The LL Bean credit card is targeted at those who shop a lot at LL Bean and allows them to earn rewards. Let’s find out how this works and how their reward program works.

Rewards – The LL Bean credit card allows you to earn 3% (in points) for every dollar that you spend at LL Bean and 0.5% when you use the card for other purposes. Once you have accumulated 10 points, a $10 coupon will be automatically issued in your next statement. Once the “dollar coupons” (as they are called is issued), they are valid for 12 months. When you make a purchase using the coupons, the value of your purchase must exceed the coupon value (ie “no free purchases”).

As a sign up incentive, new cardholders get a $10 coupon.

Holders of this card also get free shipping (except for things like furniture!)

Fees – There is no annual fee for this card.

LL Bean Credit Card Peer Comparison

The first thing we want to ask is how does the LL Bean card compare with it’s peers. I would say that right off the bat that it is simply average. Rebates and rewards for “retail store” cards range between 2% and 5%. So 3% is right smack in the middle of the range.

Alternatives to Earning Rebates at LL Bean

Fortunately, there are alternative ways to earn rewards and rebates at LL Bean. In fact, there are a couple of other cards that actually give you better rebates when you shop at LL Bean’s website.

Discover – Holders of the Discover More Card and the Discover Student More Card can earn 5% rebates when they shop at their website via accessing it through their Discover account. (see screen shots below).

Citi Bonus Cash Center – Cardholders of the Citi World Dividend MasterCard and the Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card for College Students can also earn 5% rebates when they shop at LL Bean’s website through Citi’s shopping portal called Citi Bonus Cash Center (see screen shot below).

Blue Cash Everyday – The Blue Cash Everyday from American Express allows you to earn 2% rebates when you shop at any department store. So while it is 1% less than LL Bean, it allows you to earn that 2% in more stores.

Give the LL Bean Card a Miss

Depending on how you look at it, the LL Bean credit card allows you to earn an equivalent of 3% in rebate terms when you purchase LL Bean stuff. The bad thing about this card is that for other regular purchases, you only earn 0.5% rebate equivalent (vs 1% for most other cards). Another downside is that the rewards are in the form of LL Bean coupons and so you are forced to use it at their stores (which is the whole purpose of getting you to sign up!).

Given that other cards allow you to earn more than the “3%” that the LL Bean card gives when you shop at LL Beans and also the fact that you do not have to use the rebates you earn at LL Bean, I cannot recommend the LL Bean credit card. If you shop online at llbean.com, then I would suggest you get either the Discover More Card or the Citi World Dividend MasterCard as you can earn 5% rebates rather than 3%.