Update 2/6/19: Chase has sent this offer out to Southwest & Hyatt cardholders. Hat tip to reader
Samagra R & Matt M. Don’t think you actually even need a card to use this offer though.
Update 1/21/19: Deal is valid through 2019. Another e-mail was sent out last week reminding people about this offer. A lot of readers requested more information/our thoughts so here is a delayed updated post.
Chase sent out another email today to those who have not already taken advantage of this offer. (thanks to readers Luke and Noah)
The Offer
Chase and Shell partnered to offer all Chase Freedom cardholders Fuel Rewards Gold status which gets you 5¢ off per gallon at Shell. Typically, Gold status requires doing 6 fill-ups per 3-month period; with this offer, you’ll have automatic Gold status for the year.
Promotion Page link | New Link
Both Freedom & Freedom unlimited are eligible. The weird thing is that they don’t ask for your Freedom card information, and from what I can tell, there’s no requirement to pay for the gas with your Freedom card. Seems like anyone might be able to signup on the dedicated Freedom page and get a year of Gold status with 5¢ off; it’s just a Freedom deal in the sense that it’s marketed toward those customers, as I see it.
The Fine Print
- This offer is only available to Chase customers who did not participate in a similar Fuel Rewards® offer in 2018.
- Gold status is valid through December 31, 2019
- Valid for both existing Fuel Rewards members and new members
- To qualify for the extended Gold Status offer for Chase customers, you must be a Chase customer, a Fuel Rewards member and swipe your Fuel Rewards card or enter your Alt ID when you fuel at a participating Shell station
- To continue your Gold status after 2019, you’ll have do 6 Shell fill-ups of 5 gallons+ during 2019
- Fuel Rewards savings are limited to twenty (20) gallons of fuel per purchase
Our Verdict
Deal is a bit ‘meh,’ to be honest. I’m even somewhat surprised it was worth it for Chase to enter into the partnership. I doubt they paid anything to Shell, but they loaned their name to it. Keep in mind IHG loyalty customers can get:
6¢ if you have Platinum status (available through the IHG credit card)7¢ if you have Spire Elite status
IHG program no longer available.
For those who regularly fill up at Shell, this is a nice way of saving up to $1 on each fill-up. It’s especially useful for those who take advantage of other Fuel Rewards deals and already get discounted gas from Shell – this deal will add another 5¢/gallon to the discount. Two recurring examples are getting 15¢ perdollar spent at select grocery stores with Mastercard and various Stop&Shop/Giant/Martin’s grocery promos to earn Fuel Rewards, even on gift cards occasionally. This Freedom deal sweetens the pot with an additional 5¢ off.
Chase also notes in a memo to their bankers that this promo will stack well with the Q1 2018 5% category which includes gas stations. As noted in our previous post, a lot of people might want to max that out with the mobile payments option instead.
Chase concludes to “look for similar promotions for other Chase products in 2018.” There’s no question that Chase’s promotion department is in overdrive.
Hat tip to reader D.
Never thought I’d be missing my gold status….need that sweet extra 2 cents off per gallon!
Can you use the Fuel Rewards when paying with a Shell gift card?
Yes you can..
Okay, so I opened a Fuel Rewards account, linked a credit card, and then used the card at a Shell station and — nothing! It doesn’t work. There’s no discount. Nothing happens that makes it any different to a normal purchase of gas with a card. What am I missing? This makes me not want to use Shell since they’ve got this system showing they’re willing to sell at a lower price, but I can’t get that price, so it’s now like paying a higher price for no reason.
Oh well, I guess this deal is dead. No discounts. Fortunately I didn’t waste too much time on this. This is why I generally don’t bother with these small deals, since they are generally so unreliable, and not worth pursuing, but I thought this one would be a small discount on auto-pilot. But it doesn’t work, so forget it.
I did not do this deal but separately just got an email that I was upgraded to Fuel Rewards Gold+. Did not know this level even existed. Says I now get the 5 cents through 2019, and also an ‘Anniversary Bonus’ but could not find any details on what this means. Anyone know?
On the East Coast, Shell is always about 30 cents more expensive, making this deal still quite bad.
New link is dead.
Looks good to me
Dam chrome, worked on duckduckgo
I am in New Jersey and I always wondered how to take advantage of this deal, do we have to give the registered phone number to the attendant? And do we get 5c off directly or it comes as cashback? Sorry for the noob question.
I usually give/swipe stop and shop card first. In the fuel-rewards page you can link your stop and shop card. Or you can give your mobile number which is your ”ALT ID”. The discount will show up on the screen before you start filling.
This is great info, I will try this.
So you always get 5c (or 3c once you lose gold status) off per gallon for *every* fill up, right?
But if you get e.g. 10c/gal off for spending $50 at restaurant, then that discount is only good for *one* fill up, is that right?
Correct on both counts.
They would stack for one fill up then it would go back to $0.05..
Thanks, both.
Can you link two credit cards to a fuel rewards account?
That way one could stack the fuel rewards gold status and use a costco (4% back) instead of a Chase card.
Not really going out of my way for at most a few bucks savings on gas though. Usually hit up whatever gas station is the easiest right turn on my route that doesn’t sell bootlegged off brand gas. That’s turns out to be Shell about 1 out of 4 times.
Really nothing special. Fuel rewards gives me 10c off per gallon on tuesdays