Update: To make a couple things clear – Giant has confirmed that they are testing phasing out gas bonus deals – so that part of it is not speculation.
The rest of this post is just speculation on how the 2x/5x program is working and as we learn more we can share it here. Please read the post in entirety so that you can get a clear picture. I also highly recommend reading the comments on this one.
Some of you have asked what the Giant 2x/5x Gas Extra Rewards are. Basically, I think they are a waste of ad space! I am not 100% sure how they will be working, but it seems like it would be a bit hard to squeak out a deal. I am really bummed that the gas bonus deals are being possibly being phased out. Giant has been on a roll, I guess I will be looking at Weis and other stores a little closer.
Here is how it works:
Regular Rewards: From October 7 – November 24, 2012, earn 1 Extra Rewards point for every dollar you spend with your BONUSCARD. Save $.10 per gallon of gas for every 100 points you redeem at the pump or redeem 400 points in-store for a FREE Turkey certificate.
So, basically you need to spend FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS to get a free turkey.
5x Rewards would mean when you buy these items you get 5x the gas rewards.
So, if you spend $20.00 you will get 100 gas points or $.10 off per gallon. There still doesn’t seem like many deals that you could do. The question is – would need to spend $100 to get the $.50 a gallon. If you do have to spend $100.00, you would spend $15 in gas if you filled up 30 gallons. Doesn’t seem worth it. Right now there are conflicting answers. What are you hearing at your store? Has anyone tried it?
Will the lose of gas deals impact you? I would love to hear your thoughts.
blaze says
My wife and i get 30 gal free every 2 weeks,now giant cut back there gas to 25gal i have 4 5gal gas containers as back up because my truck only hold 20gal as for the2&5x rewards will try to ask the manager how it work and will post updates
Cat says
My giant (Burnham,pa) just put in pumps and as such are switching from ISO’s to gas points in the next week or two (exact date unknown). which annoyed me to begin with since that’s where a good portion of my savings comes from. now if they switch to gas points AND slash the deals like that. I’ll be going back to shopping Aldi/Walmart because frankly, without the super deals Giant is too rich for my blood. and forget Weis, they’re the most expensive grocery we have around here AND they treat couponers like criminals. no thanks.
Nikki says
The Giant in my area had the category as shown in the picture above inside their flyer, except it said that if you bought 3 of the items shown you would get 400 points automatically! So, I went to Giant on Sunday and bought 2 bags of the Cooked Perfect Meatballs for $5.99 each and a value sized pack of the Italian sausage for about $8.50. My total came to about $20 dollars and I instantly earned 400 points and qualified for a free turkey!
Maria says
I will be so upset if Giant does away with the gas deals. I just got back from using my spend $5o and get 30 cents in gas. I spent almost $70 and got $1.50 off in gas. We have 3 vehicles and just last week we spent $200 in gas due to the instant savings week.
Jamie says
There is no mention whatsoever of needing to spend $100 to get the extra gas points in my 2x/5x circular. In fact mine says exactly this: “Buy a little or buy a lot. Save on gas when you purchase these items with your bonus card.” Sounds to me like, as usual, couponers know Giant’s policy better than they do! LOL
The rest of the fine print reads: 2x/5x Gas Extra Rewards points are earned when you buy any participating products with your bonuscard from 10/7 – 10/13/12. Gas Extra Rewards points are calculated AFTER all store discounts and all store coupons have been subtracted from the item. We reserve the right to limit quantities and cancel or suspend this promotion at any time.
Still no mention of a $ amount that must be spent.
Anonymous says
she was using that dollar amount as an example of how much you would have to spend in order for it to “compare” to the deals now.
Caroline says
I get free gas quite frequently. I store up groceries for kids and family and I donate excess. Gas points are the reason I am a Giant shopper. Without them I can easily see myself going back to Weis or ShurFine where the customer service seems much nicer. I don’t go to Giant for the pleasure of speaking to their teenage cashiers, that’s for sure. They often don’t even say hello.
Ruth says
I need a little help because I got very aggravated at Giant today.
