How To Get More Points On Fetch Rewards

Ibotta is considered by many to be the best grocery rebate app, but you're missing out if you haven't tried Fetch Rewards.

Since I first downloaded Fetch Rewards in January 2018 and started uploading my grocery receipts every week, I've redeemed my points for more than $1,000 in Amazon gift cards.

Before I share my personal strategy for using Fetch Rewards, here's an overview of the shopping app and how it works:

What Is Fetch Rewards and How Does It Work? Fast Facts

What Is Fetch Rewards?: Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Fetch Rewards is a fast-growing consumer loyalty app. In April 2021, Fetch Rewards marked a milestone of one billion receipts scanned.

How Does Fetch Rewards Work?: When you upload retail receipts through the Fetch Rewards app, you'll be awarded points that can be used to redeem free gift cards.

How Does Fetch Rewards Make Money?: Fetch Rewards is free to users. It makes money from contracts with major companies that are featured in the app, including KraftHeinz and PepsiCo.

What Stores Does Fetch Rewards Work With?: Fetch Rewards doesn't care where you shop and accepts receipts from any store. App users frequently upload receipts from retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Target, CVS, Publix and Dollar General.

Is Fetch Rewards Legit?: Fetch Rewards is a legitimate shopping app that awards users with free gift cards for uploading retail receipts. As of August 2021, it has a 4.8/5 star rating in the App Store and a 4.6/5 star rating in the Google Play Store.

Is Fetch Rewards Better Than Ibotta?: Fetch Rewards is easier to use than Ibotta and takes less time. However, Ibotta has a better welcome bonus, more ways to earn and flexible redemption options. (Full comparison here)

This Fetch Rewards app review includes the strategy that I use to earn the most points. Read on to learn everything you need to know before you sign up for Fetch Rewards in 2021!

Get 2,000 Points Just For Signing Up
Fetch Rewards Doesn't Care Where You Shop
1,000 Points = $1 Value
Uploading a Receipt Takes 10 Seconds
There are 5 Main Ways to Earn Points
Electronic Receipts Are Now Accepted
Upload Your Receipts to Multiple Apps
Redeem Your Points for Gift Cards
Use Your Gift Cards Promptly
Refer Your Family and Friends
Pros and Cons Summary
Frequently Asked Questions

Fetch Rewards gives new users 2,000 points ($2 value) when they sign up with a referral code. To get started, download the app directly from the App Store or the Google Play Store.

Then, enter referral code MICHAEL before you scan your first receipt to collect your 2,000-point welcome bonus.

Use referral code MICHAEL before scanning your first Fetch Reward receipt for a 2,000-point bonus.

You can sign up for Fetch Rewards in less than two minutes with an email address or an existing Google or Facebook account. You'll be asked to enter your phone number, state of residence and your birthday.

During the sign-up process, create a strong password to keep your Fetch Rewards account safe and secure.

Fetch Rewards recommends creating a password that's at least 12 characters long and includes at least one capital letter, one number and one special character.

Here are three things to know about Fetch Rewards and its security features.

2. Fetch Rewards Doesn't Care Where You Shop

Fetch Rewards works with all major grocery retailers. It doesn't care whether you're loyal to Walmart, Trader Joe's, Aldi, Whole Foods or a regional supermarket chain.

In addition to your grocery receipts, the Fetch app now accepts receipts from any retailer where you dine or shop.

3. 1,000 Points = $1 Value

Every 1,000 points that you earn through Fetch Rewards is typically equal to a dollar. You can redeem your points for a gift card starting at 3,000 points.

I'll have more on the best gift card redemption options later on in this article.

4. Uploading a Receipt Takes 10 Seconds

The main reason why I recommend Fetch Rewards is because it's so much easier to use than Ibotta.

With Fetch Rewards, all you have to do is upload your receipt to the app and you'll receive points immediately. There are no barcodes to scan or offers that need to be unlocked.

However, receipts must be scanned within 14 days of the checkout date, and you can only scan 35 receipts over a 7-day period.

It normally takes about 10 seconds to snap a photo of a receipt and upload it to the Fetch Rewards app. I demonstrate how this works in the short YouTube video below:

5. There Are 5 Main Ways to Earn Points

To earn points faster with Fetch Rewards, you want to focus on the Special Offers featured on the Discover tab when you open the app. That's the best way to increase your points balance.

Here are the five main ways to earn points with Fetch Rewards:

Special Offers

There are usually several dozen Special Offers available from the Fetch Rewards app at any given time. Simply upload a receipt with a participating item and you'll receive bonus points.

This is an easy way to score a quick 1,000 to 5,000 points, which is equal to $1 to $5.

One recurring offer is for the GoodRx prescription savings program.

When you show your pharmacist the digital GoodRx card from the Fetch app, you'll save on your prescription and get at least 1,500 Fetch Rewards points every time.

I have a separate review and walkthrough of this p artnership here.

Participating Brands

Another way to earn points with Fetch Rewards is by purchasing select name brand products. Fetch partners with more than 300 brands, so this is a simple way to earn points for things that you already buy.

I normally don't plan my purchases based on these brands, but you can find a list of them at the top of the Discover tab.

Access Fetch Rewards participating brands from the Discover tab

It's hard to say how many points you'll earn by shopping from the list of participating brands. Sometimes it's 100 or 200 points, but other times I've only received 50 points per item.

Groceries From Any Store

If you don't buy a lot of products from major national brands, you can still earn points with Fetch Rewards. When you shop at any of the following stores, you'll earn at least 25 points per receipt:

Grocery retailers
Supermarkets
Club stores
Home improvement and hardware stores
Pet stores
Liquor stores
Convenience stores
Gas station receipts (from the inside register)

Of course, 25 points is just the minimum. You'll earn more if your receipt has a Special Offer or a participating brand item.

