Free, yes FREE gas for our SUV

[AndyM]

But if you pay $50 more for groceries to save $40 on gas what have you gained?

In PineRidge's neighborhood, there are a few large grocery store chains, and prices are generally the same between the three... If you had to do your shopping at one of them, I would choose the one that gives the discount on gasoline.

Out here in the Youngstown area, Giant Eagle is the ONLY large grocery store chain, and their prices are lower than the smaller neighborhood stores such as IGA and Sparkle. I choose the one with lower prices AND gives the discount on gasoline.

Giant Eagle just opened a store in LBrown's city last year, along with a gas station to redeem the fuel perks. Maybe he can provide some feedback on how grocery prices at his new Giant Eagle compare to the Kroger and Walmart Supercenter on the other side of town. I highly doubt groceries are $50 more at the location in his city.

 

[Sigarms]

The money going to the Fuel Perks discounts also apply to out of pocket prescription costs at the Giant Eagle Pharmacy.

Also, Giant Eagle has begun selling Gift Cards to other area restaurants and stores...
For example, if I need to make a $200 purchase at Best Buy, I go over to Giant Eagle and buy four $50 Best Buy gift cards before heading to Best Buy to make my purchase. This gives me another 40 cents off a gallon of gasoline!

I wait until we're over $2.00 off per gallon, and then I throw two 5 gallon gas cans in my trunk before I head to Giant Eagle. Last time, we were at $2.40 off per gallon, so we filled up up the car and two gas cans at $0.39 per gallon, saving almost 60 dollars!

Fuel Perks Explained

Since I know nothing of Giant Eagle, couple of questions.

How does the price of their fuel compare to other gas stations in the area?

How is Giant Eagles food prices overall compared to other grocery stores in the area?

By buying those gift cards for Best Buy, is that .40 off a gallon for as much gas as you can use to fill your car up? or is it just for a .40 savings?

Just trying to fiigure out the "angle", sore of reminds me of the old Acme green stamps.

One thing I've learned is nothing in life is free, and if you think it is, you're paying for it else where and don't even know it.

Just know alot of people who spend 45 minutes more in time and $5 more in gas getting there to save $4.

 

[ratter]

Since I know nothing of Giant Eagle, couple of questions.

How does the price of their fuel compare to other gas stations in the area?

How is Giant Eagles food prices overall compared to other grocery stores in the area?

By buying those gift cards for Best Buy, is that .40 off a gallon for as much gas as you can use to fill your car up? or is it just for a .40 savings?

Just trying to fiigure out the "angle", sore of reminds me of the old Acme green stamps.

One thing I've learned is nothing in life is free, and if you think it is, you're paying for it else where and don't even know it.

Just know alot of people who spend 45 minutes more in time and $5 more in gas getting there to save $4.

Around here, the Giant Eagle is one of the normal big grocery chains. Prices are comparable to any other chain. The gas stations are becoming just as prevalent as other chains' stations, too, again with comparable prices, comparable number of locations, etc. So it's not like you have to go out of your way or spend more to realize the savings.

And if you bought $200 worth of gift cards (or anything else), it would amount to $.40 off PER gallon of gas that you got at your next fill up, not $.40 off of your total bill.

How it works: You scan your store discount card at the gas pump before filling up so that it can check the amount of savings you have accumulated. The prices on the pump update to reflect your savings. So let's say (just arbitrary numbers off the top of my head...) that the three grades of gas are normally $2.79, $2.99, and $3.19 per gallon. When you scan your card, the prices on the pump change to $2.39, $2.59, and $2.79. And you fill up at those prices instead of the regular prices.

Obviously, they are a business - they're not giving money away, but I think if you're looking for the "angle" or the "catch", it's that they are drawing people to their stores and gas stations.

 

[Sigarms]

Well, if you bought $100 worth of groceries at Giant Eagle, and that same order would run you roughly the same amount anywhere else, AND the gas prices are "roughly" the same at any other gas station, and it's a discount off per gallon, heck, I would probably look at shopping there if they were "local".

I would just wonder if it is a loss leader (and perhaps its not) to gain business, how long they can keep doing it (off course, who knows, with the extra business that this perk may generate, who knows).

 

[BlueRidge]

Well, if you bought $100 worth of groceries at Giant Eagle, and that same order would run you roughly the same amount anywhere else, AND the gas prices are "roughly" the same at any other gas station, and it's a discount off per gallon, heck, I would probably look at shopping there if they were "local".

Yep. You must do the comparison shopping or you don't know HOW much this free gas is costing you. Most people will look at a few prices, see that they are similar, and leave it at that. You could actually be paying much more than you think. Businesses that run coupons/loss leaders/perks do very careful research on this, and if you think you are going to beat them at that game with a casual glance at prices, you deserve the fleecing you're getting.

I would just wonder if it is a loss leader (and perhaps its not) to gain business, how long they can keep doing it (off course, who knows, with the extra business that this perk may generate, who knows).

Loss leaders are GREAT for the smart consumer. Take the loss leader and run! But you can only do that if you do your homework. Otherwise, you will be the consumer that keeps the accountants laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Sigarms]

HOW much this free gas is costing you

One thing my dad did teach me is that nothing in life is free, or if it is, you get what you pay for.

that being said, there are "good deals", just have to look for them.

 

[Alan L.]

It's a good deal. For every fifty dollars you spend at the grocery store, you get $.10 off per gallon of gas at your next fill up. So I wait until my truck is near empty and then use up whatever "fuel perks" I've accumulated. Usually it's $.30-.50 per gallon. It definitely feels better to pay $2.30 per gallon rather than 2.80. They also earmark certain items in the store, ie if you buy this item you get an additional $.01 or .02 tacked on to your per-gallon savings.

The very first time I tried it, I had accumulated $2.70 per gallon off. I thought for sure that it had to mean that they would just deduct a total of $2.70 from my fillup (which in my truck is usually ~$70.) But nope, it was PER gallon, so that fillup was totally free. I was dumbfounded.

Overall, it probably saves me ~$25 a month on gas...

Sounds like a great deal assuming you aren't paying the $25 more in groceries.

 

[MikePA]

Sounds like a great deal assuming you aren't paying the $25 more in groceries.

And if you are paying $25 more for groceries, you're being 'fleeced'!

 

[ratter]

Like I said, if you're looking for the "catch" here, it's probably that they are drawing people to their own chain of gas stations. In case that wasn't clear - Giant Eagle runs the gas stations too, they're not giving you 'free' gas at somebody else's station. So yeah, in essence they're 'giving' you money to go spend at their gas station. It's not exactly charity. But for me (and everybody else in my small town), this is the closest large grocery store, so we'd shop there anyway. And the gas station is not even a half-mile away, so nobody's heading three towns over to save $4 on gas.

But now that you guys have clued us in to the fleecing, I'll drive an extra 30 miles round trip to the walmart for groceries, and not get any discount on gas, just to be safe....

 

[scesnick]

We have the same thing here at a grocery chain called Martins. Its parent company is in fact Giant Eagle. I have 3 kids in the family and we burn through about $160.00 a week in just groceries. The only problem with Martins gas discount is that they only sell gas, no diesel pumps !!! All we drive are diesels .... Go figure....My father in law is cleaning up on his fuel prices though because we just give our discount to him....