Best Way to Pay for Gas in NM, Co. Utah ?

You asked about Colorado in your title. I've not seen this at all at stations in Colorado, where there's a discount/lower price for cash. There can be a lower price at Safeway or King Soopers/Kroger gas stations if you've got one of the loyalty cards and get a discount based on your grocery purchases. Combine that with an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card, a Discover IT card, a Barclays card, or others where you can get 3-5% cash back, and that's a decent discount. And there's always Sam's Club gas stations which are almost always the lowest around.

When travelling, I typically use GasBuddy to find the cheapest gas.

Out here in Washington State there are more and more stations that will ONLY give you the cash price when you plunk down real, folding cash.

It used to be that a DEBIT card was accepted the same as cash, no more. They want real money. We don't carry that much cash when traveling. We have a 52 gallon diesel tank so a fill up can eat up two Benjamins.

Safeway gas stations do consider a debit card as cash, Chevron stations want to see the green.

It's been my experience that the practice is not widely used in the mid west and is not legal in some states but those stations with multiple pricing structures in the mid west almost ALWAYS advertise only the cheaper of the two (and with no indication that it is a cash price only). For this reason I don't stop where they have duel pricing unless it's an accident and when accidents happen, I just drove out again. I WILL sometimes use duel pricing stations when they advertise clearly that the low price is cash only.

dalenoel wrote:
Using the Chase CC I get 3% on gas purchases or around 12 cents. With a 25 gallon tank 10 cents more for credit is only $2.50 per tank. not worth the trouble of driving and finding cheaper. Just my opinion not what you should do.

We feel the same way. Having to pay $200-$250 per day for fuel we really don't want to carry thousands in cash.

Using the Chase CC I get 3% on gas purchases or around 12 cents. With a 25 gallon tank 10 cents more for credit is only $2.50 per tank. not worth the trouble of driving and finding cheaper. Just my opinion not what you should do.

An arm and a leg.

It is kind of town by town. We have seen it in SD at one town but not in the next town. Also in some other states. Hate it.

Murphy (Walmart) currently has three prices. The cheapest is when you use their credit card. .15 cent discount. Second cheapest is when you use their gift cards. .03 cent discount. Highest price is when you pay cash or use anyone else's credit card. Full price.

I received a letter about the above prices and of course it's at "participating stations".

I'm originally from the Midwest, and lived in Florida for 17 years till I started fulltiming last January. I have seen the stations that play that game but they really don't seem that numerous. I see it more in the large truck stops. And those seem to post both prices up front on their signage. I don't see this problem at the national chains such as BP, Sinclair, Shell, etc at their in-town stations.

This year, I've come up from Florida to Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minn, and S. Dakota and really haven't seen too many places like that at all. I just don't see it as a large problem. I do use Murphy stations (Walmart) if possible and they have only one price.

Do you use the Gasbuddy app ? The prices listed show if they are cash-only or both cash and credit.

On edit. I just noticed you state Utah, Colorado, and NM in your title. Sorry, but I gotta tell ya - that ain't the midwest. I mean no offense to you or those states. My comments above still stand.

Tim

Road Runners wrote:
This happens all over the United States. It is a pain in the ass. And, some states, the stations will advertise a great diesel price and when you stop to fill up you find that, that price is for commercial trucks only.

We found this at Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland, OR. They have all of those billboards up advertising a very good diesel price. After you fill up and go inside to pay, you find out that they want to charge the trucking company for the fuel and then the company pays all of the road taxes.

There were other places to fuel up if you watch for them that were within two cents of Jubitz that included all of the taxes. Be aware of Jubitz - the billboards made no mention of the tax issue.

Usually the first place we'll look for diesel is to see if we can find a Sam's Club. Some of them are a little tight getting into with a 40'er, but I take care of getting it and Jeep fueled while she's in shopping so overall it saves time and money. Have only found two Costcos with diesel in (mid Arizona) but their stores are usually a lot busier than Sams, so it's harder to get a large MH into them.

Bill