Bought 2K worth of $500 visa cards and it credited my account with fuel points. I thought only fixed GC earn fuel points.

The standard US Bank VGC?

Has to be, Kroger doesn't sell fixed point $500 gebits. Unless they actually bought a $500 gift card to a different store.

I just purchased a third party $50 with a $50 Kroger gift card purchased from the gas station. Going to ramp it up to a couple hundred at a time using the self checkout. I believe $250 is the point where they have to get someone involved. Also got fuel points on the third-party end of the transaction.

I just bought a Variable US Bank Visa at Smiths here in Utah. I put $475 on it and i did not get any fuel points.

Just my data point based on the post earlier today.

Confirmed tonight that Fry's fuel station CSRs CAN reload Kroger GCs, even though the fuel stations here do not sell any type of GC. It's 50/50 on whether the CSR knows how to do it (between stores and shifts, 2 CSRs were willing/able to do it and 2 claimed they couldn't do it). It shows up as "FUEL G/C RELOAD" even though these are normal Kroger GCs, usable in the store as well as the fuel station. I did a balance check afterwards which confirmed the reload.

Hopefully I'll be able to use the receipt from this successful load to prove to other CSRs that it's possible and get them to try to figure it out.

Yes. Loaded 4 with $500 and got $2.00 off . $1 per fill up. Weird. never happened before so this must be a glitch.

Double bonus...fuel points and a Kroger that still lets you get more than $2k of cards including fees!

What did the package look like?

4x points this coming weekend w/ digital coupon.

Answering my own question: $500.00 worked, $1,000.00 didn't (I saw the failure message on the CSR's screen). The CSR said the limit was $1,000, but since that didn't work, either the limit is actually $999.99 (i.e. the limit is "$1,000 or more" and not "more than $1,000") or the CSR was mistaken. I will continue to experiment.

Another possibility is, the Kroger GC I was reloading had a few cents on it; is there a maximum value for Kroger GCs? Would it happen to be $1,000?

I experimented tonight at Fry's and can answer this. Most likely*, the maximum Kroger GC reload in a single transaction at the fuel station is $500.00. (Methodology: A $520.00 reload did not work. A $500.00 reload did. Note that neither of these numbers would have brought the GC value to $1,000.00 or more, or even close to that, as described in the next paragraph. I do not know if these limits also apply to in-store Kroger GC reload transactions.)

* Technically, the limit could be somewhere between $500.01 and $520.00. I did not test with the most precise level of granularity. In practice, anything besides the even $500.00 would be a strange limit, so it can be inferred that the limit is most likely $500.00. (That is, a $500.00 transaction works, but I expect that a $500.01 transaction will not.)

These limits most likely apply at all Kroger (and associated brand) stores, but I can only confirm with regard to Fry's specifically.

Most likely*, the maximum value for a Kroger GC is $1,000.00. (Methodology: my GC had a balance of about $855. A $150 reload, which would have brought the balance to over $1,000.00, failed. A $145 reload, which brought the balance to $999 and change, worked.)

* As above, the limit could technically be somewhere between $999.x and $1004.x. Once again, it can be inferred that the limit is most likely exactly $1,000.00.

When you use the GC inside for over $500 (per a frontend manager), an override is required. I prefer to minimize the amount of friction, so if you can find a manager at CS or working a register (they sometimes are), it's best to go there. If you can't find one, it's a good idea to inform the cashier upfront of what you are doing and ask them to call a manager (to avoid holding up the line more than necessary). There is no reason to try to hide the use of a Kroger GC; the managers who have helped me are aware that a Kroger GC can be used to buy a VGC, and if anyone questions that, point to the terms on the back of the Kroger GC which only prohibit Kroger Co. gift cards.

So let me get this straight,

You go buy a $10 kroger gift card from in store. Go out to the gas station and have them add $490, then $500, to get to the 1k limit.

Doing this nets you 1k in gas points (or 4k this weekend)? Or are you just using it as a way to get gas bonuses (like Ink 2x or Amex BCP 3% or PenFed 5x)? EDIT: Or both?

You then go in and buy two $500 Gebits and incur the $11.90 fee?

Then you can just go out and reload 2x$500 and repeat the process?

That's only partially correct. Kroger points (fuel) are not earned on variable GC or Kroger GC. They are earned when you drain the GC buying fixed value cards or other retail GC. The best and simplest way to do this is to simply buy a Kroger $200 gift card directly from the gas station (They stock the actual store cards inside the gas station cubicle) using a chase freedom (5x points right now) or ink (2x) and then go inside and get 2 fixed value $100 cards (fixed value earnes rewards). Go through self checkout and swipe your two cards and the total will be 211.90. Pay 200 with the Kroger GC you got and the the remaining 11.90 fee with anything else. You should get 800 pts which is $28 saved on 35ga - although actually a little less at $16.10 after subtracting the fees...but still worth it to me.
Repeat tomorrow if so desired.

You can also do those 50 point surveys to reach 1000 points. If you earn 990 points, you basically have wasted 90 points because Kroger rounds down when redeeming points.