Free Gas From Giant/Stop&Shop (with gift card purchase) Returns 6/5 – 6/11 and Better!

The Stop&Shop/Giant free gas deal is back and better than last time!

The Offer

Direct Link (Stop&Shop, page 6, not yet showing) Direct Link (Giant, not yet showing)

• Purchase Visa gift cards from Stop & Shop and receive triple gas points. (The circular pictured below if from Stop&Shop, but I’m sure Giant will have the same promo.)

Visa gift cards usually don’t earn gas points at all. Occasionally, they’ll run a promo offering points on them and even bonusing the purchase with extra points. This time it’s triple points on Visa gift card purchases.

As an example, if you buy a $500 Visa gift card, you’ll get 1500 points, worth $1.50 off each gallon of gas up to 35 gallons or a $52.50 value.

The Fine Print

• Offer valid from 6/5/15 – 6/11/15.
• Must use Stop&Shop/Giant rewards card in order to get the points (and to redeem them as well).

Our Verdict

This is an awesome promo which comes a few times per year. It’s particularly useful since buying Visa gift cards at supermarkets can really be a profitable venture in any event, by using a card that earns bonus points at supermarkets, such as Amex Blue Cash, Amex Everyday and so many more. See Best Credit Card For Grocery Store Purchases.

Last time they had the deal was in March and they only offered 2x fuel points, which I predicted would be the wave of the future. To our good fortune, my prediction was wrong and they’re offering 3x fuel points this time around. That really makes it much easier to maximize.

You can only do one $500 card per transaction without needing an override. (Asking to split each card into a separate transaction works.) If you’re doing higher than $2,000, you need to do it at customer service. Max $5000 per day. They usually copy down your driver’s license number on large gift card purchases.

Deal Scenarios

Basic Details: Every 100 points gets you 10¢ off per gallon at Shell, up to 35 gallons. If you have 1000 points, you’ll get $1 off. If you have 2200 points, you’ll get $2.20 off per gallon. 

• Max discount in some areas is $2.20. In other areas there is no max.
• You have 30 days to use the points. (My personal experience was that they gave me closer to 40 days, but the Terms insist that it’s exactly 30 days from the date of the supermarket purchase.)
• Points must be used nearby your store location – they can’t be used at a Shell far away from home.
• See this post and the FAQ for more details. Some of the details vary by area and store.

Since gas prices currently hover around $2.90 per gallon, your gas will be $.70 (or free in some areas).

(Pro tip: use a Shell gift card  and you’ll usually get the cash price. Those who are good at math will realize why this is especially worthwhile when using fuel points.)

Sample Scenarios

• If you think you’ll need only 1 fill-up during the month, buy one $500 gift card and get $1.50 off per gallon. Or buy two $500 gift cards and get $2.20 off the fill-up.
• If you think you’ll need 2 fill-ups during the month, buy three $500 Visa gift cards for a total of 4500 points and you’ll get $2.20 off both fill-ups.
• If you think you’ll need 3 fill-ups during the month, buy five $500 gift cards for 7500 points and you’ll get $2.20 off the 3 fill-ups.
• Etc.

This is really a good time to pull out those grocery-bonus credit cards and put them to work. It could also make sense to do one gift card run at the beginning of the week and a second run at the end of the week to lengthen the life of the points. Some stores can run out of gift cards though so keep that in mind.

HT: mistercheap on Fatwallet

Related: Master List Of Gas Station Rewards Programs