ANSWER: Albertson's Gas Rewards - not worth it ??

Albertson's Grocery Stores - and Von's as owned by Albertson's - has a "Gas Rewards" program where for every $100 you spend - you can get 10 cents off per gallon of fuel at Chevron, Texaco or Von's fueling stations.  Each $100 spent is called a "Reward" providing you enter your associated phone number before the cashier hits the "Total" button, or in some cases scans coupon discounts.  Still it does not always work.  Then the cashier often lies to you or tells you call a phone number to get them credited to your account - which even recently a store manager discovered is a number slowly answered if at all.  She waited over 7 minutes for the phone to even be answered.  You can use up to two "rewards" at one time at Chevron and Texaco - for a maximum of 20 cents off per gallon - up to a maximum of 25 gallons.

The program has a number of glaring problems which make it not worth it to use for fuel purchases - the biggest being that Chevron and Texaco have earned a reputation for having the highest fuel prices consistently in the Nation, unless they are across from or within local range of  a low priced competitor

After the 2018 Monopoly game ended, Albertson's changed the Rewards Program to include select grocery items one could get for FREE or at a discount.  For instance for 4 Rewards one can get a FREE 8 piece Fried Chicken, which is an $8.00 value at most stores.  That would have been $10.00 of in fuel costs.  That means one needs to have spent $400.00 in groceries, or $200 in gift cards, not a "bad" way to get rid of those Rewards that really have no fuel discount value becasue Chevron and Texaco fuel is so high priced in the first place. 

The most glaring problem if you use the Rewards for fuel is you have to search like on gasbuddy.com for a Chevron or Texaco that has a price only ten cents above the price of the lowest market value fuel like ARCO or you really save nothing.  Good luck with that.  Even  then you have  to drive some distance to get the lower priced fuel - the drive of which may consume more value of fuel than you will save in the discount.  At this writing ARCO fuel for Diesel is around $3.49 per gallon at many stations in the Orange County southern California region, so that means you need to find a Chevron or Texaco station with a $3.59 price per gallon to reap a "reward" of 10 cents cheaper per gallon of in this case Diesel fuel.

There "WAS" only one and when it turned out their register was not causing the proper rewards to be credited at the pump - or the cashier was charging the credit card price for a cash payment - they then raised the price to be high like all the other Chevron stations to $3.75 cash and $3.85 credit.  Some are as high a $4.25 per gallon, while th 76 right down the street in seeing distance is still at $3.59 - but of course no Gas Rewards are taken there.

In the process some of biggest bold face lies were told - until the issue at the core was discovered to be - it was a franchise station with an older POS system, and by the way the manager even drives a Tesla - that plugs in in the rear of the station - so that is like a GM worker who drive a foreign  car to work - he won't pay those high prices fuel anymore either.

It is not likely to happen that any Chevron not in direct corner to corner competition  is in the position of being competitive to low priced fuel stations.  If you think "Techron" is a big deal - it really is not worth the extra price you pay.either/

Techron is a detergent based on PEA, polyeter amine. It is a complex synthetic molecule that will basically 'loosen' and 'dissolve' deposits in your fuel system. They then become part of the fuel-air mixture and burn in the combustion chamber with it. Be it in the carburetor, the injectors, the valves (for indirect injection vehicles) or the combustion chamber.

You can get the same combustion chamber cleaning bi-fueling with hydrogen.

The Techron fuel you buy at the Chevron or Texaco stations has only a small 400ppm amount of Techron added, the rest is just gas/petrol. You can also buy the Techron in seperate high concentrate bottles (typically 12oz.) These bottles contain up to 35% of PEA.

But the working ingredient PEA is just as well used in Gum-Out, Amsoil and a bunch of other fuel system cleaners.

So yes, there is a difference to fuel which doesn't have these detergents but every major gas producer (Shell, BP, (ARCO) today will add detergents. They ARE different detergents so they do make a difference.

In fact they are just auxiliary tools to keep your engine working well. It is like a band-aid. It does help tune up your engine, but it helps a lot more to do proper maintenance, change coolant and oil regularly, make sure your radiator works well so your engine operating temp isn't too high, clean your air filter and fuel filter regularly,...

Using detergent fuels does have an effect eg for emissions testing, but If you ask me. I just buy the cheapest fuel and I will add a bottle of High concentrate Techron or Gumout or another cleaner before I go to an emissions test (make sure you drive about 60 miles before turning up since the deposits have to be burned before the test). And if you really want to use it, buy a bunch of high concentrate bottles and add them to supermarket gas, that's basically the same.

If you Google 'what is techron chemically" you will find out - Techron Concentrate can be bought in a bottle cheaper than the extra cost of the fuel pay for one fill up usually.  Then read some fuel additive reviews like this one http://www.hcdmag.com/best-fuel-injector-cleaner/ and you will see you are more for a diluted version of Techron you can by cheaper in a bottle.

