How The Kroger Fuel Points Program Works

If you live near a Kroger store or one of their affiliate stores, chances are that you’ve registered for the Kroger Fuel Points program. This program earns you points which can be redeemed for savings on gas and can be particularly rewarding when buying gift cards.

There are quite a few quirks to the program, so I’ve put together the below guide explaining how the Kroger Fuel Points program works. That includes how to redeem your points, how to maximize your fill-ups and more.

If there’s anything else you’d like to know about the program, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer.

How Do You Get Kroger Fuel Points?

You can get Kroger fuel points in several different ways and at different multiples:

1 Point Per Dollar

• Grocery shopping
• Jewelry at Fred Meyer Jewelers

2 Points Per Dollar

• Gift cards (standard rate)

4x Points Per Dollar

• Gift cards (when there’s a 4x promotion going on)

50 Points

• Filling prescription

Bonus Points

• Digital coupons when buying select gift card brands

There are occasions when you can earn fuel points at different multiples on your grocery shopping. They’ve offered 3x fuel points on meat and seafood purchases at times, while they also sometimes offer 2x fuel points when shopping on certain days of the week if you load a digital coupon to your account.

Where Can You Earn Kroger Fuel Points?

You can earn Kroger fuel points at Kroger and its affiliate stores. That includes the following:

• Dillons
• Food 4 Less
• Fred Meyer
• Fred Meyer Jewelers
• Fresh Eats MKT
• Fry’s
• King Soopers
• Kroger
• Mariano’s
• Pick ‘n Save
• QFC
• Ralphs
• Roundy’s
• Ruler Foods
• Smith’s

Points earned at one of those chains can be redeemed at the gas station of another chain because the same account can be used at all those chains.

One notable exception is Harris Teeter. Although Kroger owns that grocery chain, Harris Teeter’s fuel points program is run separately.

Update: As per mxp908’s comment below, you can earn points at Harris Teeter using your Kroger account, but coupons loaded to your Kroger account won’t be valid there.

Instead, Harris Teeter has their own e-VIC program which offers digital coupons of their own. They also tend to run 4x fuel point promotions at similar times to Kroger, but those have their own digital coupons and sometimes run on different dates. Harris Teeter stores don’t tend to have their own gas stations (if they have any at all), so they have a partnership with BP to redeem your points there.

Do You Earn Fuel Points When Buying Gift Cards Online?

Yes. Kroger sells gift cards online and those purchases earn fuel points. You’ll earn 2x fuel points as standard or 4x fuel points when there’s a 4x fuel point promotion on gift cards. You’ll automatically earn at that higher level when buying gift cards online during a 4x fuel point promotion period, whereas in-store gift card purchases require you to load a digital coupon to your account.

When Do Kroger Fuel Points Expire?

Fuel points that you’ve earned will expire at the end of the month after the month in which you earned them. For example, points earned in August will expire on September 30.

This can sometimes be worth bearing in mind when buying gift cards. For example, Kroger sometimes releases digital coupons offering 4x fuel points on gift cards which spans two months, such as November 28-December 4. In situations like that, it can be best to wait until the start of the next month to buy the gift cards if you don’t need them for immediate use. That’s because points earned from November 28-30 would expire on December 31, whereas if you earned the points from December 1-4 then they wouldn’t expire until January 31.

How Do I Check My Kroger Fuel Points Balance?

You can check your fuel points balance here.

There are two different tables you’ll see displayed – one showing your points from last month and another table showing points from this month. The points balances will be broken down by how many you earned, how many you’ve redeemed, your remaining balance and how many days you have until those points expire.

How Much Are Kroger Fuel Points Worth?

Every 100 fuel points you earn are worth 10c off per gallon. That means spending $100 on groceries saves you 10c per gallon as those points are earned at 1 point per dollar. Buying a $25 gift card when there’s a 4x fuel points promotion going on will also earn you 100 fuel points.

How Many Gallons Can I Fill Up With Using Fuel Points?

You can redeem fuel points for up to 35 gallons of gas per fill-up.

Is There A Limit To How Many Kroger Fuel Points I Can Earn

No – you can earn as many fuel points as you like. The bigger issue is if you can actually redeem those fuel points before they expire.

Where Can I Redeem Fuel Points?

You can redeem fuel points at any gas station attached to a Kroger store or a store of one of its affiliates such as King Soopers, Ralphs, etc. Kroger has a partnership with Shell, although you’re limited as to how many fuel points you can redeem per fill-up at Shell gas stations – see the next section for more details.

