Amazon Stops Selling Safeway/Albertsons Giftcard

(Update 6/11/23: These are now back on Amazon)

Unfortunately Amazon is no longer selling Safeway or Albertsons gift cards. These are always a popular point when pay with points discounted deals come along so hopefully this is a temporary rather than permanent issue.

Hat tip to reader Roman
    William Charles
  • On January 12, 2023, 10:00
Tags: amazon

View Comments (186)

  • @guest_1538119 @guest_1531894 @guest_1531895 @guest_1532074 @guest_1535134

    I just noticed that AARP Rewards now offers $100 (and $75) Albertsons gc. Unfortunately, I have already used my 5 discounted gc this month so I can't but them until February. This makes the AARP membership even more valuable for someone that shops a lot at Acme, Albertsons, Safeway, etc.

    • Thanks @guest_1532242 I cashed out the $300 from the Cap1 referral deal to Albertson's GCs so set for a couple months. Appreciate the heads up.

    • I saw that as well! I’ll probably wait until next month for those though. I’ve been using up all my redemptions this week for the Daily Deals: 40% off! (But it is for lower denomination Albertsons cards)

        • Yup, it’s crazy they only have 150 gift cards for the entire country. Couldn’t get one today

          • I just saw that too, only 150. Crazy.

            The irony is that I just got one. Of course, I had to refresh a hundred times and deal with spinning. It's still processing my checkout order even though I was charged and have the gift card already.

          • That's good to know that you actually got 1. I stopped trying for the daily deals after I was shut out the 1st 2 times that I tried many months ago.

            What % of the time would you estimate that you have succeeded in nabbing the daily deal?

          • @guest_1532242 First time I actually succeeded but I haven't tried a ton of times in the past. This week I have tried and this is the only time it worked. I think there was some sort of hiccup with that spinning that it actually lasted more than a minute. I didn't do anything different, just persisted. Definitely the luck of the draw.

          • I did realize that you guys were referring to an Albertsons gc deal. I was asking you what the deal was (ie $30 gc for $20).

          • Good for you, congrats! I was out snowblowing and lost track of time. But I surprised myself by getting one this week.

          • @guest_1779991 @guest_1531906

            I just attempted my 1st Daily Deal in a while as 32% off of a $25 HD gc was too good of a deal to pass up.

            There was lag at every single step of the process so I was sure that I wouldn't get it even after I entered my credit card info. However, I did successfully snag it.

            It was more of a delay in my credit card getting charged and in receiving the gc by email than when I buy a standard gc but that's not really surprising.

          • Interesting. Once it started spinning on the deals page I gave up because I knew it’d all sell out within a minute. Maybe I should have given it a bit more time like you did. Hoping I can get the $50 card tomorrow

  • Yesterday, called Safeway to inquire about this and was told they will no longer sell their gift cards on Amazon because "they have their own platform now". Like they didn't before? Anyway, I told them how frustrating this is, and that I will likely do my grocery shopping elsewhere from now on. It is indeed true. The only reason I was shopping at their stores was the gift cards I was getting from Amazon. For what it is worth, the agent promised to submit my feedback.

    I suggest everyone here do the same. Maybe it will have some effect along with much lower gift card sales now. Here is their phone number (877)-723-3929. Press 4 for Gift Cards to speak to a gift card specialist. Takes just 1-2 minutes

  • A function of Kroger/Albertsons merger? My last 2 AMZN orders for Safeway GCs came un-activated. I had to jump through tiny flaming hoops to get them refunded.

    • Would you share how you managed to get them refunded? I'm on the same boat here. And I assume you also didn't pay with a credit card?

      • @guest_1545877

        Sorry for the slow response. Just noticed your post. I paid with Chase AMZN CC. I got them refunded after literally hours of phone calls with various levels of AMZN CS, starting from "we don't know and we don't care" level, and eventually getting escalated to the "we do know, and we still don't care" level. Ultimately, I filed a BBB complaint, provided reams of very clear documentation (I also audio recorded the Safeway GC balance-check message, which said the cards weren't activated, and that I needed to return to seller for assistance.... and offered to email a copy of the audio to BBB and AMZN). AMZN CS has always been really really really bad if it falls outside the basic refund/return button front line CS has access to. This experience made it very clear to me that it has gotten markedly worse... and for their efforts, my 2023 spend with AMZN is down about 90% YoY (last year I did $28k with them). Effers.

  • What is the best gift card to buy on Amazon now?

