With prices for both groceries and gas on the rise, there’s never been a better time for grocery store fuel rewards programs – the more you spend on groceries, the more you can save at the pump.
Now Ibotta is getting into the act with a month-long promotion offering discounts the next time you fill up – and the chance to really cash in, with free gas for year.
Ibotta’s latest “Fuel Your Wallet” offer goes live today at noon Eastern Time. Each week, from last Thursday through June 4th, the cash-back app releases a special access code on its social media pages and via push notifications in the app. Grab the code while supplies last, enter it in the app, and your “mystery cash back offer” will be revealed.
Then, when you fill up at a participating gas station and submit your receipt to Ibotta, you’ll earn cash back in the amount of your offer.
Ibotta is promising up to a full tank of gas to the luckiest of users. “Some people got $56,” one user reported on Reddit. Others got $28. “I got $4 – that’s almost a whole gallon!” another user reported, while another lamented, “I got $1.” Still, even a dollar is better than nothing at all, and there’s always next week and another offer.
“While we can’t change the price on the sign at your local gas stations, we can change how much you save,” Ibotta explained in announcing the promotion. “Every cent counts, and when the price of getting from point A to point B goes up, it impacts things like your grocery budget, your dining out plans, and your savings.”
The cost of food has been steadily rising in recent years. According to government figures, grocery prices are more than 20% higher than they were four years ago. Gas prices are also up, though they’ve fluctuated a lot more – April’s average price of $4.26 per gallon is almost exactly the same as it was four years earlier, but it’s way up from the recent low of $2.96 just a few months ago.
So anything that could help you save on either – or both – is a welcome lifeline for anyone who buys food and fuel.
You’ll have to mind the fine print in Ibotta’s promotion and make sure you’re buying gas at a participating retailer in order to take advantage of the deal. Shell is the largest national brand among the 14 participants in the program. The others are mostly regional fuel stops: 7-Eleven, Sheetz, Circle K, Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, Casey’s, QuikTrip, Stewart’s Shops, Speedway, Love’s, Wawa, Hucks, Maverik and getGo.
If none of those are convenient to you, you can always try to win free gas for a year, in the form of cash that you can spend anywhere you get gas. A handful of grocery brands are listed in the Ibotta app as “Fuel Your Wallet” offers. For each one you redeem, you’ll earn an entry in the “Free Gas for a Year Giveaway.” If you link a retailer loyalty account, you’ll earn ten additional entries. At the end of the contest, ten winners will receive $1,613 in cash they can use to fuel up for the next year.
For many shoppers, spending and saving on gas and groceries are intertwined, and not always in the best way – high grocery prices can help you rack up bigger fuel rewards, but high gas prices can discourage you from driving from place to place in search of the best grocery deals. For the next few weeks at least, Ibotta hopes to help out, by giving you the chance to save money on both.