There are various gas station/convenience store chains around the country that are also affiliated with Kroger where you can redeem your points for savings on gas. That includes Loaf ‘N Jug, Kwik Shop, Turkey Hill and more.

Although these affiliated gas stations have different brand names, the diamond logo in the image below seems to be used for all of them, so if you spot that then there’s a good chance that your Kroger fuel points can be redeemed at that gas station.

How Many Kroger Fuel Points Can I Redeem?

The number of fuel points you can redeem depends on where you’re trying to redeem them. You can redeem 1,000 points per fill-up at gas stations attached to grocery stores, along with the gas station/convenience store chains like Loaf ‘N Jug mentioned above. That means you can save a maximum of $1 per gallon on up to 35 gallons per fill-up.

There is an exception to the 1,000 point rule though. In some regions, you can redeem as many fuel points as you like when filling up which pretty much covers your entire cost, although there’ll still be a small amount you need to pay. For example, let’s say gas costs $2.29 per gallon and you have 3,000 fuel points. You could redeem 2,200 fuel points to save $2.20 per gallon, leaving you to pay 9c per gallon – not too shabby! There are very few areas where this is an option, but I’ve been able to take advantage of it in Richmond, VA.

If you want to fill up at Shell, you’re limited to redeeming 100 fuel points which gives you savings of 10c per gallon so that’s not too helpful if you have a large balance unless Shell gas stations are the only redemption option where you are when needing to fill your gas tank.

Update: As per stvr’s comment below, in LA and Las Vegas you can redeem 1,000 fuel points for $1 off at Shell. There might therefore be other places around the country offering that opportunity.

Stvr also shared that in California, Food 4 Less FoodsCo gas stations only let you redeem 100 points for 10c off per gallon.

How Do I Redeem Kroger Fuel Points?

If you have a Kroger card or key fob, most gas stations attached to their grocery stores have a scanner at the pump where you can scan the barcode on the card or key fob. The card can also be inserted in the card slot before using your credit card, or the screen will have an option to enter your alternate ID.

Once your account is registered at the pump, you’ll be given the option to use the maximum number of points available or to select a specific number of points. If you have 2,000 fuel points on your account, the maximum number will be listed as 1,000 fuel points for $1 of savings per gallon. If you have 978 points, you’ll be given the option to redeem 900 points for 90c off per gallon as the maximum.

At Shell gas stations, you might be able to insert your Kroger Plus card. Otherwise, there should be an option on the screen where you can enter your alternate ID.

Do I Have To Redeem Fuel Points When Filling Up?

No, you don’t have to. There might be times you don’t want to use fuel points, such as when you only want/need to fill up with a couple of gallons. In that type of scenario, one option is to simply not scan/swipe your Kroger card when filling up.

The thing is, you can sometimes save a couple of cents per gallon of gas when scanning/swiping your Kroger card without needing to redeem your fuel points to access those savings. When that’s an option, scan or swipe your card, but select option 3 when prompted. That’ll ensure you don’t redeem any fuel points but you’ll still get to take advantage of the other gas savings.

How Do I Choose Which Month’s Points To Use?

When scanning/swiping your card at the gas pump, Kroger will automatically offer the largest discount available to you, but you might not want to take them up on that offer.

For example, let’s say it’s September 28 and you have 623 fuel points left from August and 1,051 fuel points earned in September. The gas pump would offer the option to save $1 per gallon using 1,000 fuel points from the current month. Seeing as it’s towards the end of September, if you were to choose that option there’s a good chance your 623 points from August would go to waste as you probably wouldn’t need to fill up again before September 30 which is when the points earned in August would expire.

Instead, you might be better off pressing ‘2’ to manually choose how many points you want to redeem. In this instance, you’d want to enter ‘600’ as the number of fuel points you want to redeem. Kroger would then deduct that number of points from your August balance, leaving you with the 1,051 points earned in September to be used through October 31.

Do Bonus Fuel Points Promotions Stack With 4x Fuel Points Promotions?

Yes and no. Every so often, Kroger will release digital coupons that offer bonus fuel points when buying a certain brand of gift card such as 200 bonus points when buying a Macy’s gift card.

If you were to buy that gift card while there’s also a digital coupon offering 4x fuel points on third party gift cards, you’d be able to take advantage of both offers although the result isn’t quite as generous as you might hope.

