topic Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards? in Credit Cards

Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

Drifter73 — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 20:40:13 GMT

Gardening until may 2022 and then I'll app for the shell mastercard version which has a great promo of 30c gal up to 35 gal. For the first 5 fillups, then 10c gal up to 35 gal for all fillups after that.

Plus, you can stack fuel rewards (e.g. 10c + 10c for $50 grocery spend + 5c instore purchase = 25c per gal up to 35 gal)

They have a select few grocery partners, I'll be flexing Kroger, who has their own rewards program on fuel and their rewards can also be applied at Shell stations for fuel discounts.

Kroger + Shell are linked automatically.

However, is it possible to use a kroger card at checkout and then pay with the Shell mastercard to double dip rewards points?

Or are there automated checks and balances to prevent that, combining all rewards to a single location both cards pull from?

Not a big deal if no double dipping, just curious if anyone's double dipped using Shell + partnered grocery card.

I already fuel up at Shell and kroger stations, so either way I'll benefit from the shell MC.

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

Drifter73 — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 19:32:14 GMT

No Shell mastercard users that Flex the grocery perk?

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

Remedios — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 19:44:26 GMT

What's "flexing" in this context?

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

FinStar — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 19:48:29 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
What's "flexing" in this context?

💪🦾

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

Drifter73 — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 19:50:13 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
What's "flexing" in this context?

Sorry, I simply mean to flex/exceed the minimum perk/rewards limits to try and trigger a desired outcome.

In this case, spend a minimum of $50 at partnered grocery stores to activate the 10c per gallon on the Shell MC, whilst using the grocery stores reward card at checkout to potentially trigger a reward on both cards that's usable separately, effectively making it a double dip.

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

K-in-Boston — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 22:09:48 GMT

The rewards on the card are not directly tied into the Fuel Rewards program. For Kroger, Stop & Shop, or whichever grocery chain you use that allows movement of points to Fuel Rewards, you earn the grocery points the same no matter which method you pay, even cash. Using your Shell card at Kroger is no more double-dipping than using any cash or points rewards credit card there.

Rewards on the Shell MasterCard for spending are not applied to your Fuel Rewards account, but rather as a statement credit after you earn them and make future Shell purchases using your Shell card. If you have any card earning more than 2% at grocery stores (or another card than earns 2% if you would rather have cash back or more flexible usage of your rewards than solely towards future Shell purchases) you will come out ahead by not using your Shell MasterCard at Kroger.

There are also some definite gotchas with most of these programs, and anyone considering a card from a fuel chain should definitely do the math to make sure that that shiny 5-10 cents (and usually more during intro periods) per gallon will really make sense for them. To take advantage of 35 gallons in a single fill-up, you would need a rather large vehicle such as a Ford F-250 or something (a quick Google search says that even extremely large Yukon and Suburban SUVs hold 24 and 28 gallons). Using a best-case F-250 or larger, you would save $10.50 on a full 35 gallons so if gas was say $4/gal, you would pay $647.50 for those first 5 fill-ups. Now consider instead applying for something like the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card. You would pay $700 for those first 5 fill-ups, but get $200 as a SUB (assuming you spent another $300 anywhere in 90 days), $21 back in rewards (assuming gas is a 3% category) on the fuel and a minimum of $3 (at 1%) on that other $300. So the "signup bonus" for the Shell Card would at most be valued at $52.50 back, while the SUB for the BOA card would at worst be valued at $224. That is a difference of $171.50. You would need a crazy number of fill-ups to bridge the gap between the 10 cent savings on the Shell card going forward vs even a straight 2% cash back card (which would be 8 cents per gallon using that $4/gal example). If my math is correct, that's 8575 gallons just to break even, which is 245 35-gallon fill-ups. Now consider that an average vehicle only holds about 13-16 gallons of fuel and many Shell stations also cap daily redemptions at 20 gallons per account, and the gap may possibly grow larger.

