking.

Is BJ’s Travel worth it if I only travel once a year?

For most travelers who take even one significant trip per year, the savings can easily justify the cost of a BJ’s membership on their own. A 35% discount on a week-long car rental or a $500 gift card on a cruise booking typically exceeds the $60 annual membership fee by a wide margin. If you also use BJ’s for in-store shopping, the membership pays for itself multiple times over.

Final Thoughts

BJ’s Travel is a genuinely useful benefit that a lot of BJ’s members overlook. The combination of hotel discounts, car rental savings, cruise gift card rebates, and a competitive price guarantee makes it worth checking before you book any major trip through a traditional site. It won’t replace every travel booking tool you use, but for vacation packages, cruises, and rental cars, it earns its place in your planning process. If your membership is already active, open the portal before your next trip and see what the numbers look like. You might be surprised how much is sitting there waiting to be used. For more ways to stretch your travel budget, explore our guide to travel membership programs and loyalty perks.