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Fuel Rewards Programs: Are They Really Worth It?


If you live in an area in which grocery stores offer you discounts for fill-ups at their gas station based off your purchases in the store, you quite possibly feel like you're inundated with advertising about it.

They promote it as the ideal way for you to save money from your fuel purchases and try and encourage you to spend as much as you can at their store since, naturally, you'll be saving cash at the pump.

However the question is - is it actually worth it?

Well, yes and no. It definitely can be if you are already buying something at that store and you are comfortable with the amount you happen to be spending. The problem is when you discover that you must spend $15 more to get an additional ten cents off your gas purchase, and that means you spend $15 on anything you see just to receive the gas discount. That's pretty pointless in the event you might have paid less for the purchase at another store. Bear in mind, an added ten cents off per gallon is only a $1.50 to $2.00 discount - definitely not really worth throwing away money you did not need to spend!

Yet another major promotion these stores usually run is related to gift cards. Oftentimes when you purchase a gift card at their store (commonly available for a number of stores), they'll give you double the gas discount.

You should think that through. Let's say you'll gain 20 cents off for each gallon for every $50 gift card purchase you make. Assuming your tank holds 16 gallons, that is a $3.20 discount. When you already need a gift card (possibly for a gift), that seems like a very good deal - you earn $3.20 for really doing nothing.

In case you do not possess a cash back credit card (like Discover More), you can optimize this special promotion by purchasing gift cards for all of the stores you shop at. You will get fuel rewards basically for purchasing at the stores you currently shop at.

Nevertheless, in the event you do possess a cash back credit card, it can get a little more complicated. If you employ a gift card you won't be receiving cash back rewards, so you have to take that into account. If the cash back card offers 5% cash back at grocery stores, purchasing a grocery store gift card is unnecessary. In the event you buy a $50 card, you are going to get a $3.20 gas reward as well as a $2.50 cash back reward on your gift card purchase (assuming you use your cash back credit card to get the gift card), but you are going to lose out on the $2.50 reward you would get for employing your cash back card on the subsequent $50 purchase.

However, if the gift card is from a category you just receive, say, 1% money back on, then the gift card purchase will be worth it. You'll get the fuel reward along with a $2.50 money back reward because you happen to be buying the gift card at your grocery store. In the event you used your cash back card at the store only bringing in 1% money back, you'd only get a reward of 50 cents. In this situation, you essentially make $2. The question is if the whole process is really worth the $2 you get.

As you can see, there are winning and losing situations with fuel rewards programs. You just need to make the decision about when it's worth it and when it's not.

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