Stop & Shop Choice

[yuneeq]

I noticed while reading the latest circular that S&S has added an awesome new feature to their Gas points program. Some info is online here, but the FAQ still hasn't been written up yet.

So what did they add? Let's see what they write on their site:

5% savings certificate

1. When you have earned 300 points, your cashier will ask if you would like to redeem 300 points for a 5% savings certificate for use on a future order.
2. Upon confirmation, your cashier will print out your 5% savings certificate and all 300 point increments will be deducted fro your balance.
3. Redeem your 5% savings certificate next time you shop.

5% savings certificates cannont be printed at self serve checkouts. Printed 5% savings certificates will expire 14-20 days after they are printed. Only one certificate will be accepted per transaction when redeeming on your future grocery purchase. Maximum 5%certificate value is $25 off/$500 transaction. Grocer savings redeemable at any Stop & Shop location.

My angle for this deal is to purchase a $100 GC with the 3x rewards, receive the cert.
use the cert towards purchasing a $500 gift card, thereby receiving 1500 points and $25 Back.
Rinse and repeat.

Edit: Of course, it will have to be determined whether they will accept these certs for GC orders.

 

[Steve]

Certs do not work on gc's, and the 5% option isn't new.

 

[yuneeq]

Certs do not work on gc's, and the 5% option isn't new.

Funny, I've never seen any mention of the 5% option before, and I read through the entire S&S website before and browse the circular religiously.

 

[yuneeq]

...and the 5% option isn't new.

Just wondering, why is this option never talked about? If you do the math, let's say I buy $500 worth of GCs during a 3x promo, I can theoretically save up to $125 overall in grocery purchases if I spend $500 each time. And the gas points would be maxed at out at $1.50 X 35 for a max savings of $52.50. Being that for many the 1500 points are really worth $1.30 (when Shell charges 20 cents more like where I live), and many of us don't use the whole 35 gallons (I personally use 20 gallons), for someone like me, 1500 points are worth $26.

Seems like a great redemption to me, even if I spend $250 in groceries each time, I save $62.50 overall.

 

[Malvina]

Thanks for info. I did not know about it and i was never asked by the cashier, though with VGC promotions I have more than 300 points, for sure.

 

[BoonDR]

Just wondering, why is this option never talked about? If you do the math, let's say I buy $500 worth of GCs during a 3x promo, I can theoretically save up to $125 overall in grocery purchases if I spend $500 each time. And the gas points would be maxed at out at $1.50 X 35 for a max savings of $52.50. Being that for many the 1500 points are really worth $1.30 (when Shell charges 20 cents more like where I live), and many of us don't use the whole 35 gallons (I personally use 20 gallons), for someone like me, 1500 points are worth $26.

Seems like a great redemption to me, even if I spend $250 in groceries each time, I save $62.50 overall.

but do you do 5 $250 trips in 14-20 days?
The gas gives you more leeway/time.

Also Giant/S&S groceries are marked up compared to alternatives in my area. So unless Giant/S&S make overwhelming sense due to time/convenience the 5% certs are really just false savings.

http://www.wtop.com/41/3489706/Ranking-the-regions-grocery-stores-by-price-quality

 

[yuneeq]

but do you do 5 $250 trips in 14-20 days?
The gas gives you more leeway/time.

You can print out the coupons one at a time, so you'll have more than 14-20 days to spend the money. Being that the gas points expire after 30 days, you'll have between 44-50 days to use up the certs. Certainly there's more leeway when using points for shopping than there is for filling up gas.

Though, the point of my post isn't to discourage people from using the points for gas. My point is that there's an under talked option that deserves consideration because:
A) for certain people it definitely is worth looking into given the higher overall savings
B) Many of us have extra points that expire wasted, this is a great way to maximize the points we earn. Use some for gas, some for shopping.

 

[yuneeq]

Also Giant/S&S groceries are marked up compared to alternatives in my area. So unless Giant/S&S make overwhelming sense due to time/convenience the 5% certs are really just false savings.

http://www.wtop.com/41/3489706/Ranking-the-regions-grocery-stores-by-price-quality

This is a good point. I don't know how S&S stacks up to the local grocers. It may be overpriced and that has to be considered. Similarly, I consider 2200 points to be worth $2 off a gallon because shell charges at least 20 cents more than my regular station.

