I hate it when gas prices go up. As publisher of a sports website which involves plenty of travel, I know all about the burden that high gas prices can do to a hobby or a business.
I've found myself traveling within business districts and expressway interchanges trying to find the cheapest price for gas within sight. Often times, they are all the same price. Even within the same city, all of the stations are at the same price sometimes.
But with Shell's Fuel Rewards Card, you now have a gas station to choose from that is at least 3 cents cheaper than the other guys!
Are all of the gas stations along your highway at $3.79 per gallon? Your Johnson Oil Shell station can lower that number down to $3.76 per gallon, as long as you have Shell's Fuel Rewards Card - and have it activated.
What is the Fuel Rewards Card? It is similar to a grocery store saver's card that you use to get savings on items at your grocery stores (such as at Kroger, County Market, K-Mart and Walgreens). The Fuel Rewards is NOT a credit or a debit card, simply a saver's card to help you just as much a grocer card does.
Don't have a Fuel Rewards Card from Shell? Stop on in your Shell station and ask the clerk for one at the counter (if he or she hasn't mentioned it to you already).
Once you have your brochure, with the plastic card attached to it, go online at http://www.fuelrewards.com to activate your card.
Once you are activated, you are ready to start your savings!
The piece of plastic is like having a pass for $0.03 cents off a gallon.
We ALL wind up doing this all of the time while filling up - have you ever had that "penny over" that ends of $XX.01? Don't take the time scrambling through ashtrays and under seats worrying about that darn penny. Use your activated Rewards Card in these cases and actually get some change BACK.
Just by having the Fuel Rewards Card, you can save 3 cents per gallon when you fill up. But did you know that you can stretch your savings to 5 cents off per gallon? Or how about 10 cents? 20 cents? A whole dollar off???
At your local Johnson Oil Shell station, you have the opportunity to save at least 5 cents off per gallon by purchasing goods and services inside the store.
Accrue $25 worth of goods and services (sales tax not included) purchased in the store using this saver card - and you can do so over a period of time. Once you have reached the $25 threshold, you can use that saver's card to save $0.05/gallon of fuel. Every $25 afterward adds an additional $0.05 savings: Spend $50 inside the store and save $0.10. Spend $350 inside the store and save $0.70.
Remember that once you redeem your rewards after filling up, your balance starts over at $0.00.
If you provide a mobile phone number at registration, you can text FUELREWARDS to 67463 at any time to learn your current cents-per-gallon savings on your Rewards Card.
NOTE: If you fill up (and paying inside), also purchasing goods, and want to add your goods total to your rewards card but not redeeming your rewards total of $0.05 or higher, you MUST ask the clerk to ring up seperate orders: one for the gas (w/o your rewards card) and one for the goods (w/ the rewards card).
On the moment you reach the $25 threshold, you have until the end of that current month PLUS one additional calendar month to use your rewards. For example: If you get the $0.05/gallon savings on May 4, you have until June 30 to use that savings. If you keep building up the savings and reach the $0.10/gallon savings on June 15, you have until June 30 to use the $0.10/gallon savings and until July 31 to use the $0.05/gallon savings.
Buying WHAT at the Shell station over time can get you the $0.05/gallon savings?
*25 $1 newspapers
*Roughly 20 cups of coffee
*Roughly 18 cups of cappuccino
*Roughly 20-ounce Pepsi products
*Roughly 20-ounce 7up products
*Roughly 21 small candy bars
*Roughly 71 small packs of chewing gum
*Roughly 14 16-ounce Monster drinks
*Roughly 6 large bags of potato chips
*50 50-cent Little Debbie snacks
*Roughly 4 6-packs of beer and roughly 2 whole cases of beer
Are there exceptions to what you can purchase for rewards? Yes; fuel itself, cigarettes (packs and cartons), lottery, gift cards, money orders, and fax services are not eligible purchases for rewards. (Also, all Johnson Oil BP locations are not included in this program, as this is a Shell promotion.)
