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Albertsons, Safeway and other stores that use the Just For U loyalty program have a bunch of new digital coupons today offering 10x Reward Points when buying $50 or more of select Happy gift card brands.
The Deal
- Earn 10x Reward Points when buying $50 or more of the following Happy gift card brands at Albertsons, Safeway & other Just For U stores:
Key Terms
- Expires August 4, 2020.
- Unlimited use.
- Must load digital coupon(s).
Quick Thoughts
This is a great deal if you can maximize the Reward Points you’ll be earning when filling your gas tank. If you buy a $50 gift card for one of these Happy brands, you’ll earn 500 Reward Points which can save you 50c off per gallon of gas on up to 25 gallons. If you can refill your tank(s) to that 25 gallon limit, you’d be saving $12.50 which means you’d be saving 25% based on your gift card spend.
Savings of 25% is an excellent deal considering you can use the cards at Sephora, Bed Bath & Beyond, Panera Bread, Ulta Beauty, Barnes & Noble, Macy’s and more depending on which Happy brand you buy.
One of the nice features of the Just For U program is that they also provide the option to redeem Reward Points for savings on groceries. You don’t get as much value out of the points as when redeeming for gas, but if you don’t have a car or have a car with a small gas tank, redeeming for groceries is a great alternative to have.
This deal can be even more rewarding if you pay with a card that earns more at grocery stores. The Marriott and Hilton spending bonuses at grocery stores end on July 31, so this could be a good way to earn some bonus points before those offers finish. Although Amex has been clawing back some bonus points earned at grocery stores, that’s tended to be for people buying gift cards for large amounts and/or in large volume. If you’re just picking up a couple of $50 Happy gift cards, I wouldn’t be too concerned about having points clawed back.
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Are any of the happy gift cards worth buying and easy to liquidate?
In terms of if they’re worth buying, part of that equation will depend on how much value you’re able to get from the Reward Points. If you can fill to the 25 gallon limit – or close to it – then you’re effectively saving ~25% on the cards.
Each Happy brand has a different selection of retailers, so that’ll also affect how useful they are to you. Bed Bath & Beyond is on some of these brands and I’ve been able to buy third party gift cards using a Happy gift card in the past, although it’s been a while since I last did that. I don’t think they’ve hardcoded their registers to prevent you from doing that, but you might get a cashier who doesn’t allow you to do that.
Unless you have a truck with a large gas tank, I think you are better off redeeming points for groceries than gas. 700 points gets you 10 dollars off a grocery purchase. Then use another app, like GetUpside, for gas. I found that using GetUpside I come out ahead versus using gas points, even ignoring that I can use the points for free groceries, since I can chose from more top tier gas stations and usually find one that is cheaper than any Mobil+gas rewards discount.
From what I understand of the Just For U program, you can only redeem 700 points for $10 off groceries once per month, then after that the ratios aren’t as good (e.g. 500 points for $7 off, 400 points for $5 off, etc.). That means the most you can save is 14.3%, then lowering to 14%, then 12.5%, etc., down to 10%.
If you can fill up with 15+ gallons, you’ll always be better off going the gas route. For me personally, redeeming for groceries like you mentioned is better as our car only takes 12 gallons at most, but the limits on how many times you can redeem for grocery rewards makes it a little harder to scale their gift card offers when they give bonus Reward Points.