Does your grocery store have fuel perks?

            Almost everyone who lives in Pa. knows about the Giant Eagle fuel perks program! It's a great program and I have earned 3 full tanks of gas this past year. This is how it works.

            For every $50 you spend with your GE Advantage Card at GE and Getgo(gas station) you earn 10cents off the cost of a gallon of gas.( purchased at Getgo ) These purchases would include

                           Puchases  and rentals  from  Iggle  Video ( GE video store )

                           groceries and just about anything else you would buy in a grocery store

                           photo service purchases

                           dry cleaning services (not all stores have)

                           purchases from floral department

                           gift cards  from  retailers  and  restaurants

                           pharmacy purchases ( if you belong to CVS you may want to compare the two to see where you would get the most benefit )
           

            I have used the program in several ways. I buy some of my groceries at GE. While they are a little more expensive than other discount stores, they do have great sales. Using coupons, I can more than offset the higher cost on sale items. I bought a house in Pittsburgh that my daughter and her children live in while she goes to school. It needs a lot of work and since I am short of cash, it is being done slowly and with family labor. Home Depot gift cards purchased at GE have really earned me a lot of points toward free gas. This week, I want to purchase an energy saving door for the kitchen. I will buy a $250 gift card at GE for HomeDepot and earn 50 cents off my per gallon gas price on that purchase alone. Not to mention the state tax write off I will get for energy saving purchases (write your state legislators if you don't have that)I get some gift cards for Christmas gifts at GE. I get movie rentals when the grandchildren come to visit. I do the pharmacy thing at CVS, however, because I've decided the benefits are greater at CVS for my meds.The gas must be purchased at Getgo, the locations of these stations are pretty widespread and if you're talking 35 gallons of free gas even a 20 min drive would be worth it. The maximum amount of free gas you can get is 35 gallons. So if my card is now up to $ 2.95, ( the current local price per gallon) I would fill my brother's truck rather than my car which holds only 15 gallons. ( he's working on my house) Some people opt to line up 2 cars and fill both or fill one car tank and some gas cans. Some people have used gas rewards credit cards at GE and get "double rewards". I would not recommend this unless you're a super finance manager and pay it off every month.

              I have met some folks who shop at GE and didn't know they had a fuel perks program. (I'm not sure how that could be since there are signs posted all over the place!)So in essence, they  have lost  possibly hundreds of dollars in gas, because you still get the points on your card whether you know the program is there or not. And the points expire after 90 days, so if you are only at $1 at the 90 day mark then you would get $1 off per gallon.( I think it's 90 days) Another misconception is that you have to have a vehichle to benefit from the program. You don't have to have a car or even a license! You could donate your gas savings to a friend or family member. Some folks can use this as a bartering chip if they don't have transportation.Are there any similar programs out there?