    Does GameStop allow to buy 3rd party gift cards with GameStop gift cards in store? Also, does anyone know if GameStop sells Safeway/Albertson's gift cards in store?

      • Thank you for the link. It is good, I wish we had Chevron or Texaco gas in my city.
        Are you sure about hardcode at GS? I did some research online, and there are multiple reddit posts claiming they can been redeemed for 3rd party gift cards other than Visa prepaid cards.

        What about Big Lots? Do they carry 3rd party gift cards in their stores?

  • AARP just stopped selling the discounted Safeway gift cards. They still sell the Kroger gift cards, but are only available at lower denominations ($25) rather than the $50 they were available at earlier

    • @guest_1538119 I am still seeing the $50 Kroger cards on the AARP website. But, yes, the Safeway/Albertsons/Star Market/Shaws/Acme/Jewel/Randalls etc. ones are gone.

      I am starting to think that this is the final step of the BHN to INCOMM transition by Albertsons-owned stores. As BHN loses the ability to issue these cards, websites have to stop offering them until and unless they contract with INCOMM. From Wikipedia: "Blackhawk continued to provide Safeway with store gift cards and store credit until January 5th 2023, at which point the remaining Blackhawk cards were taken offline (though cards activated prior to this point will not expire until 2037)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeway

        • @guest_1538119 @guest_1535134 @guest_1531895

          Are you saying that you were getting 8% off of Albertsons gc before this change occurred? If so, how long has this been going on?

          This is the 1st that I am hearing of this. Is it available now or not? Do/did they have the discount on physical Safeway gc or only eGC?

          • @Eric Yes, correct. 8% monthly gift card discounts are on AARP Rewards (with AARP membership). There is no age limit for AARP membership and there are many offers to get your membership for free (I personally used a $30 offer available on Capital One Shopping and paid $12 for a year). Since you're asking for tips, here's what I like to do: I purchase the discounted Giftcards.com Visa eGCs when they're on sale (usually get ~10-14% off after GC.com 5/10% off code, CC rewards, airline portal, and Citi Merchant offer). Then I use these virtual cards for my monthly Safeway & Kroger gift card purchases. Good way to get nearly 20% off groceries!

          • Which of my questions is "Yes" the answer to?

            I cancelled my AARP membership a while ago but am still able to login. Where on the AARP site are the gc listed?

          • @guest_1535134,

            Can you at least answer my question about where I can find it on the AARP site so I can look out for it, like you suggested?

          • @guest_1531894 @guest_1531895

            I had a feeling that it was actually "AARP Rewards" and not "AARP" like many kept on saying.

            If I sign up for an AARP Rewards account, will I be able to view (not purchase) the gc listings even though I don't currently have an AARP membership? That way I could view the offerings before I decide if I will look for a deal to sign up again for AARP.

          • @guest_1532074,

            I just read your comment. I understand now that you are able to see all of the gc but are you also able to view the actual discounts (ie 8% on Safeway) for the gc that are marked "Members Only"?

          • @guest_1532074 @guest_1531894 @guest_1531895 @guest_1535134

            I signed up for AARP Rewards this morning. The sign up definitely worked as it shows my points on the top of the page.

            However, I am unable to get to the page that shows the discounted gc. Every time I click on the "Get Started With AARP Rewards" button, I am brought back to the same page so it is a loop that never ends.

            If I go directly to the page that @guest_1531895 told me to use, it brings me to this same page. What am I doing wrong?

          • @guest_1532074 @guest_1531894 @guest_1531895 @guest_1535134

            Never mind. I think that I figured out the issue. AARP Rewards doesn't seem to work properly in Chrome. I just tried it in Edge and was able to find the gc easily. Have you all had the same issue?

          • I use Chrome for my AARP membership, haven't noticed anything off when earning or redeeming rewards.

          • @guest_1555007,

            Yes, Safeway gc are available on AARP Rewards (at least they were last time I checked). No one here has confirmed being able to go through with the transaction yet. You have to have an AARP account to checkout so that's why I haven't tried. Do you have an AARP account?

          • @guest_1555007,

            After I wrote my last comment, I noticed that you added "You said above you were signing up." after your initial comment that I saw in the email.

            You must have misunderstood my comments in this post. I wrote that I signed up for AARP Rewards. That is free and I am able to view all of the gc available.

            However, I did not sign up for an AARP subscription, which costs $12. That is what is needed to purchase Safeway gc.

          • yes I misunderstood. Also, I edited the last part of my message not more than two seconds later after the first part.

