Attention Kroger Plus Cardholders...

[JB2K]

...or cardholders from any of the other Kroger family of stores (King Soopers, etc.)...

I need an answer to a question -- when in-store purchases are made using the Kroger Plus (or equivalent) card, are fuel points automatically applied to the account (or is there a 24-hour wait)?

Reason being is that I plan on doing this...

...stop at my nearest Kroger (which is about 50 miles away) on my way to Florida, purchase X amount of Disney and other gift cards, and fuel-up (with the intent of saving $1.00 a gallon).

Are there any potential pitfalls I need to be aware-of?

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Yep..the points hit immediately. I often buy groceries, hit the next 100 dollar level, and then go out the pump and get my discounted gas.

 

[tadamom]

Exactly what previous poster said....we did the same thing on Saturday. Went in & bought about $200 worth of Home Depot/Lowe's cards & bought our Starbuck's. And then went straight to the gas pump. Don't forget that select gift cards carry double points.

 

[gshumaker]

concur - immediately posted on account and available to us

 

[kpauley]

Are there any potential pitfalls I need to be aware-of?

Posssibly.....I can not use my fuel perks at a Kroger fuel station that is 120 miles from my home where my girls' go to college. They tell me my account is in a different region.

 

[JB2K]

Posssibly.....I can not use my fuel perks at a Kroger fuel station that is 120 miles from my home where my girls' go to college. They tell me my account is in a different region.

That's interesting to know -- especially since on a road trip to WDW, I would encounter 3 different Kroger divisions (Central/Indianapolis for Illinois, Mid-South/Louisville for KY/TN, and Atlanta Division for all of GA).

Can anyone else verify?

I guess (at the very least), I could carry 3 different cards and "gift card my way to Florida"...

 

[beachcomber]

Posssibly.....I can not use my fuel perks at a Kroger fuel station that is 120 miles from my home where my girls' go to college. They tell me my account is in a different region.

I "think" it's a state-based thing, actually. Some states can not do the "up to $1" gas discount, etc.

But...as for the points hitting....it's immediate.

 

[LadyBeBop]

I live in the Cincinnati region. Yet, I used the card to fill-up in Arkansas. So I think the points are good anywhere.

 

[stauncie]

I was in 4 different Kroger stores in Il last weekend. All 4 of them had that 'canned voice' playing, saying that gift cards were earning 4 times the points right now!!!!

 

[kydisneyfans]

I have run into the same thing a PP poster mentioned, each division handles things differently. I don't even think the $1 per gallon off is nationwide yet.

My home store is in the midsouth and I am fine, if I go to a store in Cincinnati, which I frequently do, the maximum discount for fuel is .10 per gallon for me.

Points hit immediately, so if you plan on filling in GA, I would buy the gift cards at a store in GA just to be safe. I do not recall many Kroger stores south of Macon, GA though.

 

[GatorMama]

I have run into the same thing a PP poster mentioned, each division handles things differently. I don't even think the $1 per gallon off is nationwide yet.

My home store is in the midsouth and I am fine, if I go to a store in Cincinnati, which I frequently do, the maximum discount for fuel is .10 per gallon for me.

Points hit immediately, so if you plan on filling in GA, I would buy the gift cards at a store in GA just to be safe. I do not recall many Kroger stores south of Macon, GA though.

We ALWAYS stopped at exit 155 between "home" and Valdosta. Most recently on a really ridiculously long roadtrip in November.

 

[Bete]

Thanks for the heads up. This is really good to know.

 

[kpauley]

I live in the Cincinnati region. Yet, I used the card to fill-up in Arkansas. So I think the points are good anywhere.

It would be interesting to know if you can use your fuel points in Columbus. I'm in the Columbus region and the Cincinnati region (Oxford, OH) is where I've tried on two different occasions, weeks apart, to redeem fuel points with no luck.

 

[Piecey]

It would be interesting to know if you can use your fuel points in Columbus. I'm in the Columbus region and the Cincinnati region (Oxford, OH) is where I've tried on two different occasions, weeks apart, to redeem fuel points with no luck.

I know it's not Columbus, but I stopped at a Shell in Nelsonville (think they're the same region?) yesterday and was able to use my 300 odd fuel points to get .30c/gallon off. We were headed to Columbus.

Yet when I filled up here at home at a Shell, it only let me do .10c

 

[cindydare]

The fuel points do show up immediately......but I did have an issue when I purchased a large amount of gift cards last month.

During Father's Day weekend, I purchased $2000 in Disney gift cards to take advantage of the 4X fuel points promotion and make a huge payment on my upcoming trip. That same evening, I filled up DH truck and got $1 off. The next day when I went to fill up my Jeep, all of my fuel points had disappeared. Of course, it was Sunday, so I had to wait til Monday am to call Kroger customer service. When I called, they were able to see where my points had disappeared and told me that the 8000 points had probably just overwhelmed their system. The customer service rep put all of my points back on my account (he did ask for the numbers on my cash register receipt for the gift cards).

Cindy

 

[MineMail]

The points are added to your account immediately. I usually shop first and gas up right afterward. The gift card bonus is excellent, that's where we buy all our gift cards for presents.

I also make sure to bring my own shopping bags, even if it's just a single one from Harris-Teeter, lol.
You have to remind the cashier that you'd like the "bag credit" but it adds 10 points at a time onto your account each time you remember.

Oh, and make sure the supermarket cashier scans the back of your card before she/he totals the sale. Just swiping it through the credit card machine isn't enough. Register your rewards ID online so you can enter sweepstakes and add online coupons to your card. I've been surprised a few times with online coupon discounts I wasn't expecting.


We once stopped at a Kroger in VA during a road trip and couldn't understand why the discount was more than 15¢. It turned out that the station "used up" multiple 100-point blocks to discount the gas further than our station at home.

That started about a month ago here. With two cars, we now have to time it just right to make sure both of us get some kind of discount. It's good that we don't have to worry about losing points or discounts.

I keep joking that we should get our act together and go to the station at the same time, pull up on opposite sides of a pump and fill up both cars on one discount. Probably wouldn't work though: aside from safety concerns, there's probably a limit on how many gallons in a fill up.

My only complaint is that this has changed our fill-up habits. I was a firm "1/2 tank" believer and never had a problem with running low on gas. Because of the Kroger points/price impact, now we hold off until the tank is much more empty to maximize the discount. We've had to go to non-Kroger stations to make sure we don't run out. In that way, it backfires on Kroger.



Make sure the card reader at the pump is working before you swipe for cash/credit. We avoid one pump at our local Kroger because the bar code scanner doesn't work at all. You'll never get the discount if the scanner is broken. (We've told the cashier, but it never seems to get fixed.)

 

[JB2K]

I just had the opportunity to visit a "Central Division" store -- I used my longtime "Mid-South Division" Kroger Plus card during the payment process-- bought myself a $25 Disney card and a $25 restaurant card, as a test.

100 points are now showing in my account to use at either Kroger or Shell (10cents off each gallon at both Kroger or Shell) -- since the nearest Kroger that sells gas is well-over an hour away from home, I'll redeem these 100 points at Shell (since I won't be traveling to WDW until September).

And I found this, which clarifies that the points are good all across Kroger's national family of stores.

AFAIK, this is an excellent way to save some real money "on the way to WDW" -- plus, you can add Disney gift cards to your folio/KTTW card.