register rewards (RR) are coupons from the Catalina machine that print after you make a qualifying purchase. RRs are savings which can be used "like cash" on your next order. (Sometimes you may receive a Catalina for $ off a particular item or an advertisement for an rr deal.)
buy the exact items advertised to receive rr. using coupons on these items should not affect whether your rr prints. unfortunately, it seems that a few stores have their registers programmed so that rr will not print if coupons are used - but if this is true, it is very rare.
If you complete more than one register rewards deal in one transaction, one reward for each different RR deal should print. but you will not receive more than one rr for the same deal.
if you purchased the right items and didn't get rr, you can return the items on the spot or call the catalina company @ 888-322-3814. have your receipt in front of you, they need some info from it, and they'll be able to see if the machine was working and if you bought the right products. It does tend to take a few minutes for the call, and then you have to wait to get the RR, which takes 6 - 8 weeks.
generally, you can use your rr like cash on your next purchase. but of course there are exceptions.
Most RRs explicitly say that they can not be used on tobacco, alcohol, tax, lottery tickets, money orders, stamps, dairy, or any gift cards or pre-paid cards. however, some stores still allow rr's to be used on some of these items, so ymmv.
as stated in the fine print, you cannot use more RRs and manufacturer coupons than number of items you are buying. as long as you are buying as many items as you have rr & manufacturer coupons, you should be able to use more than one rr. store coupons do not affect how many manufacturer and rr's you can use.
You cannot "roll" rr's into the same deal 99% of the time. for example, if you use an RR from Kellogg's to purchase more Kellogg's items, you will NOT get another RR. the best way to "roll" is to use your Kelloggs RR to complete a different rr deal. You can then use the RRs from the 2nd deal, to purchase more Kelloggs.
if you are using a manufacturer's coupon and a wags coupon on the same item and hoping for overage towards your other items, give the manufacturer's coupon first. a manufacturer's coupon will be rejected by the register if it is over the cost of the item, but a wags coupon will go through.
for example:
the incorrect order...
deodorant $1.99
-$1 in-ad coupon (wags coupon)
=$.99
-$1 manufacturer's coupon - will beep and register will not accept it because it is over $.99!
but if you give the cashier the manufacturer's coupon 1st...
deodorant $1.99
-$1 manufacturer's coupon
=$.99
-$1 in-ad coupon (wags coupon) - will not beep
=-$.01 (of course you will need another item or tax on your transaction for the penny to apply to)
the registers will not accept more manufacturer coupons/rr than items. so if want to use rr, but already have a manufacturer's coupon for each item, you can add a small "filler" item for each rr. use the cheapest items you can find (single pencils are good.)
this program ended in april 2009
more info here