If you care about cheaper fuel prices - you are using something like  http://gasbuddy.com to find cheap fuel.  There is one of their websites - http://orangecountygasprices.com which has the gas buddy search widget that can be used to search for fuel anywhere; but if you use it to just generally search for fuel - Costco and ARCO dominate the lowest prices, and Chevron has a huge presence for the highest priced fuel in the region you are searching. Gas Buddy works because people report prices for a chance to win a $100 Gas card as a reward for reporting all prices they see.  Every 24 hours the system flushes the top prices both high an low unless someone else keeps reporting them.  Usually that way the prices are fairly current and fresh as accurate.

Most Diesel can be found for 3.48 to 3.59 easily in the region.  Chevron Diesel prices average 3.75 to to 3.99 per gallon.  How far are you willing to drive to STILL spend 10 cents more per gallon - because at ARCO you can use a debit card at the pump and pay 35 cents to access the Debit funds - which on a 25 gallon fill up is a fraction more than one penny more per gallon.

Since we are talking about Diesel fuel - Chevron makes one of the quieter running Diesel fuels - and it is done largely by blending up to 20% biomass created Diesel as some of there station pumps do admit..  Some people think Biomass created Diesel is better, but the reality is what is "better" for your diesel is fuel that is more "slippery".   

To make Diesel Ultra low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) as required by US Law, Hydrodesulfurization is used and it also strips effectively "BTU per gallon" or simply put the "POWER" from the fuel while at the same time stripping also lubricity needed to lubricate high pressure injectors and the injection pump. This damaged and caused a lot of repairs and rebuilds of injection pumps early in the days of use in the Diesel industry.  What is called "bio-diesel" has a higher lubricity than ULSD, and a lower fash pint - or effectively what is higher "Cetane", however the relationship to Cetane and BTU per gallon is usually inverse as.for instance many people in the industry know what is called "Kerosene" by common name is also No 1 diesel and it has easier starting in cold climates - but also lower power or BTU per gallon.  

There is a California company called "Propel" fuels, - and it can be found in a few Shell stations and it touts making diesel from various bio-mass stocks - like palm tree oil - but also uses animal tallow though they do not directly SAY this.  the end result is a high "Cetane" diesel they advertise at 75 Cetane which is true, but it also is really weak on POWER.  Really quiet engine - you think you just killed.

Chevron blends biomass fuel with refined Diesel tpo meet what emissions regulators now want out of Diesel, and without an additive - it starts easy and the engine is quiet, but there is no power if one wants acceleration.  It is quieter buring in the engine - meaning less ignition delay - and burns "cooler" as exhaust gas temperature (EGT), meaning it does not spin up the Turbo as easily and quickly, and you loose power that way too.

To pay MORE for a weaker fuel is NOT a "Reward"

If one shops at Walmart for the same brand foods one can get at Albertson's you will pay dollars and dollars less for the food - which means you are spending more to get a Gas Reward that is not any value of savings either.  But for the stupidity of the shopper it would be fraud.

Of course if you just want the feeling of having a good expensive flush into the sewer line the next day by all means spend as much as you can on foods, then you are not concerned with the cost of fuel anyway.

You can already buy any fuel cleaner cheaper and use it less frequently for a Gasoline engine - and for a Diesel the noisier your engine is the poorer your fuel is causing "ignition delay" which is the characteristic diesel rap and rattle, and is even responsible for fouling up the injectors causing "stiction" in Fords and International Harvester HUI type engines which the Powerstroke engines actually are,   All you need to do is use a performance additive in cheap diesel and get the same effect that Chevron fuel gives as to noise but you will have more power and less black smoke.

For a Diesel, a chemical called "2EHN" ( 2-Ethylhexyl nitrate ) is the easiest way to raise effective Cetane by lowering the flash point of the fuel - and it does not take much of it.  But one needs to also increase lubricity and power.  If one reads the data sheets of the major diesel additive performance products you will find it has two major components for this - basically mineral oil - which also is the major ingredient in what is  called two stroke oil, and Xylene - which could also act as Gasoline to power a Gasoline engine.  .The right recipe to make an additive for a Diesel : means you can make four gallons of additive that is then used at 1 oz per gallon at fill up to achieve better power and lubricity enhancement that helps save and keep clean the injection system for only about 1 to 2 cents extra per gallon.

Why pay 50 cents more per gallon or drive miles to a lower priced Chevron or Texaco when you can just buy cheap diesel and make it better yourself  unless of course you live near a Von's fueling station where you can use up to ten rewards to save 1.00 per gallon - and that would mean you spent $1,000 on groceries or $500 on qualifying gift cards.   So no the Gas Rewards program is not work it.   See also https://bigbay4bestbuys.com/cetane_booster

If you really want to fight back and save on fuel - install a fumigation system using pure hydrogen using something like this =>  https://bigbay4bestbuys.com/content/hcng-mixer-diesels-cng-and-gasoline…