 

[BoonDR]

You can print out the coupons one at a time, so you'll have more than 14-20 days to spend the money. Being that the gas points expire after 30 days, you'll have between 44-50 days to use up the certs. Certainly there's more leeway when using points for shopping than there is for filling up gas.

Though, the point of my post isn't to discourage people from using the points for gas. My point is that there's an under talked option that deserves consideration because:
A) for certain people it definitely is worth looking into given the higher overall savings
B) Many of us have extra points that expire wasted, this is a great way to maximize the points we earn. Use some for gas, some for shopping.

Good points, everyone needs to decide their ideal situation. For me the gas points are gold, we don't like shopping at Giant. I commute a lot and combined with my wife's minivan we average 26-32 gallons per fill-up.

 

[BoonDR]

This is a good point. I don't know how S&S stacks up to the local grocers. It may be overpriced and that has to be considered. Similarly, I consider 2200 points to be worth $2 off a gallon because shell charges at least 20 cents more than my regular station.

We use the Giant station out front of the grocery store. It is convenient and prices are comparable to the lower priced stations in the area, and way below any shell station.

 

[johnny cash]

The 5% option started around same time as the mother's day GC promo. I also had a lot of gas points which I was nervous would expire. I don't think it matters when you get the 5% off they all expire 7/3. I got on different days and they have same expiration.
I think you are assuming the 5% off coupons can be combined- if you have 5, you can get 25% off a single shopping trip. I also thought that way and got very excited when I heard about it. But here are the t&c. Interesting, it does not exclude GC, though in all likelihood is included in the 'excluded by law.' It doesn't say stamps either, but I highly doubt they will sell you them at 5% off.

 

[yuneeq]

The 5% option started around same time as the mother's day GC promo. I also had a lot of gas points which I was nervous would expire. I don't think it matters when you get the 5% off they all expire 7/3. I got on different days and they have same expiration.
I think you are assuming the 5% off coupons can be combined- if you have 5, you can get 25% off a single shopping trip. I also thought that way and got very excited when I heard about it. But here are the t&c. Interesting, it does not exclude GC, though in all likelihood is included in the 'excluded by law.' It doesn't say stamps either, but I highly doubt they will sell you them at 5% off.
View attachment 48

Thanks for uploading that pic. It doesn't seem to exclude GCs but as you mentioned it does things a that are excluded by law. Though I think that includes and other things, though not GCs.

I didn't think that the 5% coupons are stackable. I did think that the coupons expire a few weeks after getting them, though it might be possible to get coupons that expire on different dates. According to the terms I included above, the coupons expire between 14-20 days, so I can understand that if you redeemed the coupons within a few days of each other, they will have the same expiration date. Did you ever redeem for certs with a at least week in between?

 

[Voyaging Doc]

if you could get away with using the coupon on a gc that would be fantastic, but i fear that would attract too much attention

 

[johnny cash]

Thanks for uploading that pic. It doesn't seem to exclude GCs but as you mentioned it does things a that are excluded by law. Though I think that includes and other things, though not GCs.

I didn't think that the 5% coupons are stackable. I did think that the coupons expire a few weeks after getting them, though it might be possible to get coupons that expire on different dates. According to the terms I included above, the coupons expire between 14-20 days, so I can understand that if you redeemed the coupons within a few days of each other, they will have the same expiration date. Did you ever redeem for certs with a at least week in between?

But do you really spend so much at s&s. generally they are expensive. I only buy items on sale and/or give bonus gas points. I could never spend more than a 100 on a constant basis

 

[yuneeq]

But do you really spend so much at s&s. generally they are expensive. I only buy items on sale and/or give bonus gas points. I could never spend more than a 100 on a constant basis

As I mentioned earlier, the best redemption would be to use it to buy more gcs if possible. Though even using a cert for $100 of groceries isn't such a terrible use of extra gas points. You get $5 off. For me 300 gas points are worth $6, so it's actually a better redemption than it seems.