The glade candles are 2.99 this week, regular price and the Glade Expressions Oil Diffusers are 8.49 buy one, get one free. I bought 1 Glade Candle and 2 Oil diffusers. I wanted to use the Buy one glade candle, get 1 oil diffuser free coupon. The manager and the front end manager refused to take the coupon, she said that I needed to buy 1 glade candle and 3 oil diffuser in order to use the coupon. To me, it made sense but they insisted that I was wrong so I left them with a cart full of items and walked out, they took too much of my time with their nonsense.
Kristen says
Ruth, I work for Giant – Front end check out coach. Did they “try” the coupon to see if the register questioned it? They should have at least given you the benifit of the doubt and tried it! It is truely their disgression if they push it through or not. To me: If they are bogo the store is putting the one on sale and you are BUYING one! and you also bought a glade candle which makes your coupon acceptable. – Kristen
For the Mommas says
Kristen,
Thanks for the advice :)
For the Mommas says
I probably would have done the same!
jenni ingram says
got gas in Lancaster for $2/gal Friday, so paid $33 and saved $28. the gas deals usually come out to twice the savings as the instant, so hoping we get to keep them since they just built a new Giant to Go. if i do 2 out of the three gas points scenarios per week (we don’t have a dog or a baby and there seems to be one of those every week) it usually comes out to $2 + a month off. that’s with me using gas points twice in a promotion.
Candi R. says
The news of the possible gas points phase out was extremely upsetting to me. My husband and I depend on these deals to help stay within our budget. We sometimes save $6.00 when we fill our tank. I will definitely be spending more of my money at Redner’s if the Giant in Quakertown ends up doing this.
amy says
I haven’t made out too good on the gas deals anway..i only have a 15 gal tank and my giant gas station always has the price 10-20 cents more than the wawa down the street….
Courtney says
Our ad is still in the same in Williamsburg, VA, with .80/gal in bonus deals. Maybe they won’t be phasing it out with the stores in the Richmond area, but I won’t get too relieved yet.
Robin says
My understanding is they are tesing the 5x and 2x in select stores/markets now. If they like what they see, all stores will switch to the 5x/2x program. Even if your store is not impacted now, it could be in the future. Even if you have the regular gas deals this week, you need to still call in and let corporate know.
Jessica S. says
I would be so sad if Giant got rid of their gas deals. I don’t get gas for free but saving sometimes .40 cents on a gallon really helps my with my gas budget. I drive 70 miles a day so every cent I save helps.
lauren seibert says
Just wanted to say that my Giant stores in Lower Bucks County have never offered Gas Deals. I’ve always been a little jealous of you guys and your free gas but I still get some really awesome deals with the instant savings! Actually they work out even better sometimes :)
Robin says
I can’t stress how important it is to call into the corporate office about this. The more people that complain and state that they will shop elsewhere, the less likely the category gas points will go away.
Nicole Becker says
You are so right Robin!! I will be calling corporate office today!!
Melody says
This is devastating to me and my family. We have had completely free gas for over a year and I’ve had to start paying for it in the past several weeks with the awful gas deals and now none at all. I honestly will not go back to shopping Martin’s (except for a rare coupon deal) if they do not bring back gas points. I was hoping that this would be a week long test and it would return, but I’m doubtful. We have NO other stores that offer gas rewards, so this truly is a HUGE impact on our family. We do have a Sharp Shopper, which is a discount grocery outlet, which I will most likely be shopping there for things. I have a large stockpile, thank goodness, as well. This is honestly just a horrible thing for us and I am so very sad that Martin’s has done this. We are located in Winchester, VA.
For the Mommas says
Melody,
Lets hope they hear us loud and clear that we want gas points!
Nicole Becker says
Okay, I am confused. How have you had completely free gas for a year Melody?? Please tell me!! LOL
Robert says
It’s not really all that hard. But several things need to be true of your situation to make it worthwhile:
1) Your vehicle holds 30 gallons, or you’re willing to haul (and store) gas cans to be sure you get 30 gallons each trip.
2) Math doesn’t scare you. Extra bonus points if you actually LIKE to do math.
