Fuel Rewards Stacking Grows as Gas Prices Stay High

More customers are now combining multiple fuel-saving benefits as gas prices remain elevated, according to CStore Dive.

The trend, tracked in CStore Dive's "3 Big Numbers" feature on the rise of stacking fuel rewards, points to a shift in how drivers approach discounts at the pump. Rather than relying on a single loyalty program, customers are layering benefits together to reduce what they pay for fuel.

The finding carries a counterintuitive wrinkle for marketers: guests using just one program may save more. That detail suggests the stacking behavior customers adopt does not always translate into the deepest individual savings, a distinction that matters for retailers designing fuel loyalty offers.

Elevated gas prices sit at the center of the behavior. When prices at the pump stay high, customers look for every available lever to cut costs, and combining rewards programs is one of the most visible ways to do it.

For brands and retailers in the convenience and grocery space, the takeaway is direct. Fuel rewards have become a lever shoppers actively manipulate, not a passive perk. Programs that assume single-program participation may underestimate how many customers now stack benefits across offers.

At the same time, the possibility that single-program users save more gives marketers a messaging opportunity. If one program can outperform a stack of fragmented benefits, that value story could shift customers toward deeper engagement with a single loyalty platform rather than shallow participation across several.

CStore Dive frames the trend through its "3 Big Numbers" lens, a format that distills retail developments into the figures that define them. The rise of stacking fuel rewards earns that treatment because the behavior signals where customer attention and spending pressure currently concentrate: the pump.

As long as gas prices remain elevated, retailers should expect stacking behavior to persist, and loyalty program design will need to account for customers who arrive with rewards from more than one source.