Flying J frustrations - Alternatives?

[RRinNFla]

We’ve always preferred Flying J when traveling on interstate highways. I made the effort to get the RV Plus card which is easy to pay and gives me 6 cents per gallon discount. On our recent 4000 mile trip I was extremely disappointed with them.

We tow a 32 foot fifth wheel and have a gasoline powered truck. The RV lanes are the main reason we go there.

At least half of the pumps had burned out screens so I had to pay inside, usually waiting in a long line competing with the pizza customers for a cashier. The cashiers had no idea how to handle the RV Plus card.

At one station, someone had run into a pump and all pumps were shut down. Obviously not the stations fault, however they could have put signs up or orange cones to let you know not to bother tryin to use those lanes.

At another Flying J brand station there were no RV lanes for gasoline and the remaining pumps were at a awkward angle and very tightly spaced.

Probably the most frustrating was at Lake Park, GA, I75 exit 2. On the way out the card readers did not work at the RV lane. On the return, 4 weeks later, the card readers still did not work. I guess they are hoping the gas pump repair fairy will stop by some night.

I try to top off the truck when unhitched. I have learned to visually assess whether I can make the tight turns at regular gas stations. I have even backed out of stations while towing, but I love RV lanes.

Is there a good alternative to Flying J?

[Cummins12V98]

hornet28 wrote:
I just shake my head at what some think is a long rig and it won't fit into a lot of stations. When I'm pulling my bumper pull car hauler with my crew cab I'm 60' long. Somehow I always get in and out of stations just fine. There as been a time or two that I had to back up but I don't get all out of whack for having to do it. I also don't unhook to get fuel. But then again, although I don't buy fuel at them, many times I also stay in truck stops right in amongst the semis.

Some RV lanes are fine but NOT all. I typically stick to the "BIG BOY" lanes especially when double towing as shown.

[dedmiston]

hornet28 wrote:
I just shake my head at what some think is a long rig and it won't fit into a lot of stations. When I'm pulling my bumper pull car hauler with my crew cab I'm 60' long. Somehow I always get in and out of stations just fine. There as been a time or two that I had to back up but I don't get all out of whack for having to do it. I also don't unhook to get fuel. But then again, although I don't buy fuel at them, many times I also stay in truck stops right in amongst the semis.

I'm more concerned about the height of the canopies. I've had to back out of a few stations after filling up.

There was one station in the Utah backroads where my AC units were a few inches taller than their lights. I pulled up to pump knowing that I'd be backing out when I was done. The poor attendant ran out and started yelling "Not again!!!!" At least we gave him something to talk about.

[Dutch_12078]

Gdetrailer wrote:


I don't make a simple gas station fuel stop a "destination" stop to grouse around.

Get fuel, pay for it at the pump then exit the station, no need for "parking".

But obviously many folks apparently do :h

We appreciate the designated RV parking lanes when we refuel and want to eat in the Denny's, etc, restaurants located at many FJ travel centers.

[hornet28]

I just shake my head at what some think is a long rig and it won't fit into a lot of stations. When I'm pulling my bumper pull car hauler with my crew cab I'm 60' long. Somehow I always get in and out of stations just fine. There as been a time or two that I had to back up but I don't get all out of whack for having to do it. I also don't unhook to get fuel. But then again, although I don't buy fuel at them, many times I also stay in truck stops right in amongst the semis.

[Gdetrailer]

dedmiston wrote:

Seattle Steve wrote:
Obviously the point is that if you try hard enough, you can take a relatively simple task and make it extremely cumbersome.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't understand what you're saying unless you include at least twelve paragraphs. 😉

I don't make a simple gas station fuel stop a "destination" stop to grouse around.

Get fuel, pay for it at the pump then exit the station, no need for "parking".

But obviously many folks apparently do :h

[Unobtanium]

TexasShadow wrote:
We are using a Loves discount card, or a walmart credit card that gives cash back reward.

My sister religiously drives an extra 10 miles further than required to the most expensive grocery store around, all so she can use their keyfob card spending an extra 25% on her food, then she saves $1.35 on a tank of fuel.

[dedmiston]

Seattle Steve wrote:
Obviously the point is that if you try hard enough, you can take a relatively simple task and make it extremely cumbersome.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't understand what you're saying unless you include at least twelve paragraphs. 😉

[Seattle_Steve]

Grit dog wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

RRinNFla wrote:
It’s not just a matter of the convenience of using the RV lane for fueling it’s also a matter of having a place to park after fueling. (One of my pet peeves is motorists who disappear after fueling while others are waiting in line)

I like the convenience of Flying J, and I am willing to pay a little extra for the convenience. I admit I was venting a little about bad service, but my main reason for posting was to see if other travelers might be aware of an equivalent setup to Flying J. So far I haven’t heard any.

Park, as in free "overnighting"?

If that is the case, truckstops are the last place to be as they tend to be busy (noisy) 24/7. We opt for gassing up at fuel places then move to other parking lots like WM..

This yr we used a Interstate rest stop which offered no services and instead of heading into the truck area we parked in the car section (while towing our TT)which was away from the big rigs, was a bit calmer and quieter than overnighting in WM..

Going inside to pay?

We don't any more, we used to pay with cash but finding fuel stations that do not require prepaying has gotten difficult.. So, we started to buy prepaid giftcards we bough at home at a discount. The downside to gift cards was they only work at the fuel brand you bought them for.

To get around that, we started buying throw away VISA or Mastercard prepaid debit cards and use those in the pump reader. Downside to those cards is the upfront $2-$4 dollar fee when you buy and load them but keeps us from sticking our credit card into pump readers that may have been hacked.

Park, as in going inside to browse the store?

We don't go to gas stations to browse around their store offerings, they provide a "convenience" to the customer by offering food and trinkets but at a higher cost than if you went to a grocery store..

We buy and carry all of our snacks and drinks we need before leaving on our trips and buy additional snacks and drinks as needed at grocery stores.

As far as space goes, we pull a 26ft bumper pull TT, your 32ft 5th isn't that much longer than what our bumper pull is and we really have not had much trouble finding fuel stations large enough to allow use easy access.. It does take some thought before committing to pull in.

We also added a 15 gallon "landscaper tank" rated for gasoline a few yrs back that I can pump into the truck tank at any rest stop we make. Adds an additional 150 miles to our 34 gallon truck tank which gets about 340 miles. Basically gives us 49 gallons with 490 miles worth of range. Cut down on the amount of fuel stops we need to make.

Nice story! What was the point again?

Obviously the point is that if you try hard enough, you can take a relatively simple task and make it extremely cumbersome.

[Grit_dog]

Gdetrailer wrote:

RRinNFla wrote:
It’s not just a matter of the convenience of using the RV lane for fueling it’s also a matter of having a place to park after fueling. (One of my pet peeves is motorists who disappear after fueling while others are waiting in line)

I like the convenience of Flying J, and I am willing to pay a little extra for the convenience. I admit I was venting a little about bad service, but my main reason for posting was to see if other travelers might be aware of an equivalent setup to Flying J. So far I haven’t heard any.

Park, as in free "overnighting"?

If that is the case, truckstops are the last place to be as they tend to be busy (noisy) 24/7. We opt for gassing up at fuel places then move to other parking lots like WM..

This yr we used a Interstate rest stop which offered no services and instead of heading into the truck area we parked in the car section (while towing our TT)which was away from the big rigs, was a bit calmer and quieter than overnighting in WM..

Going inside to pay?

We don't any more, we used to pay with cash but finding fuel stations that do not require prepaying has gotten difficult.. So, we started to buy prepaid giftcards we bough at home at a discount. The downside to gift cards was they only work at the fuel brand you bought them for.

To get around that, we started buying throw away VISA or Mastercard prepaid debit cards and use those in the pump reader. Downside to those cards is the upfront $2-$4 dollar fee when you buy and load them but keeps us from sticking our credit card into pump readers that may have been hacked.

Park, as in going inside to browse the store?

