Speedway: Rewards & Shopping

Review by eFreeware

If you fill up at the same station every week, you already know the small stuff adds up: a few cents off a gallon, a free coffee after a run of them, a coupon you forgot you had. The trouble is keeping track of it all. Speedway, from 7-Eleven, Inc., is the official app for the Speedway and Speedy Rewards programs, and it exists to put that earning and redeeming in one place.

The pitch is straightforward. Members earn points on the fuel and merchandise they were going to buy anyway, then turn those points into coupons or gas discounts. Nothing here reinvents the loyalty card; it moves it onto your phone and adds a few things a plastic card can't do, like a station finder and home screen widgets.

I'll be upfront about what this review is and isn't. It's a read of what the developer says the app does, not a diary of my own stops at the pump. With that settled, there's a fair amount to unpack, because this isn't a single-purpose gas discount tool. It bundles a points program, a coupon clipper, two purchase clubs, a gift card and a store locator into one download.

Who gets the most from a rewards app like this

The people who benefit most are the ones already inside the Speedway ecosystem. If Speedway is your regular stop for gas, coffee or a quick sandwich, the app is essentially a second wallet for a program you're already in. The points accrue on purchases you'd make regardless, so the effort is mostly remembering to scan or pay through the app.

It also suits households that split their errands. One person might handle the grocery run that feeds fuel rewards, another the fill-ups. Because the program ties grocery spending at partner chains to gas savings, a household that shops at those chains and drives regularly has two ways to feed the same rewards balance.

Where it makes less sense is for someone who rarely passes a Speedway. The whole value sits in the network of stations and partner stores, and the app is built around that. It's also worth saying that this is a utility rather than entertainment: you open it when you're about to buy something, not to pass the time.

The store locator and gas price search do give it a second life for travelers, though. If you're driving an unfamiliar route and want to know where the next Speedway is, or which nearby station has the cheaper price, those tools work independently of whether you're deep into the points program.

Earning points and picking a monthly perk

The core mechanic is simple arithmetic. Those points accumulate in your Speedy Rewards account, and each month you can also pick up bonus point offers on select items, which is the kind of thing that rewards paying attention to the app before you shop rather than after.

The Monthly Perk is the part I'd expect most members to use first. Each month you choose either a merchandise perk or a fuel perk, and once you make a qualifying purchase the reward is applied automatically. The appeal is that it's a decision you make once a month rather than a coupon you have to remember to clip at the register. New perks appear each month, so the choice refreshes on a schedule.

There's also a Fuel Trip Builder that the developer describes as stacking an extra 15 cents per gallon off once you hit 50 gallons. That's a longer-horizon reward than a single fill-up, and it's the sort of feature that rewards consistency over a month rather than a one-off stop.

Points themselves aren't locked to one outcome. Points can go toward merchandise, cover select in-store purchases, or be swapped for a coupon. There's also a monthly sweepstakes you can enter with points, which gives the balance a third destination beyond the shelf and the pump.

Coupons, clubs and the gift card

Speedy Deals are the app-only coupons you clip inside the app, covering things like pizza, beer, wine and coffee. These offers are exclusive to the app, a common way for loyalty programs to push people toward the phone rather than the paper circular. If you buy any of those categories regularly, checking the deals before a stop is the habit the app is designed to build.

The two clubs work on a punch-card logic. Buy any six coffee, fountain, Speedy Freeze, tea or specialty drinks and you receive a reward of your choice. The Car Wash Club works the same way: six washes earns a coupon for the seventh free. Both are the kind of offer that only pays off if you're already a repeat buyer, but for a daily coffee drinker or someone who washes their car on a schedule, the math is easy.

Speedy Cash is the financial side. You can buy and reload the Speedy Cash Gift Card from inside the app, and the card can be used on Speedway purchases, with the developer noting that restricted items are excluded. Buying and reloading in the app is pitched as a way to make stops faster, which is really about not fumbling for a card at the counter.

That's a thoughtful touch for anyone who doesn't want to open an app just to pull up a barcode.

Finding a station and cheaper gas

A store locator shows the nearest Speedway location and filters results by amenities like car wash, ATM and diesel. That filtering is more useful than it sounds. If you need diesel or a car wash on a specific trip, knowing before you pull in saves a detour.

Gas Price Search also points you toward a nearby station with cheaper fuel. Combined with the fuel perks, this is where the app overlaps with the general-purpose price comparison tools people keep on their phones. The difference is that here the price search sits alongside your rewards balance, so you can weigh a cheaper station against the points you'd earn at a Speedway.

Fuel rewards also extend beyond the forecourt. For households that already shop at those chains, this is effectively a second earning stream that has nothing to do with how much you drive.

What it costs

The app is free to download and use. There are no ads, and there are no in-app purchases.

That doesn't make the program costless, of course. Points and perks are earned by buying fuel and merchandise, and the Speedy Cash Gift Card is money you load onto it. The value comes back as coupons, discounts and free items rather than as cash, so the return depends on how much you'd spend at Speedway anyway.

It doesn't change the mechanics, but it's the kind of detail that's easy to miss when you're downloading something that looks like a shopping tool.

How it compares with other ways to save at the pump

The obvious alternative is the loyalty program attached to whichever fuel brand you already use. Most major chains run something similar, and the deciding factor is usually which station is on your regular route rather than which app is better built. If you're already a Speedway customer, this is the one that matches your purchases.

A second option is a generic gas price app. Those are useful for finding the cheapest station in an unfamiliar area, but they don't carry a points balance, coupons or clubs. Speedway folds a price search into a rewards program, so the trade-off is breadth of stations against depth of rewards at one brand.

Then there's the paper-and-plastic approach: a rewards card in your wallet and coupons from the store. That still works, and some people prefer not to add another app. What the app adds is the ability to clip deals in advance, track clubs and perks, and pull up your card from a widget rather than digging through a wallet.

Finally, there's the grocery route. If your supermarket runs its own fuel points scheme, you may already be earning discounts at a station of your choice. Speedway's answer is to partner with specific grocery chains, so the two approaches can overlap depending on where you shop.

A rewards app that earns its space on your phone

Speedway is a well-scoped loyalty app rather than a sprawling one. It does four things: earn points, redeem them, clip deals and find a station. The Monthly Perk and the two clubs give it a rhythm that rewards checking in regularly, and the widgets mean you don't have to open it just to show your card.

The case for installing it is strongest for people who already stop at Speedway often enough that points accumulate without effort. If that's you, the app is basically free infrastructure for a program you're in anyway, and the grocery partner rewards widen the earning beyond the forecourt.

If Speedway is an occasional stop rather than a habit, the app will still work, but the perks and clubs are built around repeat purchases, so the returns arrive more slowly. That's not a flaw so much as the nature of loyalty programs. With over 5 million installs and a 4.9 average across more than 143,000 ratings, plenty of members have decided the math works for them.

My recommendation is simple: if Speedway is on your regular route and you buy fuel or drinks there more than once in a while, install it, pick a Monthly Perk and start clipping the app-only deals. If you rarely pass a Speedway, there's little here that will change your habits.

What's new in version 7.2608.0

Level up your fuel savings with Fuel Trip Builder - stack an extra 15¢/gal off after you hit 50 gallons. Unlock your exclusive September Monthly Perk! Choose between earning 200 Points when you buy any canned Celsius, earning 100 Points on a hot or cold sandwich, or earning 2X Points on Fuel Purchases. Pick your perk and start earning today. Enjoying the Speedway app? Drop us a review! Your feedback helps us make the experience even better.