          • @guest_1555007,

            I wasn't criticizing you at all for editing the comment (as I do this often myself). I just meant that in the email it only showed "no, I was hoping you did." so that is what I responded to initially.

            It would be nice if the edited comment was sent by email instead but that's probably not possible.

          • @guest_1555007,

            Have you ever had an AARP subscription? If not, TCB is currently giving $12.60 CB for "First Subscription Purchase" and the AARP membership only costs $12. I've already had a subscription so I wouldn't qualify.

          • @guest_1532242 It seems like AARP Rewards is available to anyone (lower earning tiers) but some gc are only available to members, such as the Safeway gc. I would assume you could see the offerings though.

          • @guest_1531894 @guest_1532074

            I don't understand how I never heard of these discounted gc before. Is there somewhere on the internet that people have talked about this? If not, when and how did you both find out about it?

          • @guest_1544173 Stephen at GCGalore.com posts all the time about gift card deals available on AARP. In addition to the regular deals, there are monthly and daily specials. Also, the limit is 5 per person, so P2 etc. can buy their own. Plus some cards are not subject to that limit (e.g. AirBnB).

          • @guest_1531895,

            I am aware of the website GCGalore. I'm almost positive that when I last looked (possibly years ago) that there was no way to subscribe by email to new posts. I just went there and saw that there is now a subscribe button so I did.

          • I don't remember, but probably somewhere in the comments on DoC is where I learned about the gift cards. There's a limit of 5 gift cards per month though (with most cards going up to $50). So saving $2 to $4 per card, up to 5 times per month; it's nice, but not a huge amount of money.

          • @guest_1532074,

            That's interesting that they have those low limits. Based on how upset @guest_1535134 was when AARP removed Safeway gc, I figured that they had a much larger limit.

          • (1) I am not that upset LoL
            (2) I have more than 1 AARP memberships
            (3) the final net discount all together is more than 8%

          • @guest_1532242 Go to AARP Rewards, Choose Redeem | All Rewards from the dropdown and there you can find the Safeway $50 Gift card as well as their other stores. For simplicity, you can search Safeway.

          • @guest_1531894,

            I see Safeway, Albertson's, etc. there. However, since I am not a member I am not able to add it to my cart. Are you still receiving the error that @guest_1535134 mentioned?

          • @guest_1531894,

            I think that you missed my question here. Can you check if Safeway gc are now able to be checked out at AARP Rewards?

          • @guest_1532242 I don't know actually. I haven't bought Safeway cards from AARP in quite awhile.

            I just tested it though and I get through checkout up until place order if that helps. I don't know where @guest_1535134 was encountering the error.

          • @guest_1535134 @guest_1531895 @guest_1538119 @guest_1532074

            Based on @guest_1531894's comment, it appears that the problem is resolved. Can you confirm that you are now able to purchase the Safeway gc for the 8% discount?

          • @guest_1532242 I haven't bought any Safeway GCs from AARP for months, as Kroger-owned Food 4 Less is much cheaper in my area than any of the Albertsons-owned stores. But I can put it in my cart and get through to checkout, same as Celia, so I am assuming it should work now.

          • @guest_1531895,

            I'm pretty sure that either @guest_1535134 or @guest_1538119 wrote a while ago that they were able to add it their cart but the system would not let them check out.

            That is why I asked if the transaction actually goes through now. It's odd that they've gone so quiet all of the sudden. Did the Safeway gc ever actually disappear from AARP's site? Does AARP ever offer physical gc or only eGC?

            At my local stores, most of the cashiers have a lot of trouble when I try to use Safeway/Albertsons/Acme eGC as there is a couple of extra steps (EFT Full + Cancel) than most gc require.

            Does Kroger gc have those steps also? Do the cashiers in your store ever have trouble with the Kroger eGC?

          • @guest_1552769 Kroger eGCs are simple to use and can be used at self-checkout (unlike Safeway ones), so no issues unless you need to do something special like use less than the full amount available on the card (in which case some cashiers know how to do it, and some don't). The main limitation with respect to Kroger eGCs is that they cannot be used to buy gas at Kroger gas stations.

            AARP sells only eGCs -- no physical cards for any merchant.

            All Albertsons-owned cards were gone from AARP for a few days, and are now back. I think people were having trouble buying them during that transition from BHN to InComm.

          • @guest_1531895,

            If the Kroger/Safeway merger ever goes through I guess I can look forward to using those Kroger eGC.

            I have found that Acme has good sales and digital offers. Does Albertsons/Safeway not?

            You wrote "something special like use less than the full amount available on the card". If I have a $100 Kroger gc and buy something for $10 I am using less than the full amount of the gc.