3) You have enough room in your house, garage, tent, car, shed, etc. to store large quantities of non-perishable food.
After that, it’ s simply a matter of looking at the flyer and saying, “If I buy ___ of these items for $____ I’ll get $____ worth of gas,” and figuring out if that’s worth it.
If any of these things confuse or bother you, you’re probably best to just ignore the whole gas thing and just try your best to use coupons on stuff. Sometimes the stress people put themselves through to save money just isn’t worth it. If math comes easily to you then go for it. There’s plenty info in just these comments to figure out how it works (or USED to work, as it seems). If you can’t figure it out from these comments, I’d recommend just pretending like these posts never happened and just try to enjoy life. =)
Caroline says
I’m in Harrisonburg and love Sharp Shopper. But it’s so hit or miss with what you find each week. I have found myself using most of my grocery money there lately, as opposed to Martin’s or Kroger because the deals haven’t been good enough. My favorite Sharp Shopper finds are $.25 Greek yogurts and 8/$1 string cheese!
Grace says
What a dissapointement to read about all of this. If I had $2 off/gallon, I would take a ride up to the Giant in Huntington, PA where they DOUBLE gas points so up there I would have $4/gallon. After using my gas points up there, I would turn around and still have $1/gallon left back home. So we were able to fill up our diesel truck for free and then fill up one of our cars for another $1 off/gallon. IF they do phase out the gas points I will be doing my grocery shopping at Weis Markets to get money off at Sheetz. Why take away something that is working so nice for people who take advantage of the gas deals???
On a side note….for ppl who still have gas deals…here is a free chicken scenario:
Buy 3 packs of the Giant chicken tenders (pick ones that run from $3.50-$4.00 per package). Pay around $12 and get back $.40 off a gallon or $12 for 30 gallons. Can’t beat free chicken tenders ! or a free turkey :)
Ruth says
Thanks, I might have to do this deal. All good things come to an end especially because there is so much more people aware of couponing these days.
Louise says
I shop at Bethlehem Pa Giant. An Allentown store just remodeled & they’re having a grand re-opening deal for Lehigh Valley & Pocono area stores – Spend $50 (after coupons) & earn an additional $.30 / gallon. Get a free turkey (or discount on other turkey products) for 400 points or continue earning gas points. No mention of new “promotion.”
Francie says
Here in Lebanon, they just got the Giant gas station built. Our store is still doing gas deals… buy so many of a group and get so many points. Making the amount of points needed to earn discounts harder to get will just have me take more of my shopping to Aldi and to the plain sects discount grocery stores. They are making money on these. I know in August, I bought a bunch of stuff in the groups the day before the expiration. The 400 points did NOT credit to my account nor did they roll over into the next cycle. I was miffed but learned a valuable lesson. Allow at least three days before the expiration date to be sure I get my discount.
Grace says
The points not adding to your card also happened to me before :( Learned my lesson as well.
James says
I’m probably in the minority, but I don’t do a lot of the gas deals. I would be more upset if we lost the instant saving deals. I earn gas points at Martins (Giant), Weis, and Giant Eagle, so I have 3 different places to save on gas.
Suzanne W says
You’re not in the minority James. I earn my gas points at other stores also. If I happen to get a gas savings at Giant, that’s great…..but I find the Giant coupon policy, having most sale items NOT on their shelves and high prices a turn off. Besides…..the Giant gas station closest to me is not user friendly with dozens of cars racked up in line. I also prefer the instant savings!
Lydia (Thrifty, Frugal Mom) says
No, I’m with you James. I find the gas deals annoying and really miss the great instant savings deals that Giant used to have. I haven’t done nearly as much shopping at Giant since they started the gas deals. For one thing, they have no gas stations this side of town and for another, we don’t have a 30 gal. tank and it is just too much hassle in my humble opinion. I say bring back the awesome instant savings deals like they used to have! :)
Noelle says
My ad (Harrisburg, PA) has no mention of 2x/5x anything. There are gas points in the center page, as always, the typical but 6 earn 200, buy 8 earn 200, and buy 3 earn 400. You can redeem your points for gas or 400 points gets you a turkey. I don’t have the slightest idea what you guys are talking about but I hope they keep my town out of it! :)
For the Mommas says
Noelle,
They are doing a test on phasing out gas bonus deals – some areas do not have any gas deals this week. If they go forward with this, all of us would be affected.
