Flying J and Frequent Fueler Card - NOT

[Turtle]

Here's a nifty little update that should thrill beyond words.

Due to technology upgrades, 44 Flying J locations will temporarily be unable to participate in the Flying J loyalty programs but will accept Pilot Driver Payback cards.

• If you do not already have a Pilot Driver Payback card, you may get one from any employee at the Fuel Desk of the 44 Flying J locations and any Pilot Travel Center.
• With the Driver Payback card, you’ll receive 1 pt (1 cent value) per gallon of diesel fuel you purchase.
• You may redeem these points immediately in these stores on merchandise. Excludes alcohol, tobacco, prepaid, gift cards, and lottery items.
• You will also earn one Free Shower Credit (5 day expiration) for every diesel fuel purchase over 50 gallons.

Bonus! When you use your Driver Payback card at these 44 Flying J locations you will receive 150 bonus points ($1.50 value) for all fuel purchases over 50 gallons. This will replace the ‘Free Drink Credit’ that you would have received with your Frequent Fueler Card.

Notice where it says it's temporary, and then later on it says a very open-ended date of "until further notice". I think "until further notice" means "until we merge the two programs into the Pilot Driver Payback program". <snort> The "Bonus!" makes no effort to deal with the 1/2 drink or 1/2 shower credit that van drivers need. I may be wrong, but I think this is a sign of things to come, where it's 50 gallons a whack or nothing when it comes to showers and drinks, and the new Pilot will make little or no effort to accommodate vans and those who are unable to squeeze 50 gallons a pop into their tanks.

How's that TA UltraOne program looking to ya now?



Note: this is the technology upgrade schedule.
All Flying J loyalty programs will operate as usual at
these locations until their effective date.
After the effective date, only Pilot Driver Payback cards
will be accepted in these locations until further notice.

Here's the link to the above table in PDF format for future reference. I'm sure it will change as the new Effective Dates get added.

 

[Dakota]

Another reason to go to the mom n pop truck stops who appreciate your business and not some corporate giant that could care less if you stop there or not.

 

[skyraider]

Ok,,we need to start posting the smaller stations to refuel at, the last one I was at was the Hilltop shell station at Alma ar, showers were 6 bucks for cvans, they do have a fuel card, but i did not get one, dont think it was for cvs, but the folks were nice, the food was good and lots of room for st trks and 18 wheelers and cvs. I ask permission to park there they said ok, dont think they know about cv ers.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Lets give Pilot a chance ..they have bigger issues at hand then a few CV's...they did say they'd do something....ya know before we all jump off a cliff or sumptin...*LOL*

 

[Turtle]

No, not jumpin' off a cliff, but other than keeping the lounges and a few other things, everything points to things being done "the Pilot way". The RV dump, that's a Pilot thing. They took out the fuel desk at Black River Falls, a Pilot thing.

At the above Flying J's, you can go to the fuel desk and get a Pilot Driver Payback card. Instead of telling people the Flying J loyalty cards will soon be honored again, they're converting everyone to Pilot cards. That's all Flying J loyalty cards, too. The Frequent Fueler card for truckers, as well as the the R.V. Real Value Club cards for RVers and the Rewards Clubs cards for seniors and locals.

"Pilot and Flying J programs will remain separate programs for now, but we will merge these programs in the future.​"

Didn't take long for the future to arrive at some Flying J locations, huh.

They've still got it where it says, "[FONT=&quot]In the future we plan to merge these programs to offer our customers more choices and flexibility." So I'm still holding out hope for more choices, not less (the above 44 locations notwithstanding).

Two things irk me most, and it a result of the Pilot "thinking", doing things "the Pilot way". One is, "Due to technology upgrades," which is a meaningless phrase. Putting new pumps in that don't recognize the current loyalty program is not a technology upgrade, it's converting things to "the Pilot way".

The other is the neat keen super cool and groovy 150 point Bonus! you get for each 50 gallon purchase, to make up for that free drink you won't be getting with the Pilot card. The folks at Pilot know dаmn good and well how the 1/2 shower and drink credit works, and they made no attempt whatsoever to factor that into these technology "upgrades". Their attitude towards expedite cargo vanners and RVer's is, "Screw 'em, they can adapt to " 'the Pilot way' ".

That might not be their attitude towards expediters, but it sure fits with how they've operated up to this point. At the very least, if it's not, they should come up with a little better explanation and some information on what's going on. They may come around and come out with a decent program, but in the meantime the TA has gone out of their way to accommodate us.

[/FONT]

 

[OntarioVanMan]

And it took TA awhile to come around as well....they fudged and fudged.....they also knew....we had to drag them kicking and screaming to accommodate us CV's...

 

[Turtle]

We cargo van expediters may be a very small segment of the trucking industry, but we're a vocal one.


One problem with the Pilot Driver Payback card is, it's not registered to an individual (so if you lose the card all your points go with it), but the Flying J card is registered to you. If you're a privacy freak, that's a good thing with the Pilot card, but if they come out with a merged program that's not registered, as in they can't track who uses it, they won't know if vanners are using their program or not, and they won't see any need for a 1/2 credit program.

The TA, on the other hand, tracks usage of the cards, so the UltraOne Expediter card will let them know right quick whether or not the program is appreciated by us and successful for them. The old adage of "use it or lose it" comes to mind.

 

[Falligator]

What a bummer the very reason I am going to team with someone in a straight truck. The van is going to be obsolete soon.

 

[skyraider]

What a bummer the very reason I am going to team with someone in a straight truck. The van is going to be obsolete soon.

My company 4 got to tell me that,,,well go sell my 2morrow. Thanks for the info, I will forward it to bolt and panther.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Well now...tried at the Petro at E 167 on I75....guess what? their computers are not even set-up with TA yet....and it is going to be a royal pain for gassers as well...till they work out the bugs...

 

[Jack_Berry]

What a bummer the very reason I am going to team with someone in a straight truck. The van is going to be obsolete soon.

so what kind of strt are you and moot going to buy? dakota is partial to his hino

 

[Dakota]

dakota is done with his hino

Fixed it for ya

 

[MissKat]

Pilot wouldn't take my Transportation Alliance Bank Frequent Fueler Mastercard today. Not a good sign.

Kat

 

[highway star]

Pilot wouldn't take my Transportation Alliance Bank Frequent Fueler Mastercard today. Not a good sign.

Kat

I've had the cashier hand mine back thinking I had just given them the wrong card for points. I point out that it's a debit card and then it's all good. I used mine over the weekend at a Pilot with no problem.

 

[Shaun31]

Was said at the Flying J in Ruther Ford, VA that they will be taking the Flying J FF again starting Sept 1st. Only thing right now I hate that I can not use my Flying J Money Card. I also can't use it at any Pilots. Not too happy about that.

 

[highway star]

I used my FF Money Card at the Pilot in Waynesville, N.C. Monday night.

 

[Shaun31]

The cashiers at Pilot know how to bypass it. Well some do. It shows up as a corporate card in their systems. But according to Flying J they will be taking the FF cards again Sept 1st. Guess wait and see.