5 Things to Know About the Eddie Bauer Credit Card

Store credit cards have a reputation for high interest rates, limited usefulness and inflexible reward redemption. Unfortunately, the Eddie Bauer credit card checks all of those boxes. Issued by Comenity Bank, the Eddie Bauer card offers few benefits that can’t be gotten by simply joining Eddie Bauer’s loyalty program. Fans of the outdoor apparel brand should probably become members of the loyalty program to earn rewards but pass on the Eddie Bauer credit card. It falls terribly short of what a good store credit card should be.

The Eddie Bauer credit card is a closed-loop product, meaning it’s only good for making Eddie Bauer purchases in-store and online. If that feels too restrictive for you, consider a card like the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express. It’s a card that works anywhere AmEx is accepted, and earns 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases up to $6,000 spent per year. (After that, the card earns 1%.) Terms apply.

As of this writing, the interest rate, or purchase APR, on the Eddie Bauer card is 32.24%. That’s well above February 2024’s average interest rate for interest-accruing credit cards. An exorbitant interest rate will likely make carrying a balance very expensive. In the end, you’ll wind up paying more for those Eddie Bauer clothes than you’d originally intended.

To understand the primary benefit of the Eddie Bauer card, you’ll first need to know how Eddie Bauer’s free loyalty program works. The Eddie Bauer Adventure Rewards program has three levels: Adventurer, Explorer and Guide. Your status within the rewards program depends on how much you spent at Eddie Bauer within the last 12 months. Naturally, the higher the level, the more you’ll earn:

• Guides earn 5 points for every $1 spent at Eddie Bauer.  

• Explorers earn 4 points for every $1 spent at Eddie Bauer.

• Adventurers earn 3 points for every $1 spent at Eddie Bauer.

If you have the Eddie Bauer credit card, you’ll earn an extra 2 points for every $1, regardless of loyalty status level. For example, if you’re an Explorer and an Eddie Bauer cardholder, you’ll get 6 points per $1 spent rather than 4. Note that cardholders must enroll in the Adventure Rewards program to earn rewards.

Eddie Bauer cardholders also get free return shipping on orders purchased with the credit card; however, this perk is available to those who have achieved Guide status, too.

Some credit cards earn rewards that never expire and let you redeem them at any time for any amount. If only things were as simple with the Eddie Bauer card. There are many rules and restrictions that govern reward redemption. Among them:

• All points in your rewards account expire after 12 months if you don’t make a purchase. 

• Rewards are automatically issued every quarter in $5 increments.

• Issued rewards have an expiration date that’s stated on the reward. 

• Earned rewards are capped at $80 per redemption period.

• Rewards may only be redeemed toward future Eddie Bauer purchases. 

The good news is that 1 point earned with the Eddie Bauer card is worth 1 cent, a value on par with the best rewards credit cards.

The Eddie Bauer card’s lack of a sign-up bonus is disappointing and unusual. Plenty of store credit cards have welcome offers, often in the form of store discounts, to entice people to apply.

An excellent alternative to the Eddie Bauer card is the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card, which has one of the best sign-up bonuses among rewards credit cards, a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. Plus, the Customized Cash card earns 3% back on online shopping on up to $2,500 of combined quarterly spending between that category and grocery stores and wholesale clubs. (Cardholders must select online shopping as their 3% bonus category to earn this rewards rate.)