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We’ve been talking gas savings all week and today I wanted to end with a few options that can help you maximize the rewards and discounts… if you use them wisely. Let’s look at how to save money on gas with credit cards. The real question is, does having a card save you money in the end and how much does it save?
This is part 3 of saving money on gas! Check out the other posts to learn habits to help you save money on gas, and how to use your groceries to save money on gas.
If you are one of those people who can consistently pay off a credit card, you could be saving 5-10% on your gas prices through a rebate. This means that your $40 fill-up will cost you around $36-$38. While this may not seem like much, if you spend over $150 in gas a month (which is only around 4 tanks), you will save around $8-$15 per month.
Save Money on Gas with Credit Cards
This chart shows nation-wide gas stations and the kinds of rewards they offer.
| Station | Card Type | Reward Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron-Texaco | Visa | 10¢ per gallon; earn 20¢ per gallon with over $1,000 in qualifying purchases |
| BP Card | Visa | 10¢ per gallon + cash back on other purchases (begins 10/1/19) |
| Shell | Mastercard | 10¢ per gallon |
| Kroger | Mastercard | 25¢ per gallon for first year + 2X points on in-store purchases |
| Costco | Visa | 4% back on gas at any station for first year, 1% after that + 2% back on Costco purchases |
I’m not going into the APR’s here because you should really only get one of the above if you are going to pay it off each month. If you carry ANY balance at all then there will be NO benefit from using the card.
Most of these do give you 1-2% back on non-gas purchases at other places, but honestly, to use this correctly it needs to be just for gas purchases. If you start making bigger purchases, you may run into the issue of not being able to pay it off.
Mathematically, you should also note that a 4% rebate is larger than a flat 10¢ savings. The flat savings would only pay off if your gas prices were $2 or less (not likely).
Additionally, the Shell Saver Card isn’t a credit card but functions instead like a debit card linking straight to your checking account. You save 2¢ per gallon when you buy gas using this card.
Putting these together with your grocery gas savings could make for a huge gas savings! Earn Kroger gas credits or SE Grocer Rewards that are all good at Shell and then get an extra 10¢ back or a 5% rebate!