            I am 99% sure that you didn't mean it that way. Did you mean to write something similar to "use the Kroger gc for part of the purchase and another payment method for the rest"?

          • @guest_1554776 The partial gift card use thing is an issue specific to California, because here you can cash out gift card balances of less than $10. So if I have two $20 gift cards and want to make a $21 purchase, I don't want to pay $20 +$1, I want to pay $10.50 + $10.50, and cash out $9.50 + $9.50. Not all cashiers know how to do this properly. This obviously would not matter in most other states.

            Funny, the last time I was at an Acme (in Brewster, NY), I thought it was rather expensive -- but then I thought groceries on the East Coast were generally very expensive compared to California, presumably due to high transportation costs. In So. Cal., chain supermarkets such as Albertsons are not really price-competitive compared to the Latino supermarkets, which tend to be 2x to 4x cheaper on things like produce and meat.

          • @guest_1531895,

            So you did kind of mean what I suggested about using the gc for only part of the purchase. It just wasn't for a reason that I would have expected as I wasn't aware about that California policy. Does that policy work for all gc including gas? Do you keep track of all of your gc so you can cash them all out when they go under $10?

            The regular prices in Acme are expensive. I was saying that their weekly sales are decent.

          • @guest_1554842 Yes, in California, there is a state law that says that all closed-loop single-merchant gift cards (including gas cards) are redeemable for cash if the balance is below $10. Not all stores are good about following the law, though -- frequently a manager has to do it, and sometimes stores refuse, which can lead to big fines. https://yoloda.org/chevron-to-pay-141355-for-failing-to-comply-with-californias-gift-card-redemption-laws/

            I usually try to keep track of the balance and cash out below $10, unless the store makes it such a pain that I give up (cough, Starbucks, cough).

          • @guest_1531895,

            What's stopping someone from buying a bunch of $9.99 or under gc and then cashing them out? Or does it need to be that a purchase makes the gc under $10 in order to cash out?

          • @guest_1532242 One could do that, theoretically, but at most stores cash out transactions are too much of a pain to bother doing something like this because of the need to call the manager.

          • I need to figure out how to do this in-store because I have several <$10 printout Safeway Giftcards (from AARP rewards). The only place that seems to makes it easy for the customer to get the $ off a Giftcard is Starbucks with their website that mails CA residents a check for <$10 balance gift cards

          • @guest_1554851 Try the Customer Service desk. Best to go during regular business hours because frequently they have to call the manager over. Be prepared for delays, as even managers sometimes don't know what to do. If you have a Pavilions nearby, I would go there, as the level of customer service is higher because it's a more upscale store.

            I actually don't like the Starbucks check-by-mail approach because it's not instantaneous, so I have to remember to keep track of it. But it is legal, unfortunately.

      • Good news - it appears this is only temporary (at least on AARP Rewards). When checking out there is this message at the bottom:

        "Between 1/20/23 and 1/23/23 Albertsons Brands $25 and $50 gift cards will not be available for purchase on the site. If you have added them to your cart you will need to remove them before you will be able to checkout. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."

        Will be interesting to see what changes after this pause.

      • That's interesting. So do you think that there's a good chance that Incomm will make a deal with Amazon, Staples, etc.?

        • @guest_1539384 I wish I knew. Certainly most (if not all) of Amazon's third-party gift cards are provided by BHN. I guess it depends on whether Amazon found the Safeway gift cards sufficiently profitable to sell, and whether its agreement with BHN allows it to use other GC suppliers as well.

          All we can do is wait.

    • @guest_1531847 Possibly physical Whole Foods? No variables at WF, only fixed up to $100. But there are some interesting things on the rack in-store that are not available on Amazon online, such as IKEA.

      However, I have no idea whether WF's POS is hard-coded. Never needed to try before.

        • IME, that you cannot do. Whole Foods will not allow gift card payment when purchasing a gift card, even if you have other items with it. Wasn't thinking over the holidays and had thrown a cute card in my purchase and had to use a credit card to pay for the whole thing. In hindsight, I would have at least split it up.

          • @guest_1537125 Thank you, just the DP I was looking for.

            The only other possible option I can think of is Big Lots physical cards, but I can't recall whether they even sell third-party GCs, and, again, I have no idea whether their POS is hard-coded.

          • Not for me. Jewel Osco, a Safeway company, does not allow. Can't even use self checkout for gift card purchases :( I shop more at Meijer, which does allow self checkout for gift card purchases.

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