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AMEX recently has a Sam's Club offer: $30-$15. This offer does not exclude gift card purchases, whether electronic gift cards or physical gift cards.

Below are the full offer terms. The only relevant restriction is highlighted in red, and gift card purchases are not excluded:

Enrollment limited. Must first add offer to Card and then use same Card to redeem. Only U.S.-issued American Express® Cards are eligible. Limit 1 enrolled Card per Card Member across all American Express offer channels. Your enrollment of an eligible American Express Card for this offer extends only to that Card. Offer valid online on US website only at Samsclub.com and via Sam’s Club mobile app (excluding the Scan and Go app) . Not valid on purchases made in-Club, via the Scan and Go app, phone orders or new memberships. Excludes Club pick up paid for in-store. Excludes prescription and photo purchases made via Sam’s Club mobile app, Sam’s Club fuel and third Party Services offered to Sam's Club Members(Auto Buying Program, Payroll, Stationary, Checks, Healthcare, Legal Zoom, Photo Center, Business Payment Solutions, Samsclubcontacts.com, Accounting Services, Business Lending Center, Identity Protection Service, Business Printing) . Offer is non-transferable. Limit of 1 statement credit per Card Member. The enrolled Card account must not be cancelled or past due to receive statement credit. Any benefit earned from this offer is in addition to the rewards (i.e. Membership Rewards or cash back) earned as part of your existing Card benefits, but your ability to earn spend-based rewards for the purchase will be based on the amount after any statement credit or other discount is applied. Statement credit will appear on your billing statement within 90 days after 1/31/2020

Based on actual tests, buying gift cards directly does work. There are two scenarios:

  • If you are not a paid Sam's Club member, you can register for a free guest account and then buy third-party physical gift cards. Shipping is free in some areas.
  • If you are a paid Sam's Club member and do not have anything specific to buy, purchasing third-party eGCs online can also trigger the offer.

Of course, you might think of another use case: if you are interested in a basic paid Sam's Club membership, combined with the previous new-member $45-$25 offer, you would only need to spend $5 to get a membership that costs $45. (The terms say it is not valid for purchasing a new membership, so this would need real-world testing, YMMV.)