Fuel Discounts

[dbulmer]

For my roadtrip i'm going to be racking up a helluva lot of miles... so i was wondering if any of the main petrol stations does some kinda members discount card.... the more you spend, the more you save kinda deal ??

i'm probably gonna be using Walmart a fair amount for food etc, so it would be good if i could get savings on the fuel? although if other chains do use loyalty cards, i'll happily use them instead

i'm not fussy over brand names.... i have no beef with any corporation, just trying to save some pennies :)

[Mark Sedenquist]

For my roadtrip i'm going to be racking up a helluva lot of miles... so i was wondering if any of the main petrol stations does some kinda members discount card

Virtually every fuel retailer has such a program -- but, for the most part, they are come-ons for Visa and Mastercard programs. Shell Oil has a representative program. In addition, most credit card host firms offer rebates for gasoline purchases -- Discover has one and then there are discount cards from some of the larger Travel Plaza firms like Flying J.

Mark

[W. Larrison]

Hmm.. while I admit I primarily charge my gas onto credit cards while travelling, it should be noted that some chains offer up to a 5 % discount for gas. You can also find this in some places that aren't a national chain, but offer discounted fuel (but no credit cards).

One of the reasons for this is that credit card companies charge from 2-7% or so to the retailer for the use of the credit card. In general, its a good thing for the retailer as they get paid by the credit card company, and don't have to wait for charges to clear. But sometimes you can get a cheaper price with cash, instead of a card.

The problem of course with this approach is replenishing your cash supply on a trip. ATMs, particularly if you're out of your network, can charge substantial rates to give you cash...

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hmm....it should be noted that some chains offer up to a 5 % discount for gas.

Yeah, that is probably true. I tend to be too lazy to carry sufficient cash for fueling purposes. Swiping that credit card is just easier. Huge CAVEAT here: Do not ever use a debit card when purchasing fuel. It is just too easy to steal the PINs (the gas stations are often powerless at stopping the frauders from getting this data) Using a debit card at one of those external card readers is nearly as silly as laying cash on the machine.

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

Wal-Mart does have its own discount gas program. Basically, if you pay for your fuel with either a Wal-Mart credit card OR a Wal-Mart gift card, you get a 3 cent per gallon discount.

As has already been mentioned, most chains have some sort of discount available is you use "their" credit card. The one nice thing about the Wal-Mart offer is that since you can use a gift card, you aren't obligated to create a new line of credit.

Some Sams Clubs and Costco locations also have Gas that is supposedly discounted.

But with any of these programs, you still have to keep an eye out because even with a few cents per gallon discount, sometimes there is still a cheaper station just down the street.

[dbulmer]

thanks for the useful tips.... especially about not using the debit card !!!

i shall look into this gift card system that walmart does... as i don't really want to get another credit card

just one of those things that may not save a huge bundle at each fill-up.... but over the length of my trip... it will add up to some decent savings

[Mark Sedenquist]

As part of our Fuel Cost Calculator tool -- RTA provides links to the cheapest gas stations in all of the USA states and most of the Canadian provinces. The TravMatix tool actually plots the locations of the least-expensive fuel stations at every freeway interchange located on any USA interstate highway.

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

Another trick I've found to save a little bit of money on gas is to try and buy gas on the right side of a state line. Since each state sets their own level for fuel taxes, you can often save 5-10 cents or more per gallon depending upon where you are.

For example, Wisconsin has one of the highest gas taxes in the US, so any time I'm leaving the state, I will try to make it across the border and fill up in the neighboring state and save a little money. Since there are other market factors, the savings varies from day to day, but I almost always save at least a few cents.

The more difficult thing is to find out which states have cheaper gas taxes. I don't know of a good list online right now, but in all honest, I haven't really looked either. I imaging a few minutes on Google could come up with something. However, even if you can't find the actual taxes, the link Mark provided in the last post with gas prices will give you a good ballpark idea of which states and regions where you'll be paying more or less for gas.

[Mass Tim]

The more difficult thing is to find out which states have cheaper gas taxes. I don't know of a good list online right now, but in all honest, I haven't really looked either. I imaging a few minutes on Google could come up with something.

Michael - I found a couple of links:

here and here - the second one is as of October of 2006, and gives a nice graphic representation.