Save Money On Every Fill Up With Fuel Rewards

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Fuel Rewards is a program that provides discounts at Shell gas stations. It’s free to sign up and everyone who joins automatically saves on fuel purchases. You can save more by taking certain actions (i.e., using a shopping portal or dining program) or having a card belonging to one of their partners.

Let’s first talk about signing up for Fuel Rewards.

If you’re not already a member, you can sign up with our referral link. Doing so gives us a credit for new signups and you want to support YMMV, don’t you?

Once a member, you automatically get Gold status for 6 months. The ongoing membership process is a little more difficult to follow:

To maintain your Gold Status after the introductory period, you will need to have filled up at least 6 times in the previous 3 months. That’s only two times per month. For example, if you join in February, you will receive Gold Status through the end of August. To maintain your Status from September–November, you must average 2 fill-ups a month between June and August.

If you fail to make 6 fill-ups of at least 5 gallons during your second three-month period, Fuel Rewards will downgrade your membership to Silver. Silver members get three cents off per gallon instead of five. You can reinstate Gold status once you make 6 fill-ups in the three-month period and retain said status for the remainder of the period and the next three-month period.

That’s a little more complicated than it really should be, isn’t it?

Luckily, there are ways to get and keep gold status that don’t rely on how many times you fill-up at a Shell station over a three-month period. If you’re a new Fuel Rewards member, we’d appreciate it if you sign up using our link first. Then you can go and add these offers to your account:

• AAA members get automatic Gold status until the end of 2021

With Gold status, you automatically get 5 cents off per gallon (up to a 20 gallon limit per fill-up) but it’s possible to save even more. Here’s how:

Dining

Fuel Rewards has a dining program that runs almost identically to the programs offered by airlines and hotels. With the Fuel Rewards program, when you spend $50 at a select restaurant, you’ll receive 10 cents off of a single fill-up. That’s a max value of $2 if you get the full 20 gallons allowed. Compare that to the Delta SkyMiles Dining program where you get 3 miles per dollar (if you allow them to send you emails). $50 in spending would get you 150 miles, which should be worth more than $2 if you use it properly. With the airline programs, you get miles for each dine, even if it is under $50. Dine rewards will tally your purchases and only adds rewards once you’ve accumulated over $50 in spending across all participating restaurants.

Shopping Portal

There are offers to earn extra savings from the Fuel Rewards home page when clicking through to online merchants. If you’re going to use a shopping portal, you should look at a site like Cashback Monitor first to make sure you’re maximizing that purchase for the most points possible.

Credit Card

Citi also issues a Fuel Rewards MasterCard co-brand card. I’m only mentioning it to show that it exists. Since you’re reading a blog that tells about points, miles, travel and stuff like that, there’s ABSOLUTELY no reason you should even consider applying. In fact, please do me a favor; forget that I even mentioned it immediately after you finish reading this paragraph. Thanks!

Final Thoughts

I have a Fuel Rewards membership and get automatic Gold status thru my AAA membership. The Shell station by my house has comparable prices to the other stations so by getting gas there, I’m saving 5 cents a gallon. Let’s be realistic – at most I’m saving ONE DOLLAR. Not enough for me to change my habits or even drive across the street if I’m running short on time.

Even if you don’t use Shell stations often, it makes sense to sign up. It doesn’t cost anything and there might be a time where you’re in a location where the only station is a Shell. If you’re a captive customer, you might as well save some money. I’m not going out of my way to earn additional Fuel Rewards savings since all of the offers through the program earn less than other options I have available to me.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary