Card Lock Stations

Great information on card locks but it sounds like they don't meet my basic requirement which is 5% cash back on my CC.

I get 5% cash back on all vehicles for gas and diesel including the truck lanes, US and Canada.

The only card lock that I'm aware where I get the 5% cash back using my CC is AFD in Western Canada. Unfortunately they don't have a lot of stations but I used them on the Alaska trip.

On occasion I've had a truck in front of me at the truck lanes but that is not a concern. I do avoid the RV lanes for some of the reasons posted above.

So would I lose the 5% cash back with the typical card lock?

adondo wrote:
You get a PDF file sent by email detailing every purchase. Location, time, date, type of fuel, grade of fuel, and other things I can't remember at the moment

Hmmmm...that sounds pretty slick! I'll have to check with Pioneer Fuel (my PP dealer) to see if that option is available to me!

sh410 wrote:
At the local card lock station, you don't get a receipt nor does the pump show how much the purchase was on the number of gallons you pumped.

You get a PDF file sent by email detailing every purchase. Location, time, date, type of fuel, grade of fuel, and other things I can't remember at the moment. And, besides, while I'm on vacation, I'd rather be sitting at home in the comfort of my own easy chair post-trip when I look at the final bill. It's better to get taken by ambulance to the local hospital and see doctors you're familiar with when you get that eminent heart attack, rather than right there at the pump 1,500 miles from home. :B :B :B

dave_smith wrote:
...RV'ing is clearly not a cheap activity so I just don't worry about saving a few cents per gallon - it's just not worth the hassle to drive around looking to save the equivalent of a bean burrito from Taco Bell on a tank of fuel...

Amen to THAT! I'm so spoiled now, that even when NOT in the motorhome, I get annoyed when I actually have to deal with a normal gas station with the other "John Q Public" and it's prepay silliness, etc. The price-difference-shoppers remind me of people who go to five different grocery stores to use various coupons and attend sales. The amount they save on canned foods is eaten up (pardon the pun) by fuel costs traipsing around town and the hassle of parking to "save" piddling amounts of money.

Even if I take on 100 gallons of diesel and pay an extra $10 (not that likely anyway) it's worth it to not have to cram in three credit cards, prepay, sit in line waiting for someone's abandoned car blocking the pump to get moved as they leisurely shop in the mart, or sit in line waiting behind six other RV's on a busy holiday weekend.

sh410 wrote:
At the local card lock station, you don't get a receipt nor does the pump show how much the purchase was on the number of gallons you pumped.

I have a stack of receipt's going back yrs but the ink on most have dissappeard but I also have printed copy's from the cardlock dealer's going back many yrs.Have to put card in the reader a second time to get receipt and hope there is enough paper on the roll's.

Let me add this:

5) I feel PP or other card-lock systems are more comfortable for people who accept the fact that fuel costs money & the gas companies are going to exact their pound of flesh no matter how much they try to convince you "they're on your side"! RVing is clearly not a cheap activity so I just don't worry about saving a few cents per gallon - it's just not worth the hassle to drive around looking to save the equivalent of a bean burrito from Taco Bell on a tank of fuel. PP prices their fuel competitively & closely follows the spot market...that's good enough for me! If you're uncomfortable with ceding that level of control perhaps buying from the chains is the way to go.

adondo wrote:
Another Pacific Pride user here.

Add me to the list of satisfied Pacific Pride customers! I second (third?) all these points adondo made & can add a few more:

1) Each month I get a detailed statement about 5 days prior to them withdrawing the $$$ from our checking account. It lists the dates, amount of fuel purchased, & cost based on their current prices (which fluctuate a lot BTW).

2) For the more anal travelers - which I am a card-carrying member - they calculate my MPG because I opted to require the mileage be entered when I fill up.

3) I used to faithfully print out a receipt every time I filled up to make sure "they weren't ripping me off" but in three years I've never found an error other than minor volume differences (the pump reads to 1/10 gal, but their electronic system is accurate to 1/100 gal). Now I just note the date, mileage & gals. purchased on a notepad for later entry into the MPG spreadsheet I keep for all our vehicles. Ok, maybe that's only slightly less anal...

4) You can't say enough about the convenience of being able to pump your own fuel in gas-backwards Oregon. Hard to believe there is actually another state (NJ) with this moronic law still on the books! Nuff said.

sh410 wrote:
At the local card lock station, you don't get a receipt nor does the pump show how much the purchase was on the number of gallons you pumped.

All of them I have been to does. You have to reinsert your card but it spits out a receipt showing how many gallons you bought.

Before I use PP, I call them and get the price for the station I am thinking about using. Can't call on the weekends because the office is closed but you can call on Friday, the price remains the same through the weekend.

At the local card lock station, you don't get a receipt nor does the pump show how much the purchase was on the number of gallons you pumped.

nevadanick wrote:
A bathroom shouldn't be an issue as you brought one with you.

True. :B

Then again, someone might have a TT like what I used to have - one with a slide that blocked the bathroom door. There was no getting in there unless the slide was partway run out.

Having "the runs" with that rig was something you wouldn't want to deal with.

As for bathrooms, if I'm traveling somewhere in just the Jeep, then it's nice to have one. I get fuel at card locks in the Jeep or car for the same reasons I listed.

A bathroom shouldnt be an issue as you brought one with you.