That's right. Beer IS included in the rewards program (beer is not available at some locations, such as RF). Two big cases can already get you the $0.05/gallon rewards. Also included are cans of chewing tobacco and cigarello/blunt sticks.
Your little things can, and do, add up. Do you buy milk every two days? At $3.50/gallon for milk, about two weeks worth of milk can get you the $0.05/gallon fuel savings. Do this for a month, and you can save $0.10/gallon – and that's NOT including whatever ELSE you buy.
Do the math ... what do you get every day? You can use your typical purchase total to determine how many trips to the gas station you have left in order to increase your savings.
Let's say you get the same three things at Shell every day: a Monster drink for $1.75, a bottle of pop for $1.65 and a candy bar at $1.25. Six days of getting the same items adds up to $27.90, and you will have increased your savings at the pump from the inital $0.03/gallon off to $0.05/gallon off.
Build those savings for a month (without redeeming them), and your saving adds up to $0.20/gallon off.
The biggest question asked about such a promotion is whether the fuel savings are worth it.
Let's say you fill up your vehicle every Sunday for a year with your Fuel Rewards Card at just $0.05 off a gallon. At 20 gallons, your total savings adds up to $1.00 for your visit. In a year, you will have saved $52.00. That's almost like getting a free fill-up, or more than half of one, once a year! And that's at just $0.05 off. At $0.10 a gallon, the yearly savings adds up to $104.00.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THAT MONEY? Especially come Christmas time?
Do you buy a 12-pack of beer every day?
At $10 for a 12-pack, you've spent $300 over the course of 30 days, which translates into $0.60 off per gallon after 30 days. If you buy a 12-pack a day in the maximum span of 61 days before the points expire (and you haven't used up rewards yet), this translates into $1.20 off per gallon to use before the first of the points expire - this you can do five times over the course of a calendar year. Using this formula, and those five particular fill-ups within the year, filling up a 15-gallon vehicle at the Advertised price of $3.80/gallon (docked down to $2.60 at the fill-up), your total savings over a one-year period is $120.00. And that's just the beer alone!
But let's not get too wrapped around long-term, lock-step consistency.
Let's use the $7/week for newspapers example: In 25 straight days by buying $1 newspapers, you have earned $0.05/gallon off. Filling a 20-gallon (minimum) tank right when you reach that $25 threshold is a savings of $1.00 - enough to get your 26th $1 newspaper for free, pretty much. That's not factoring in other goods purchased at Shell that could increase your savings even more.
Buying a donut at $0.89 every day for 29 straight days adds up to $25.81, enough to get your $0.05/gallon off. Filling an 19-gallon (minimum) tank after 29 days is a savings of $0.95, enough for a free donut after tax. Again, that's not factoring in other goods purchased at Shell that could increase your savings even more.
(On a personal note, my car's gas tank holds 13 gallons. If you're like me, and fill up when your stick reads “E”, a nickel savings adds up to $0.65. While that may seem like pocket change in regard to a fill-up, ask yourself this: Where else could I have received ANY savings this way?)
Additional FAQ's about the rewards:
I don't have a car, so why should I use this card? IMO, You can always give the card to someone to use for savings. They'll appreciate it. Consider it an act of kindness. And it didn't cost you anything, really.
It's just another piece of plastic that I have to carry around. IMO, but this used for fuel, which is an everyday necessity if you have a vehicle or a lawn mower. And fuel is not cheap. Using it at the register at Shell, or at the gas pumps at Shell only takes a few seconds. The online activation process only takes a few minutes as well.
I have reached the point where I can save $0.20/gallon on my card. Can I use $0.10 now and $0.10 later? No. When you use the card, you redeem all you have at that time in that one transaction.
Is is possible to get a tank of gas for free? Not entirely, but whatever is left will be a minimal payment (no more than $0.10). Say your gas station has its regular gas for $3.50, and you have reached the point where you have $3.50/gallon savings (meaning $1,750 worth of in-store purchases tallied on your FRN card, with it all yet to expire), all you pay is that minimal payment of no more than $0.10.
Can I use the rewards card in addition to my Kroger/Hilander card? No. Only one saver card can be used per transaction.
