Safeway now offers the option of redeeming “fuel points” for select grocery items instead. Login to your Safeway account to see which items are offered and at what points cost. Note this option is not yet available to all. I assume it’s in the process of being rolled out or maybe it’s being tested.
Grocery redemption can be hugely useful. Redeeming for gas is hit or miss – some people don’t drive much, others find they don’t save using gas points due to higher gas prices at eligible stations, etc. Groceries should be easy to redeem for, plus it increases your burn bandwidth.
Regular Safeway gas rewards are: 1 point per $1 spent on groceries and pharmacy, and 2 points per dollar on qualifying gift cards. After $100 in grocery spend, you’ll have 100 points which equals 1 reward. From the images I’ve seen, my guesstimation is that 1 reward is worth around $1-3. Here’s a look at a few of the grocery redemption options:
Some have even seen an option to get a Safeway gift card from gas rewards.
Hat tip to reader Mike and to Milesperday for info and photos
If you buy 25 gallons of gas and use 10 points you have saved
1 dollar per gallon which equals $25 or $ 2.50 per point.
This is better than the deals on groceries to use your points.
Well for me I clipped the rewards for $3 off on purchases (excludes some items) and yet never was able to use the clipped reward (tried 2-3 times). Subsequently Next trip I don’t see the clipped reward in my account and it was also not redeemed on the receipt (they just took it away – expiration date was still away). So I really don’t rely on safeways rewards systems. Am just not going to clip rewards and just continue using them for fuel rewards.
Do these work at Harris Teeter?
Good to know! I’m in the same situation as someone else above…no nearby Randalls gas station and the 20 cents off at some overpriced station does nothing for me. So being able to redeem for groceries is a huge improvement on this program for me.
But now I’m kinda overstuffed on gas and food from all the raceway and shipt amex offers….
If you work this right, you can get free groceries and often cash back.
Safeway has already made fuel points more difficult to earn. Two months ago my $200 in fixed value MC purchases earned me 400 fuel points. Less than two weeks ago the identical purchase earned zero.
This is a huge win for me. We have no Vons gas stations nearby, and Chevron is more than 20 cents more expensive than Arco, so even with the discount it’s a loss.
It was launched here – SF Bay – 2 months ago. The best offers are $2 off for 1 reward in (department) purchase, didn’t see any better. It doesn’t scale well, one can use only ~3 rewards per month that way. Next was $5 off Safeway GC for 3 rewards (so $1.67 / reward), then a bunch of $3 off (department) purchase for 2.
It also feels like they do targeted rewards (maybe towards people who don’t use the rewards on gas?), this month I can cash out something like 15 rewards above $1.5… (but due to free items from the Monopoly game, I’m barely paying anything these weeks..)
The free items are useless, I’d guesstimate a $0.5 average value on those, because even when price of the item(s) is higher than $2, one can get a just4U coupon for those, or just get them at other stores.
Thanks for the info. As someone who drives very little in a hybrid vehicle and fills it at Costco, my gas points routinely go to waste. This is good news.
In Arizona these rewards have been around since the fall. It’s a great option since I use Kroger gas rewards. We have a great option for 3 rewards, which is a $5 gift card (used to be $6). Put keep an eye on your receipts, sometimes the reward doesn’t get used, but customer service desk will credit you. Don’t bother calling corporate, they just refer you to the store
GC option was gone for me this month in Nor. Cal..
Wow, gc is awesome!
thats all I have been using my fuel points on as I only get $.20 off maximum per gallon here and costco gas is cheaper then that
Careful about Costco. In some states, they add ethanol and I know I am going to see fifty posts debating the mileage efficiency of ethanol but it WILL reduce your mileage.
The long wait at Costco and the extra driving you incur to go to Costco is not worth my time.
Q: Why does Kirkland Signatureâ„¢ Gasoline contain ethanol?
A: The federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Renewable Fuels Standard, which required that a certain amount of ethanol be used in the nations’ fuel supply. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 increased this amount. Kirkland Signatureâ„¢ Gasoline complies with this law, and if our fuel contains ethanol a pump decal will advise you of that fact.
Doesn’t pretty much all gas in the US have ethanol? There are several states that even require it.
I wish we had a Safeway. I never use the fuel rewards with Jewel-Osco… because Costco is about .20-.30 cheaper. An I never wait at line at Costco, you just have to know when is the best time to go 🙂
Yes most does, if you search google you can find ethanol free stations locally and that is where i go
No long wait if you time it and it’s nearby as well for me, going to compare the mileage next