TL;DR Except for some rare circumstances with very large tanks and very frequent fill-ups, most regular rewards cards will be a better option paying for fuel than a fuel-specific card.

Re: Shell mastercard- Grocery/gas double dip rewards?

Drifter73 — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 23:07:45 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
The rewards on the card are not directly tied into the Fuel Rewards program. For Kroger, Stop & Shop, or whichever grocery chain you use that allows movement of points to Fuel Rewards, you earn the grocery points the same no matter which method you pay, even cash. Using your Shell card at Kroger is no more double-dipping than using any cash or points rewards credit card there.

Rewards on the Shell MasterCard for spending are not applied to your Fuel Rewards account, but rather as a statement credit after you earn them and make future Shell purchases using your Shell card. If you have any card earning more than 2% at grocery stores (or another card than earns 2% if you would rather have cash back or more flexible usage of your rewards than solely towards future Shell purchases) you will come out ahead by not using your Shell MasterCard at Kroger.

There are also some definite gotchas with most of these programs, and anyone considering a card from a fuel chain should definitely do the math to make sure that that shiny 5-10 cents (and usually more during intro periods) per gallon will really make sense for them. To take advantage of 35 gallons in a single fill-up, you would need a rather large vehicle such as a Ford F-250 or something (a quick Google search says that even extremely large Yukon and Suburban SUVs hold 24 and 28 gallons). Using a best-case F-250 or larger, you would save $10.50 on a full 35 gallons so if gas was say $4/gal, you would pay $647.50 for those first 5 fill-ups. Now consider instead applying for something like the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card. You would pay $700 for those first 5 fill-ups, but get $200 as a SUB (assuming you spent another $300 anywhere in 90 days), $21 back in rewards (assuming gas is a 3% category) on the fuel and a minimum of $3 (at 1%) on that other $300. So the "signup bonus" for the Shell Card would at most be valued at $52.50 back, while the SUB for the BOA card would at worst be valued at $224. That is a difference of $171.50. You would need a crazy number of fill-ups to bridge the gap between the 10 cent savings on the Shell card going forward vs even a straight 2% cash back card (which would be 8 cents per gallon using that $4/gal example). If my math is correct, that's 8575 gallons just to break even, which is 245 35-gallon fill-ups. Now consider that an average vehicle only holds about 13-16 gallons of fuel and many Shell stations also cap daily redemptions at 20 gallons per account, and the gap may possibly grow larger.

TL;DR Except for some rare circumstances with very large tanks and very frequent fill-ups, most regular rewards cards will be a better option paying for fuel than a fuel-specific card.

Nice break down example. Thanks!

So, basically, since shell gas and kroger gas come from the same vendor, it's logical that they use the same integrated fuel rewards network database, thus rendering a duplicate fuel reward red flag at the time of purchase (store card scan reward followed by Shell MC payment reward). Right? Eliminating a 2 card split reward (double dip).

At some point I'll shoot for the 3% everything AOD and make it a daily driver.

I'm not sold on the %5 category per quarter cards, which could result in forgetting to activate next cycle or being stuck with pre-qualified categories you rarely use.

Customizing my portfolio moving forward will get a bit creative since my lifestyle is a bit different than the average credit files as a Full-time RVer (one whom resides in an RV all year and travels coast to coast like a snow bird for the best weather conditions).

Most rewards don't benefit me as much as the odd balls here and there.

I can't even utilize most travel rewards cards because they focus on air travel or hotels as there primary rewards.

Not all travel cards will count an RV park as travel lodging either. So far, I've confirmed the C1 Walmart MC honors 2% at RV parks, so that's a minimum of $18 to $25 per month CB for me right there alone. (The AOD 3% will be to upgrade that savings, unless I find something better before I apply)

As for Shell, it will also help with end of year itemization, since I also work remotely (Freelance independent contractor) while traveling and can benefit from the % deduction each year on fuel and other purchases.

Convenience being the biggest interest point for me, in addition to rewards for 10c+ (stackable) off every fuelup and grocery purchase.