Gas Credit Cards

[billythekid]

I have Shell, Exxon, BP and Sunoco and Citgo
What gas station credit card will benefit me the most? I can pay it off easily every month and am simply looking for a discount per gallon.

[too-old-now]

There is no easy answer to this - it varies a lot from state to state. Are you in an area where all of these brands are easily accessible to you? Are all of the brands competitively priced? Around here, we can drive 10 miles and see .35 - .40 per gallon differences in price.

I personally have boycotted Exxon for many many years. Remember the Valdez? (the old hippie hypocrite in me didn't like that)

Some folks are opposed to Citgo because it is "owned" by Hugo Chavez, who has said some not-so-nice-things about our President. I don't have a problem with Citgo, except for the big sign at Fenway Park (I'm a Yankee fan)

I have the Shell card, too, but I don't go out of my way to use it. My regular Visa card effectively gives me 5% back on gas and grocery store purchases, so at 2.33/gal, a 15 gal tank is roughly $35, I effectively earn $1.75/tankful. This is better than the 10 cents per gallon or $1.50 that the gas card programs allow me to earn, if I hit the targets.

I usually use BJ's club - with the club card the savings make it more competitive than most other places. Alternately, I choose Stop&Shop since I can use gift cards and coupons there (earned with overage on my groceries), so it makes it cheaper for me.

It is probably worth getting two different gas cards, at your age it will help you build a credit history. You don't want too many cards at once as it may hurt your credit if you need to borrow for a car or house or whatever.

[berlinsmommy]

Billy, are you 18? Also, are you going to college soon? Citi has a few cards that may work for you. One is the mtv U card, it gives you thank you points for paying on time, staying below your credit limit, and getting good grades. The other is a drivers card that gives 3% on gas but also pays you for milage (not sure how much). Those are not gas cards, but general Mastercard/Visas, so you can buy your gas at whatever station is cheapest. Thats one of the reasons I don't have a gas station credit card, if I get a Shell card to save 5c/gallon, but the Exxon across the street is 5c/gallon cheaper, did I save any money? Its sort of Murphy's Law, whatever gas card you choose, that station will have the highest gas prices!
:lame:

[billythekid]

Billy, are you 18? Also, are you going to college soon? Citi has a few cards that may work for you. One is the mtv U card, it gives you thank you points for paying on time, staying below your credit limit, and getting good grades. The other is a drivers card that gives 3% on gas but also pays you for milage (not sure how much). Those are not gas cards, but general Mastercard/Visas, so you can buy your gas at whatever station is cheapest. Thats one of the reasons I don't have a gas station credit card, if I get a Shell card to save 5c/gallon, but the Exxon across the street is 5c/gallon cheaper, did I save any money? Its sort of Murphy's Law, whatever gas card you choose, that station will have the highest gas prices!
:lame:Yes Ma'am since saturday, the cards your speaking of, do you have more info? I am not crazy about a CITI card because many of the people here have had issues, is that still the case? Thanks!

[berlinsmommy]

Citi Credit Cards for College Students (https://www.accountonline.com/ACQ/Chooser/ViewAll?ProspectID=2A5E63A85673434D9F6E3A55E0B06EF E&siteId=cb&SEARCH_CRITERIA_1=COLLEGE)

Please research carefully. Thank you points can be redeemed for gift cards, but not for cash. I have a Citi card that earns Thank you points, and I like the system. 1 point is roughly 1 penny, but it depends on how you redeem it since there are lots of promos. For example, I recently "bought" a $100 Macy's Gift Card for 9000 points ($90 worth), but lots of the $50 gift cards cost 6000 points. There are lots of retailers such as Target, Home Depot, Macy's, and lots more, so chances are you could find something that fits your needs.

Also, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS use a credit card wisely, don't buy ANYTHING unless you have the money to pay for it, and pay the card in full every month. I recommend that you put a certain amount (say $500) in savings and call that your mental credit limit. Then you should never, ever charge more than is in your savings account and you should pay in full (not necessarily from the savings, its just a limiter to keep you out of trouble) every month. Thats how I got started in college, I had $1,000 in my savings account and a Discover Card with a $1,000 limit. This way, if you do go overboard and charge more than your paycheck can cover, you take the money from savings, pay off the card, and put the card away until you can build up the savings again.

I'm sorry to sound so preachy, but you are so young and this is the age that you can either start building good credit for your future so down the road you can do things like buy a house for your family, or you can trash your credit with a few stupid mistakes and pay for it for a long time. Many people your age make credit mistakes big enough that they are haunted by them for the rest of their lives! I just feel very lucky that I had financially disciplined parents who taught me how to use and handle credit wisely. There are so many young people today who don't have that and are in mega credit card debt before they even reach their 21st birthday.

[computerguy923]

Also good to take advantage of the promotional offers too from all of the others, such as the 10% on Shell, Hess, etc... and then maybe settle on one that gives you 5% at any gas station, then you are not limited to where you use it.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Many people your age make credit mistakes big enough that they are haunted by them for the rest of their lives!

I was one of those people. I was out on my own at 16, got a stupid Target credit card,and montgomery wards CC when I was 17 and then a visa when I was 18, and royaly messed up my credit when I was young. Nobody ever taught me how to use credit, I thought I could charge it and never pay it back and thats what I did, I saw the bill, didnt have the money, and it just worse and worse.....