Paula says
Our store in Central PA still had the gas rewards this week although nothing was a good deal. We have not purchased gas at regular prices for forever and with 4 cars that adds up. If they phase them out in our area, I will definitely be shopping other stores. We have several to choose from.
Tara says
Paula, what stores? I shop in Mount Wolf and York PA and neither of those had gas deals this week but I’ll be looking for other stores to shop at if everywhere around here discontinues this!
Joyce H says
Tara in Lancaster still on the gas deals, I think the closer store to York is the Centerville Road.
Ruth says
This would impact me tremendously, I haven’t paid for gas in over two years. Between the CVS gas cards deal and Giant gas deal, I’m able to get free gas for me and my husband. I’m a personal shopper so I’m able to accumulate a lot of gas rewards every week.
There are still offering gas points at least this week and this 2x/5x is just an added bonus and I hope they don’t phase this out. The $’s off works well for me too but the gas deal is a lifesaver for me.
For the Mommas says
Ruth,
Do you have both in your ad? We only have gas bonus points.
Ruth says
I have a Giant and Martin’s store close to my store. The Giant offers gas deals and Martin’s offer the dollars off. I live in the border of PA and MD and I take advantage of both offers. I shop for about 30 people so these gas deals are a lifesaver for me.
Jenny G says
Ruth – how did you become a personal shopper? My husband and I talk about me doing this alot, wondering how you charge ect? Would love to hear some details on that:)
Ruth says
I rented a small storefront and started out basically with about 1000.00 start up cost and built my clientele slowly mostly through word of mouth. I have customers giving me lists of the items they want or send it to me through email, text or Facebook. My customers knows that I only can get certain items for them and they pick up their orders at my store. It is very time consuming and exhausting but in this economy is a way to pay the bills. The best thing is that I’m helping a lot of people save me and helping the community. I’m a social worker by degree so this is my way of helping the community and supporting my family.
For the Mommas says
Ruth, you rock. You really do and you have been instrumental to HELPING others on this site as well.
Jenny G says
Thanks for the info Ruth! You say you are shopping for apx 30 people and obviously paying for a store front and being able to pay some of you own bills. Apx how many hours a week do you put into this, sounds like full time. Are you charging by the ‘shopping trip’ and size of said trip.
Would love more detailed info. Happy to share my email with you for a more detailed discussion – Shannon, you have my permission to send my email along to Ruth… Thanks for the info!
Nicole Becker says
How are some people getting free gas??? Please let me know!!
Beth says
I am in MD, so my Giant Food is different than your Giant, but they are connected somehow because we always have the same deals, etc. that you do. I had not heard of them being phased out, so I hope this is a nasty rumor! Since I have started shopping the gas deals last spring, I have not spent more than $1.69/gal for gas for our two vehicles. I have saved a TON of money! If they phase it out, I will definitely NOT be shopping there because for the most part they are more overpriced than the other stores in my area, and I live smack dab in the middle of suburbia and have my choice of a LOT of different stores. I hope you’re wrong on this one! :)
For the Mommas says
Giant PA / Martins has confirmed that they are testing phasing out the deals in areas :(
Ruth says
If they do phase it out, they will lose business because if other stores have the same program, couponers and shoppers will just migrate to other stores to get the gas deals. The Giant and Martins near my home has stiff competition from a newly open Walmart, I dislike Walmart business practices that I won’t shop there even if there is a great coupon deal. Giant bottom line has suffered a lot and if they continue to cut programs that attract shoppers, they will be hurting even more. I will just have to shop at Giant Food or Weis.
