Gasoline Credit Cards

[miller2540]

I thought I was so smart when I got a BP Credit Card and earned fuel perks. It worked well for several years when we traveled in our motorhome east of the Mississippi. I earned many discounts and free tanks of gas. This winter we traveled from Ohio to Arizona and in my planning I figured we could get 25 free tanks of fuel with the perks we had saved. Since there was a great deal of snow when we left, we went straight south and then started west on I-10. Much to my suprise, I haven't seen a single BP since we crossed the Mississippi River. Is there another credit card out there that can earn fuel that will work all over the country? We plan to return to Arizona again next year and I would like to save on fuel. Your ideas will certainly be appreciated.

[pnichols]

ktmrfs wrote:
similar to the penfed visa I have,but it gives me the credit of 5% on gas purchases at the end of each month on my statement and like your visa isn't tied to any brand of gas.

Hmmmm .... :h

My 1%/3%/5% VISA card is a Penfed card, but I can only redeem it's point rewards using travel, gifts, or a VISA gift card they send me when I request it after points have built up. I called Penfed recently to confirm this - hoping they had maybe changed their policy on my Penfed card so that I could redeem my reward points by taking a credit to my account ... and they said no ... reward points redemption still cannot be done via a credit to my account.

I'm curious .... what 5%-on-gas Penfed credit card do you have that allows taking reward points as a credit to your account?

[ktmrfs]

Gjac wrote:
If fuel is $3/gal and your credit card gives you 4% cash back that is 12 cents/gal savings. If fuel ever gets back to $1/gal then the gas cards that give you 5 cents/gal off would be better. The real question is, are there any gas cards like Flying J, BP etc. that will give you both?

a combo of kroger gas and any credit card will. you will get $0.03/gallon of at a minimum along with your credit card rebate. Then $0.10/gallon off for every $100/month you spend at Kroger (Fred Meyer, Von's, Smiths' etc., any Kroger store) 35 gallon max.

the Kroger discount rolls for 3 months or more, and on occasion I've filled for near $1.00/gallon total cost.

[ktmrfs]

Gjac wrote:
If fuel is $3/gal and your credit card gives you 4% cash back that is 12 cents/gal savings. If fuel ever gets back to $1/gal then the gas cards that give you 5 cents/gal off would be better. The real question is, are there any gas cards like Flying J, BP etc. that will give you both?

a combo of kroger gas and any credit card will. you will get $0.03/gallon of at a minimum along with your credit card rebate. Then $0.10/gallon off for every $100/month you spend at Kroger (Fred Meyer, Von's, Smiths' etc., any Kroger store) 35 gallon max.

[Gjac]

If fuel is $3/gal and your credit card gives you 4% cash back that is 12 cents/gal savings. If fuel ever gets back to $1/gal then the gas cards that give you 5 cents/gal off would be better. The real question is, are there any gas cards like Flying J, BP etc. that will give you both?

[ktmrfs]

minnow wrote:
I agree with pnichols above. These gas station selective cards are nothing special. Much better rewards with a VISA/MC/AMEX if you choose the right card offering.
Also keeps the wallet from bursting open from all the different cards one needs when traveling. Like for example needing to first use a Good Sam card then swipe a Pilot card to get a discount at Pilot/Flying J(which generally only brings the price down to what is available at the next station down the street).

Agreed. But something to watch for. Some cards limit the rebate on gas to a maximum gallon/month or gasoline only, not diesel. For a while years ago I had discover using the fuel points, then they started limiting the max rebate/month, and dropped diesel. So I switched to pen fed which doesn't do any limiting on the 5%. Don't know if discover still has limits, but as I was checking around some visa and MC did. check the fine print on the deal before you sign up.

[ktmrfs]

pnichols wrote:
I see no need for gas cards, as they're not versatile enough and they don't save you that much on fuel.

Our VISA card is much more flexible in that it can be used to purchase anything. For fuel purchases it pays back 5% in points ... that's "5 per cent" per gallon in points ... not "5 cents" per gallon in payback points. I request the points back once or twice a year in the form of a VISA gift card that they send me when I request it. These VISA gift cards can range from $300 to $700 each and can then be used for any purchase that you could use a regular credit card for. (For groceries our VISA card pays back 3% in points, and for everything else it pays back 1% in points.)

P.S. Of course I get the 5% in points payback return at any gas station that will accept use of a VISA card. I'm not restricted to any particular brand of gas at fillup time.

similar to the penfed visa I have,but it gives me the credit of 5% on gas purchases at the end of each month on my statement and like your visa isn't tied to any brand of gas.

your point on not using a specific gas brand CC is a good one. Haven't had one of those in many decades. A good visa/mc/discover card with a decent rebate % is more versitile. just use it at ANY gas station.

[minnow]

I agree with pnichols above. These gas station selective cards are nothing special. Much better rewards with a VISA/MC/AMEX if you choose the right card offering.
Also keeps the wallet from bursting open from all the different cards one needs when traveling. Like for example needing to first use a Good Sam card then swipe a Pilot card to get a discount at Pilot/Flying J(which generally only brings the price down to what is available at the next station down the street).

[pnichols]

I see no need for gas cards, as they're not versatile enough and they don't save you that much on fuel.

Our VISA card is much more flexible in that it can be used to purchase anything. For fuel purchases it pays back 5% in points ... that's "5 per cent" per gallon in points ... not "5 cents" per gallon in payback points. I request the points back once or twice a year in the form of a VISA gift card that they send me when I request it. These VISA gift cards can range from $300 to $700 each and can then be used for any purchase that you could use a regular credit card for. (For groceries our VISA card pays back 3% in points, and for everything else it pays back 1% in points.)

P.S. Of course I get the 5% in points payback return at any gas station that will accept use of a VISA card. I'm not restricted to any particular brand of gas at fillup time.

[dalenoel]

We use the Chase AARP card and get 3% in cash against the card for all fuel.

[ktmrfs]

rather than specific station cards, for years I've used the PenFed visa card that gives a 5% credit rebate to the account EVERY month credited to the account. That lets me stop at any station I want. combine that with Kroger grocery points can be a signficant savings.

The only caveat with the Pen Fed is you must swipe at the pump for the credit, can't use it at an inside pay station to get the credit.

[Durb]

Our Costco Citi Card is supposed to give you 4% back on all gas purchases but it is all "eligible" gas purchases. No discount on fuel purchased at Walmart. Apparently, there is some fine print somewhere.

[patperry2766]

RAS43 wrote:
We haven't used a gasoline credit card for many years. We have a citi/Costco Visa card we use for fuel(4%), restaurants(3%) and hotels(3%) plus 2% at Costco. If there is a upcharge for a credit purchase we go elsewhere.
For all other purchases I use a Cabelas Visa card which the cash reward helps pay for our yearly fishing trip to Nebraska.
Don't need or use anything else.

Got the Costco card as well and pretty much use it exclusively for everything. Got almost $400 rewards check in the mail last month to use at Costco, plus their gas is pretty much .10 cents a gallon or more cheaper than every where else.

[fyrflie]

GasBuddy
5 cents off per gallon
Works in about 95% of the gas stations and has an app to help you find fuel throughout the country.

[Dave_H_M]

I been doing what Dutch does for years.

However, i don't think I will be around long enough to earn 25 tanks of gas at a minimum of 100 a pop. :h

on the flip side, the PenFed points will be paying for the rental car for a week in AK early this summer.