Fuel Points are loyalty points that can save you up to $1.00 per gallon on up to 35 gallons of gas.
You earn Fuel Points by spending at grocery store brands owned by Kroger, including Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Mariano’s, Fred Meyer, and the other brands listed below. In total, it’s about 2,800+ grocery stores nationwide.
This post will cover everything you need to know about Fuel Points, including how to earn fuel points, how to redeem your points, and how to maximize your points.
What Kroger Brands Offer Fuel Points?
Kroger owns a lot of grocery store brands, which each allow you to earn fuel points:
- Baker’s
- City Market
- Dillons
- Food 4 Less
- Foods Co
- Fred Meyer
- Fry’s
- Gerbes
- Jay C Food Store
- King Soopers
- Kroger
- Mariano’s
- Metro Market
- Pay-Less Super Markets
- Pick’n Save
- QFC
- Ralphs
- Ruler
- Smith’s Food and Drug
There is also a pending merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which would add an additional 21 brands such as Ralphs, Safeway, Jewel Osco, and more.
Earning Fuel Points
You normally earn fuel points at the following rates, unless there is a promotion:
Groceries: Earn 1 Fuel Point on each dollar spent on most groceries.
- Exception: Alcohol and milk products are excluded in some states. Also, you won’t earn fuel points on tobacco, money orders, postage stamps, product deposits, taxes, and fees.
Gift Cards: Earn 2 Fuel Points per dollar on most gift cards.
- Exception: No fuel points for grocery store gift cards and variable load Amex, Mastercard, and Visa cards, but occasionally, there are special promotions allowing you to earn fuel points.
Prescriptions: You will earn 25 fuel points for non-federally funded prescriptions 1 fuel point per dollar on out-of-pocket costs for federally funded prescriptions, and 75 fuel points for each 90-day prescriptions.
- Exception: A few brands offer double points on prescriptions such as Harris Teeter.
Boost Members: Kroger offers a membership called Boost that allows you to earn 2x fuel points on groceries, in addition to free delivery and special coupons.
How to Maximize Your Spending
Kroger and its grocery brands frequently run special promotions that allow you to earn extra fuel points.
The most popular promotion is 4x fuel points on gift cards. For example, you could buy a $250 Amazon gift card, load it into your Amazon account, and net 1,000 fuel points, which gets you $1 off per gallon of gas up to 35 gallons.
If you got 35 gallons of gas, that would be equivalent to 14% in rewards on the gift card purchase ($35 in rewards / $250 in gift cards purchases at 4x points). Or 8% in rewards if you did fill up 20 gallons of gas.
To further maximize the promotion, I also recommend putting your spending on a credit card that earns extra points at supermarkets such as:
- American Express® Gold Card (review) – Best for Points
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express (review) – Best for Cash Back
On a $250 gift card purchase, I would earn about $20 in rewards with my Amex Gold, for a grand total of $55 in rewards for a $250 gift card.
When Do Fuel Points Expire?
Kroger Fuel Points expire at the end of the month that you earn them. For example, if you earn fuel points in July, they will expire at the end of August.
You can see how many fuel points you have by signing into your grocery store account.
Gas Stations for Fuel Poiunts
You can redeem your fuel points at these gas stations:
- All Brands = Grocery store gas stations (e.g., Kroger Fuel, Harris Teeter Fuel, etc.)
- Most Brands = Shell gas stations.
- Harris Teeter, Mariano’s, and Pick n’ Save = BP and Amoco gas stations.
I earn my fuel points from Mariano’s, so I enter my phone number at BP when prompted about rewards before putting in my credit card to use my Fuel Points.
Maximizing Your Fuel Points Redemptions
You can redeem fuel points in increments of 100 points, which equals 10 cents off per gallon up to 35 gallons of gas. The maximum redemption is 1,000 points.
For example:
- 200 Fuel Points = 20 cents off per gallon.
- 400 Fuel Points = 40 cents off per gallon.
- 600 Fuel Points = 60 cents off per gallon.
- 800 Fuel Points = 80 cents off per gallon.
- 1,000 Fuel Points = $1.00 off per gallon.
To get the most value out of Fuel Points, you need to fill up 35 gallons. Unless you have a big truck, your vehicle likely only holds 15-20 gallons of gas.
I recommend bringing a few extra gas cans to fill up to help you get as much gas as possible. (We have a small boat in Chicago, so I fill up both my vehicle and cans for our boat to maximize the promotion.)
Another option would be to try to fill up two cars back to back, but gas stations might think that’s suspicious behavior. It also requires coordination with two drivers to drive to the gas station.
The Verdict
Kroger’s Fuel Points program can be a great way to save money on gas through spending on groceries or buying gift cards when there are 4x fuel points promotions.
You can also maximize your earning ability by getting a credit card that earns extra points at grocery stores.
