Pulaski

It's a common myth oft-repeated in the UK that American beer (Bud, Coors, Miller) is weak.

Beaverstate

Ever tried a warm one?

kodokan

Oh Tanja, before we carry on talking about irrelevancies 😀
Most of the supermarkets here (Walmart excepted) have a card loyalty scheme. It's important to get a card before you start shopping, as there are two sets of prices for all the goods - one for cardholders, one without. The difference is usually 15-20%, so definitely needed.

The cards are a totally meaningless gimmick designed to collect data and make customers feel that they're getting a deal. They don't collect points for the individual, like a Tesco Clubcard (except sometimes for fuel discounts). You can pick up a card at Customer Services, not even bother registering it with your name and address, and chuck it at the end of the stay. Or ask the checkout assistant to scan the spare one they inevitably keep on their till.

Beaverstate

Kroeger which owns the very profitable Fred Meyer Chain in these parts has a customer loyalty program that can lead to a dollar off per gallon of gas. Many other 40 to 50 dollar off bargains are available. I don't keep up on the details but contribute to my son and daughter in laws card.

kodokan

It's roughly $100 of supermarket spend equals 10c off a gallon of fuel; there a other promotions including gift cards but that's the standard. It's not something a tourist needs to worry about for a week or two, really, especially when they're already working around remembering to pay for the fuel before pumping.

Pulaski

I don't know of ANY store operating a loyalty card scheme that doesn't index membership off your phone number. I have half-a-dozen or more loyalty memberships at various stores, not just groceries but also books, car parts, a pet store, etc. and I never carry the physical membership card - I just give my phone number.

Jerseygirl

Some do some don't in my experience.

Pulaski

At least one local grocery chain, that belongs to Kroger, gives kick-backs to a school if you link it to your account. We get an annual reminder to refresh the link at the start of the school year. Actually we get two reminders, one from the grocery, and the other from little Miss P's school!

kodokan

Ah yes, I do that for my daughter's school. The school was giving out a free PE T shirt to anyone who signed up during schedule pick up, or showed proof they'd done so previously.

Kroger's is our nearest store, only a mile or so away, and it's a large, remodeled one with a good deli section, so I don't mind shopping there. We can game the fuel points nicely too by buying Amazon gift cards - I buy everything possible online - when they're doing the 4x promotions. I time those purchases and make sure we have enough points at $1 a gallon off to completely fill the F-150, which saves us over $30 a fill-up.

Tanja87

Oooooh, so much new information! Thank you all!!
Didn't realise you need to pay for fuel before pumping - that could've been awkward lol! I shall be sure to check in-store if there's a card scheme before shopping. 20% off is huge!! So long as I don't need to provide a phone number and address there and then we should be good lol... I don't see myself as a supermarket snob at all. I tend to shop at Asda online and quite often pop into Lidl as well - being German and all that lol But I'll gladly give any shop a go and I do like a bargain, so long as the quality is still good! I suppose you can't do online shopping over there like we do here? Where you just do your grocery shopping online at Asda or Tesco or wherever and they deliver it? I know my family and friends in Germany think that's very odd so just wondering if you can do it over in the US?

Beaverstate

Pre-paying for fuel quite often depends what neighborhood you are in. I rarely pre-pay if paying cash.

kodokan

Online shopping... sadly not a thing here. I loved the online service in Switzerland - 15 mins of pulling up last week's list, tweaking a little, and sending, then magic elves did all the work and turned up the next day with all our food and put it in my kitchen. I didn't have a car there, and that saving easily covered off the few francs delivery charge.

There are some services separate to the supermarkets that will go and shop for you and deliver, but you pay for the convenience (one operating here adds a surcharge of 7% per item, plus delivery). And there are kerbside pick up services, where the supermarket will shop for and bag your order, and you then collect it. I haven't tried those - once I've actually driven there, I may as well shop myself.

Pulaski

Well petrol is almost universally "pay at the pump", but now all the stations I use require you to input the zip code linked to your account after swiping your card, so I don't know how that would work with a non-US credit card. Unfortunately pre-paying means you need to know how much petrol you need/ can fit in the tank. Which you do, so they can mail you junk advertising and coupons. Personally for just a short visit I wouldn't bother, and you'd need to go to the customer service desk to register first. In practice there is nothing to stop you making up an address and phone number, (or use a variation of your UK number, but it needs to be ten digits, and the first one cannot be a zero) and it is unlikely anyone would notice as the memberships I have were done using a paper form and input to the system later - and they give you the linked card and keyring mini-card immediately. Big cities, yes, especially the very few that have a significant population of people who don't own cars, but it hasn't really caught on the same way it has in the UK. The local Kroger franchise offers a buy on-line and pick up at the store - there is a row of lockers just inside the door, and a bay outside with a drive-through restaurant style communication unit, so you can drive up and they bring your purchases out. In the three- four years the service has been offered I don't recall ever seeing anyone picking up groceries in the special bay. I have occasionally seen bags being put in the lockers.

Nutmegger

You can go back inside and get an adjustment from the clerk if you have overpaid.

Pulaski

I have only pre-paid a handful of times (I only recall three occasions, there may have been four), and never with cash, but one clerk at one local station flatly refused to refund any unused amount. I do not if it was the clerk being difficult or management policy, or what?

I was only trying to prepay because I was running on fumes and their pumps wouldn't read my card, but after arguing and pleading I drove away because I was so damned irritated with them. I now avoid that station and have only used it maybe half a dozen times in the six- eight years since that incident, not that it's a big deal because they are very rarely price-competitive, and their station is crappy with old pumps that often won't read my card.