All Other Retail Receipts

You can also earn points with Fetch Rewards when you upload shopping or dining receipts from any other retailers. These receipts used to get as few as five points, but the minimum was increased to 25 points in June 2021.

Huggies Rewards+ Fetch

The final way to earn points is through the Huggies Rewards+ Fetch program. Fetch Rewards users who opt-in to this program can earn bonus points when they buy diapers.

For example, $150 in eligible Huggies purchases will earn you 5,000 Fetch Rewards points.

The points that you earn from the Huggies program are in addition to any base points or Special Offers that you may qualify for with Fetch Rewards.

I have a separate article that explains how Huggies Rewards+ Fetch works.

6. Electronic Receipts Are Now Accepted

If you do a lot of shopping online, Fetch Rewards has launched its Digital Receipt Program called eReceipts.

To participate, you must connect your Amazon or email account to earn points for online purchases. Participating retailers include Walmart, Target, Shipt, Costco, Instacart and many others.

Every time you tap the blue eReceipt button from the app, Fetch will scan your account for digital receipts.

I tested the eReceipt program to update this review, but I disconnected it because I wasn't 100% comfortable with Fetch Rewards snooping through my email.

Learn more about the eReceipts program and how it works here.

7. Upload Your Receipts to Multiple Apps

Fetch Rewards is one of only two grocery rebate apps that I use. The other is Ibotta.

Fortunately, you can upload the same receipt to Fetch Rewards and Ibotta or other shopping apps. In some cases, the Fetch and Ibotta apps feature offers for the exact same items.

This is a great way to stack your earnings. You can take it even further by clipping digital or paper coupons.

IMPORTANT: Although you can upload the same grocery receipt to different apps, you never want to upload the same receipt to Fetch Rewards twice. That's a violation of the terms and conditions.

8. Redeem Your Points for Gift Cards

Fetch Rewards allows you to request a gift card starting at 3,000 points, which is equivalent to $3. However, there are more gift card options if you wait until you reach 10,000 or 25,000 points.

Here are some of the popular gift card redemption options:

Amazon
American Cancer Society
Best Buy
Delta
Hotels.com
Hulu
Marshalls & T.J Maxx
Southwest
Target
The Home Depot
Uber
Visa Prepaid
Walmart
Whole Foods Market

Fetch Rewards gift card redemption starts at 3,000 points

Unlike Ibotta, cash back is not an option with Fetch Rewards. However, a Visa Prepaid card is available.

After selecting a reward to redeem, Fetch Rewards will text and email you a 4-digit security code. You must enter this code to validate your reward.

After your identity is verified, your electronic gift card will be available through the app.

Fetch Rewards says it can take up to three days for you to receive your gift card, but typically rewards are available to use immediately after redemption.

9. Use Your Gift Cards Promptly

When you've earned enough points for a $10 or $25 gift card, that's the best time to redeem because there are plenty of gift card options available.

I do not recommend that you keep a large balance with Fetch Rewards or any shopping app.

Although my Fetch Rewards account has never been hacked and I follow the password recommendations, there's no way to 100% guarantee that my points will always be there.

Think about it this way: Your bank deposits are FDIC-insured, but your Fetch points are not.

My advice is to earn your points, redeem them when you reach $10 or $25 and use the gift cards quickly before you forget that you have them!

10. Refer Your Family and Friends

If you get started with Fetch Rewards and enjoy the app, you can score extra points by recommending it to your family and friends. Click on the Me tab from the app to find your referral code. Mine is MICHAEL.

You can earn 2,000 points for every friend who signs up and scans at least one receipt with the app.

Pros and Cons of Fetch Rewards

Pros	Cons
2,000 point sign-up bonus with referral code MICHAEL	Fewer offers than Ibotta and Checkout 51
Easy to use: No offers to unlock or barcodes to scan	Limited points awarded for receipts with no Special Offers
Takes 10 seconds to upload a receipt	No cash back redemption option
Gift cards delivered quickly after redemption

If you're already earning cash back with Ibotta, adding Fetch Rewards to the mix makes a lot of sense. I still earn a lot more with Ibotta, but the Fetch app is faster and easier to use.

To get free gift cards with Fetch Rewards on a regular basis, take advantage of Special Offers as much as possible.

If you don't scan receipts with those Special Offers or participating brand items, Fetch Rewards may not be worth it for you. Your balance will increase by only 25 points per grocery receipt.

Good luck with the app and feel free to add to my Fetch Rewards review in the comments below!

To get started, download Fetch Rewards from the App Store or the Google Play Store and use referral code MICHAEL.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if I don't get my points?: Find the submitted receipt, tap "Correct my Receipt" and follow the prompts.Here's my step-by-step guide.

Do my points expire?: If your account is inactive for 90 days, your points will expire. Gift cards that you've already redeemed should not expire, but check the retailer's terms and conditions to be sure.

How many receipts can I upload?:Over a rolling 7-day period, you can upload up to 35 receipts.

Is there a time limit for submitting receipts?: Receipts must be scanned within 14 days of the checkout date.

Can long receipts be processed?: Yes, you can submit more than four images for a single receipt.

Why did I receive a Fetch Reward security audit?:On occasion, your account may be subjected to a temporary security audit. This is an additional security measure. If you can't log in for more than 48 hours, email support@fetchrewards.com.

What do I do if the Fetch app is slow or crashing?Clear your cache, check your storage and uninstall and reinstall the app. See this step-by-step guide with pictures.

How do I contact Fetch Rewards?: The easiest way to contact Fetch Rewards is through the Help Center in the app. If you're unable to access your account, email support@fetchrewards.com. There is no phone number available for Fetch Rewards customer service.