Rundown of Pioneer Bonus Bucks (updated March 11, 2019)
When I first wrote about Pioneer Bonus Bucks gas loyalty program, I did not live anywhere near any of the stations. But now I do and now I have a membership. So I thought this would be a good time to update this post. As you probably already know, most of my post ideas come from personal research. What I try to do is share my research with everyone in this blog.
Earn Filling Up Gas
Not much has changed in the last 5 years (since I last wrote about Pioneer Bonus Bucks), but this chart now has much more meaning to me.
As you can see, the more you fill at a time, the more points Bucks you earn. Unfortunately I have a very small car, so I would not even make it to 40L. Maybe I should invite 2 or 3 other family members to fill up at the same time on the same pump to hit 100L every time!
Earn with In-Store Purchases
Furthermore, you can also earn more Bucks for in-store merchandise purchases with the following earning ratios.
Note that the amount spent is before taxes. The exceptions include: tobacco, gift cards, prepaid long distance cards, prepaid cellular cards, and lottery ticket purchase (unless there is a special offer).
Redeeming
Pioneer keeps a very simple reward redemption program. Basically, you redeem your Bucks like cash primarily on fuel or in-store purchases. Watch for “Exclusive Bonus Buy” member pricing on selected items. That would be the way to get more value out of your cash.
Alternatively, you can share Bucks with friends and family or donate charities. I really like these options because it can be a nice gift to someone.
Thoughts
My travel habits has change quite a bit over the past few years, as I am not in the air as much, but on the road a lot more. So having a strong gas loyalty strategy is very important to me. Personally, I have memberships with most of the major gas station affiliated loyalty program. The reason is because my main priority is to find the station that charges the cheapest gas. Once I am at the station, I would earn their rewards as well to double dip.
Last May I redeemed my bonus bucks at a station nearby. Nowhere that I have seen does it say that they are NOT dollar for dollar on fuel, yet we didn’t even receive .50 on the dollar. Kind of a ripoff, IMO. We would rather go to PetroCan where it IS and we save 3 cents per litre.
I generally go for the station with the cheapest gas on the day that I need to fill up. The cash savings usually beats any rewards that I can earn. Earning rewards is just graving on top of cash savings!