DENVER ? The pain at the pump isn?t going away. According to AAA?s Fuel Gauge Report, U.S. drivers pay between 5 percent and 10 percent of their income on gasoline, A recent report estimates that in 2011, U.S. motorists will pay a record $491 billion on fuel.
To help reduce the pain of filling up, more retailers are offering gasoline discount programs, Fox Business reports. Gas incentive programs differ from credit card rewards programs in that the gas initiatives give customers relief at the pump by using a grocery rewards card or a retailer-branded credit, gift or prepaid card.
Usually, the gas programs are a partnership between a gasoline company and a retailer. Programs offered by supermarkets like Safeway, Kroger and King Soopers have grown in popularity lately. Customers earn cents-off per gallon by buying groceries and prescriptions at the store.
?You can either choose to use your rewards on a transaction or you can choose to save it for a larger gas purchase,? explained Teena Massingill, Safeway?s director of corporate public affairs. ?Points earned in the same store as the fuel location are able to be used immediately. If there is cross shopping from one store to another, it may take an hour or less for the points to reflect on the card.?
Shell has teamed up with both regional and national grocery chains, such as Winn-Dixie, Save Mart Supermarkets, Ralph?s and Kroger. ?Consumers who buy their groceries at these stores earn rewards that are redeemable at Shell,? said Jim Perkins, North American marketing alliance manager for Shell.
?Obviously in today's economic environment, consumers are looking for every way to stretch their dollar, and this is one of the best ways. Everybody needs food and everybody needs fuel, so to be rewarded for making purchases you would make every day makes consumers extremely happy,? said Perkins.
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