Joy H says
I also asked the customer service desk at Martins today as well. I think I am in such despair over the loss of gas points, I am having a hard time understanding how this works. But here is what I got from my conversation today. Example only:
Buy (8) Turkey Hill Ice Creams $20
Use (4) $1/2 Turkey Hill Coupons
Pay $15
Get 5x Gas Points $20×5 = 100 points or $.10 off of 30 gallons
So $15 – gas ($3) $12 or $1.50 each.
Does this sound right?
For the Mommas says
Joy,
My store told me you still had to spend $100 and then you got 5x the regular gas points. That is where the question lies.
Kate says
Yikes. To “have to” spend $100 for any deal is pretty stinky!
Ruth says
That is nuts, they want to make sure you pay for your gas which defeats the purpose. If I wanted to pay for gas, I would just go to the gas station and pump it without spending hours and Giant, picking stuff up and spending 1 hour or at the self checkout due to the fact that they only double 1 like coupon per transaction. I was at the self check out yesterday with a cart full of stuff. A shopper stopped by to comment that I would be there all day, I told her that was the cost of paying 1/3 of what she pays for her groceries.
Nicole Becker says
How do you only pay 1/3 of regular priced groceries?? What is the secret?
Ruth says
I’m an extreme couponer and a personal shopper for about 30 or more people. A combination of these two things is what enables me to save so much money for me and others.
Anyone can do it, this website and a couple of others helps tremendously. If you build a stockpile, you don’t have to run out and buy things at full price. It does take a lot of time and patience so if you have a job and a family, it is hard to do However, you can still save 50% off groceries with a little effort and if you aren’t picky about brand names.
Joy H says
So I am going to test this today. I am going to buy $20 worth of Turkey Hill and see what kind of points I get. I will post back in about an hour.
For the Mommas says
Joy, thank you for “taking one of the team”.
Joy H says
Interesting…. So the only thing I bought was the Turkey Hill ice cream and I had only thirty five extra points rewards on my card before this order. This is what happened.
Bought (8) Turkey Hill ice creams 2/$5 = $20
Used (3) $1/2 Turkey Hill coupons i couldn’t find my 4th coupon :(
Paid $17.00 plus tax
Earned 97 extra rewards points. So I got $20×5=100-3(the coupons) =97
My total rewards = 132 and I have earned $.10 off 30 gallons of gas.
For the Mommas says
Ok so, let me be sure I understand this..
You only got the points from the actual price, not coupons.
So if you wouldn’t have had the extra points, you wouldn’t have gotten the $.10 off right?
It would look like this:
Buy (8) Turkey Hill Ice Cream $20.00
Get $.10 or $3.00 if you do 30 gallons
$17.00 after gas
So you lose your coupon savings in this one. I hope that makes sense?
Joy H says
Exactly! So at least we don’t need to spend $100 but not anywhere near as good as it was. I am okay with this for now. I do enough instant savings deals there to make up for the coupon savings I will lose on the gas deals. I hope that made sense. Anyway at least I can find a cheaper path than spending $400 to get my free turkey this year.
I did the Kashi deal today and paid $5.45 . Three more of these ice cream type deals and a few instant savings, hopefully I can get to 400 points.
Nicole Becker says
I am so confused about the gas deals at Giant. I could really use the savings of gas on my SUV that eats up gas at 11-12 miles a gallon!! My receipt says that I have 457 points, so what does this mean?? I live in Baltimore Md, so where would I go to get the gas anyway?? PLEASE HELP!!
maureen says
Nicole
I often get free gas for my husbands truck, it holds 30 gallons. I already have $1 off a gallon this week and he just filled up for free last week.
Some weeks the gas deals are great, some weeks just okay.
This week I purchased 32 Healthy Choice soups for $32 and got 80 cents off a gallon. 80 cents X 30 gallons is $24, so the soups only cost 25 cents each. (we eat soup for lunch almost daily!). Also FTM had a deal posted to get the Dole Fruit smoothies for free after gas points. Someone else commented on getting free chicken tenders after gas points this week. Check this site frequently and you will learn how to do it, hopefully the gas points won’t be phased out!!
Anonymous says
Nicole for every 100 points you get .10¢ off. So you have. 40¢ off right now. You have 30 days to use them or you lose them. Hope this helped you :-)