We don't go to gas stations to browse around their store offerings, they provide a "convenience" to the customer by offering food and trinkets but at a higher cost than if you went to a grocery store..

We buy and carry all of our snacks and drinks we need before leaving on our trips and buy additional snacks and drinks as needed at grocery stores.

As far as space goes, we pull a 26ft bumper pull TT, your 32ft 5th isn't that much longer than what our bumper pull is and we really have not had much trouble finding fuel stations large enough to allow use easy access.. It does take some thought before committing to pull in.

We also added a 15 gallon "landscaper tank" rated for gasoline a few yrs back that I can pump into the truck tank at any rest stop we make. Adds an additional 150 miles to our 34 gallon truck tank which gets about 340 miles. Basically gives us 49 gallons with 490 miles worth of range. Cut down on the amount of fuel stops we need to make.

Nice story! What was the point again?

[Gdetrailer]

RRinNFla wrote:
It’s not just a matter of the convenience of using the RV lane for fueling it’s also a matter of having a place to park after fueling. (One of my pet peeves is motorists who disappear after fueling while others are waiting in line)

I like the convenience of Flying J, and I am willing to pay a little extra for the convenience. I admit I was venting a little about bad service, but my main reason for posting was to see if other travelers might be aware of an equivalent setup to Flying J. So far I haven’t heard any.

Park, as in free "overnighting"?

If that is the case, truckstops are the last place to be as they tend to be busy (noisy) 24/7. We opt for gassing up at fuel places then move to other parking lots like WM..

This yr we used a Interstate rest stop which offered no services and instead of heading into the truck area we parked in the car section (while towing our TT)which was away from the big rigs, was a bit calmer and quieter than overnighting in WM..

Going inside to pay?

We don't any more, we used to pay with cash but finding fuel stations that do not require prepaying has gotten difficult.. So, we started to buy prepaid giftcards we bough at home at a discount. The downside to gift cards was they only work at the fuel brand you bought them for.

To get around that, we started buying throw away VISA or Mastercard prepaid debit cards and use those in the pump reader. Downside to those cards is the upfront $2-$4 dollar fee when you buy and load them but keeps us from sticking our credit card into pump readers that may have been hacked.

Park, as in going inside to browse the store?

We don't go to gas stations to browse around their store offerings, they provide a "convenience" to the customer by offering food and trinkets but at a higher cost than if you went to a grocery store..

We buy and carry all of our snacks and drinks we need before leaving on our trips and buy additional snacks and drinks as needed at grocery stores.

As far as space goes, we pull a 26ft bumper pull TT, your 32ft 5th isn't that much longer than what our bumper pull is and we really have not had much trouble finding fuel stations large enough to allow use easy access.. It does take some thought before committing to pull in.

We also added a 15 gallon "landscaper tank" rated for gasoline a few yrs back that I can pump into the truck tank at any rest stop we make. Adds an additional 150 miles to our 34 gallon truck tank which gets about 340 miles. Basically gives us 49 gallons with 490 miles worth of range. Cut down on the amount of fuel stops we need to make.

[MikeDupont]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

MikeDupont wrote:
fwiw, i recently saw that the Haslam family sold their stand alone Pilot stations and "will concentrate on their Pilot/Flying J stations".

The 38 locations around Knoxville that are being sold to Casey's General Stores are convenience stores, not truck stops/travel centers. The privately held company that operates them is wholly owned by the Haslam family and the sale will have no effect on the 750 PFJ travel centers owned by the Pilot Company that the Haslams own 50.1% of. Berkshire Hathaway and FJ Management (former Flying J) own the balance.

exactly right. i think i said the same thing. albeit with less detail. thanks for that.

[ferndaleflyer]

First thing I want to do is get out of the camp ground and go explore. Its like a parking lot to me. Can get gas while roaming

[Cummins12V98]

When I get to Camp the last thing I want to do is go back to town to fill up.

[Nv_Guy]

This is exactly why I invested in an in bed fuel tank. We get to the CG, unhook and buy reasonably priced fuel where I can pay at the pump without waiting in line or doing the back and forth walk.