That’s because the 4x digital coupon doesn’t quadruple the 200 bonus fuel points – it only quadruples the amount spent on the gift card. Let’s say you bought a $25 gift card; you’d earn 100 fuel points (4 x $25) as well as the 200 bonus fuel points for a total of 300 fuel points, rather than earning 800 fuel points based on 4 x 200.

Does The Kroger REWARDS World Mastercard Earn Fuel Points?

No, although it can save you money when filling up with gas. Their credit card earns Rewards Points, but those aren’t the same as fuel points. When filling up with gas though, if you redeem at least 100 fuel points and pay with your Kroger credit card, you’ll save an additional 25c per gallon in your first cardmember year. After that first year of credit card membership has ended, you’ll save 5c per gallon when redeeming at least 100 fuel points and paying with the Kroger credit card.

Can I Change My Kroger Alternate ID?

Yes. Go to the Profile Information section of your Kroger Plus account and click ‘Edit’ under the ‘Plus Card and Alt ID’ section. You can change your Alt ID to any 10 digit number that hasn’t been used by anyone else. It doesn’t have to be your phone number, although it’s worth making it a number that you’ll remember easily.

How To Maximize Kroger Fuel Points When Filling Up

Many of us drive vehicles with gas tanks smaller than 35 gallons which limits how much value we can get from the fuel points program. There might be ways you can maximize the usage of your fuel points though.

For example, if you have more than one vehicle in your household, you can fill them up at the same time. If you have a truck that takes 20+ gallons and a car that takes 15+ gallons, filling them both at the same time means you can save on the limit of 35 gallons when redeeming fuel points.

If that’s not an option – or if your household vehicles have combined gas tank sizes of less than 35 gallons – you might be able to eke out more value by filling gas cans for your lawnmower, etc. You might not get to the 35 gallon limit, but it could save you a few extra dollars.

How Much Can I Save On Gas When Buying Gift Cards During A 4x Fuel Points Promotion?

Buying third party gift cards when Kroger and its affiliate stores are offering 4x fuel points can save you up to 14% on gas. That can make it worth stocking up on gift cards during those promotion periods. It can also make reselling some high-value gift card brands like Best Buy and Amazon profitable/more profitable.

In case you’re wondering how that 14% figure is calculated, here’s an explanation:

To make the math easier to understand, let’s say you spend $250 on third party gift cards. (n.b. Third party gift cards are gift cards for other retailers, restaurants, etc.; you don’t earn fuel points when buying Kroger gift cards). Spending $250 on gift cards will earn you 1,000 fuel points when they’re offering 4x fuel points.

1,000 fuel points can be redeemed for $1 off gas on up to 35 gallons. If you’re able to fill up your gas tank(s) to that 35 gallon limit, you’d save $35. Based on that initial $250 of spend on gift cards, savings of $35 works out to be a 14% discount.

If you can’t refuel to that 35 gallon limit, your savings will be less than 14%. For example, our car takes a maximum of 12 gallons which means the most we can save when redeeming fuel points earned during a 4x fuel points promotion is 4.8%.

Third party gift card purchases ordinarily earn 2x fuel points. If you earn fuel points that way, the most you can save on gas is 7% which means the most we can save personally is 2.4%.

Do I Earn Fuel Points When Buying Visa Or Mastercard Gift Cards?

It depends. Fixed-value Visa and Mastercard gift cards (i.e. $25, $50 and $100 cards) do earn fuel points, so you’ll earn 2x fuel points as standard and 4x when there’s a digital coupon.

The thing to bear in mind is that buying fixed-value Visa and Mastercard gift cards won’t save you as much on gas as buying third party gift cards. That’s because Visa and Mastercard gift cards come with activation fees of $3.95, $4.95 and $5.95 for $25, $50 and $100 cards respectively, so those fees offset some of the gas savings.

Apart from the very rare digital coupon, variable load Visa and Mastercard gift cards don’t earn Kroger fuel points.

Buying Best Buy Gift Cards At Kroger

This won’t be of interest for most people, but could be of interest for the gift card resellers out there. When buying Best Buy gift cards at Kroger, you’re limited to $500 of Best Buy gift cards per transaction. There might be some Kroger affiliate stores (e.g. QFC) where the limit is $1,000 per transaction.

You can get more than $500 of Best Buy gift cards by buying them in separate transactions, but you’ll only earn fuel points on them provided there’s at least one minute between transactions.

Question

Is there anything else you want to know about how the Kroger fuel points program works? Let me know in the comments below.