However, there are other ways to stack savings on top of your fuel rewards savings. Shell offers two credit cards that provide additional savings. The Shell “Drive for 5” credit card can save you $0.05/gallon on your final bill. The Citi Shell Platnium MasterCard can save you $0.10/gallon on your final bill. (You can ask for either of these cards at your Shell station).
Are there other ways I can build rewards on the Fuel Rewards card? Absolutely. You MUST link your Fuel Rewards rewards card with a credit or debit card (by doing so online at (http://www.fuelrewards.com), in order to rack up additional rewards by shopping at Fuel Rewards's “Online Mall,” or dining at participating reward-eligible restaurants, or grocery shopping at reward-eligible grocery stores.
How?
For dining, if you use your credit or debit card – if linked to your Fuel Rewards card – at Manny's Too in Fulton, Fried Green Tomatoes in Galena, Gene's Place in Rockford, and Happy Joes in Geneseo (the only northwest Illinois diners that are in the program), you can earn $0.10/gallon savings when you spend $50 or more.
This involves enrolling in the Dining Program (do so HERE).
In addition to northern Illinois, several restaurants in the Iowa Quad Cities area are also included: Sneaky Pete's in LeClaire; The Clubhouse in Bettendorf; Rudy's Tacos and Winner's Pizza in Eldridge; and
11th Street Precinct, Cafe Indigo, Jersey Grille, Rookie's Sports Bar, and both Rudy's Tacos locations in Davenport.
A full list of eateries can be viewed by visiting https://www.fuelrewards.com/fuelrewards/locations. Once there, type in a location and only select the "dining" icon (all of the other icons should be gray), and select "list view" for a list of nearby eateries where you can add savings to your Fuel Rewards card.
In addition, link any MasterCard credit, debit and/or prepaid card(s) to your Dining account and you'll earn an additional one-time $0.05/gallon bonus for the first $50 you spend with that card. That's on top of the $0.10/gallon you already earn for spending $50 dining.
Grocery shopping at HyVee using a MasterCard (credit, debit or perpaid) linked to your Fuel Rewards card. For every $100 spent on groceries at HyVee using your MasterCard AND your HyVee Fuel Saver card, you have earned an additional $0.03/gallon savings on your Fuel Rewards card at Shell. You MUST select "credit" when checking out and sign for your purchase.
What is the "Online Mall?"
Do you engage in online shopping? This is also a way to help put more savings toward your Fuel Rewards card.
Access the Online Mall here: https://shop.fuelrewards.com/
From that link (and ONLY from THAT link), you can click on the website of the place you wish to do your online shopping. Major stores are included here. You can earn $0.05/gallon off when you spend $50 this way. Some stores offer a multiplier of rewards, so for a store that has four times the rewards you can earn $0.20/gallon off when you spend $50 this way.
The Fuel Rewards Network will also offer specials from time to time as noted on its website. Currently there are additional bonuses for whenever you link your MasterCard to your Fuel Rewards Card.
Shell Expresslane (Johnson Oil) locations are scattered throughout all of northern Illinois and parts of eastern Iowa. It is these locations where the "$0.05/gallon savings for every $25 purchased" are eligible.
Illinois locations include:
Albany
Amboy
Annawan
Belvidere
Cherry Valley
Coal Valley
Colona
Davis
Dixon (2)
East Moline
Freeport (2)
Fulton
Galesburg
Grand Detour
Hillsdale
Kewanee
Lanark
LaSalle (2)
Marengo
Mendota
Milan
Moline (2)
Morrison
Mount Morris
Oglesby
Oregon
Ottawa (4)
Polo
Peru
Princeton
Rochelle (I-88 at IL 251 only)
Rock Falls (2)
Rockford (3)
Rock Island (2)
Silvis
Sterling (2)
Stockton
Utica
Walnut
Woodstock
Iowa locations include:
Clinton (3)
Bettendorf (2)
Buffalo
Davenport (4)
Remember, you MUST activate your FRN rewards card online in order to redeem any rewards on fuel purchases.
-Cody
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