[lgrover7]

I prefer Discover Gas at 5% back. You can get credit on your account or purchase gift cards.

[mama22qts]

Let's revive this discussion! I'm thinking about hopping credit cards for a year or so. I see all the introductory offers and I am paying cash for gas right now, so I should be able to pay mine off every month. I'm thinking I do the intro offers on a card, then move on to the next card, etc.

Seems like I'd save a good bit of money doing that. Thoughts?

[berlinsmommy]

My thought is to not really jump card, just jump rewards within one issuer. For example, I did the Citi Diamond Preferred Card for one year (5% on gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else), but after the first year it drops to 1% flat rewards, no extra for gas, etc. So I "converted" it to a Driver's Edge Card (3% gas, groceries, drugstore, 1% on everything else), then "converted" my normal Discover to a Discover Gas (5% on gas, no other rewards).

Right now my rewards cards are resting though as my local Kroger affiliate, Smith's, also sells gas, so I did the Economic Stimulus promo of 10% back on a gift card, so a $330 GC cost me $300 (which I charged on my Citi Drivers Edge card for $9 back), and buying the gift card qualifies as a purchase, which earned me 15c off per gallon on gas. I plan to do this 3 more times (you can do up to $1200 in GCs), but I'm spreading it out so each "purchase" of a $330 GC gets me 15c off per gallon on my next fill up, so DH and I coordinate to fill up both cars at the same time when we get the 15c off per gallon.

[zoeys_mom]

Right now my rewards cards are resting though as my local Kroger affiliate, Smith's, also sells gas, so I did the Economic Stimulus promo of 10% back on a gift card, so a $330 GC cost me $300 (which I charged on my Citi Drivers Edge card for $9 back), and buying the gift card qualifies as a purchase, which earned me 15c off per gallon on gas. I plan to do this 3 more times (you can do up to $1200 in GCs), but I'm spreading it out so each "purchase" of a $330 GC gets me 15c off per gallon on my next fill up, so DH and I coordinate to fill up both cars at the same time when we get the 15c off per gallon.


You mean to tell me your Smith's treated the gift card purchase as a purchase. WOW!!!!! Kroger did not and when I thought about why it did not, I realized it will count the items I buy later as a purchase(when I go to pay with the gift card).
So, if your Smith store treated this as a purchase, you effectively get to double dip.

Ok, for back on topic: I retired my Diamond Shamrock and Exxon cards and now use Discover Card gas till I hit the max payout for the year, and then use my CitiBank card for the remainder of the year. Whatever card you end up choosing, just make sure you read the fine print and keep up with those max payout schedules. With gas prices rising, it won't take long to max out the benefits.

[mama22qts]

I just talked to dh, and he is dead set against the credit card thing, in any way, shape, or form. Ticks me off but I know why he's that way -- in the ten years we've been married, we've run up several cards. We've always paid on time, and recently we paid all of them off. So now we have no credit card balances. I just hate to see that extra 5% go down the tubes.

[billig]

On a side note about gas offers....
We did a loan at a bank that offered "$100 in gas". Didn't say much more about it and we didn't know to ask:
It consisted of 10 rebate forms for $10 each, that you had to mail in, with a SASE (for your $10 check), mailed with your gas receipt which was purchased within 7 days of sending rebate, each form had to be 30 days apart, and in numerical order.
What a PITA!

[SavininFL]

WOW! How awesome are you!! I am SO JEALOUS!!!! You have everything down to a science. I was thinking about opening up a card to have for the money back but right now it would defeat the purpose of my $5,000 in credit cards AND I JUST opened up another one for 0% This is a GREAT idea and hope to try it in a year when I'm caught up. Hope you'll be around then for some scheduling of my credit cards!!!! :wink7:

For example, I did the Citi Diamond Preferred Card for one year (5% on gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else), but after the first year it drops to 1% flat rewards, no extra for gas, etc. So I "converted" it to a Driver's Edge Card (3% gas, groceries, drugstore, 1% on everything else), then "converted" my normal Discover to a Discover Gas (5% on gas, no other rewards).

Right now my rewards cards are resting though as my local Kroger affiliate, Smith's, also sells gas, so I did the Economic Stimulus promo of 10% back on a gift card, so a $330 GC cost me $300 (which I charged on my Citi Drivers Edge card for $9 back), and buying the gift card qualifies as a purchase, which earned me 15c off per gallon on gas. I plan to do this 3 more times (you can do up to $1200 in GCs), but I'm spreading it out so each "purchase" of a $330 GC gets me 15c off per gallon on my next fill up, so DH and I coordinate to fill up both cars at the same time when we get the 15c off per gallon.

[jenjacobs]

Great thread. We have a credit card that earns us airmiles but since we had DS we don't travel much. Guess it is time to earn money back on gas and whatever else we can!

[TheWoman]

I just applied for a shell card. It will give me 5% back on shell gas and 1% on everything else I use it for. Since Shell is the only convienently located gas station that dh will use, this is a good deal for us.

[Mothernature]

Great thread. We have a credit card that earns us airmiles but since we had DS we don't travel much. Guess it is time to earn money back on gas and whatever else we can!

Generally, airline cc's aren't worth the effort. They offer very little outside of the initial bonus.

[billythekid]

My thought is to not really jump card, just jump rewards within one issuer. For example, I did the Citi Diamond Preferred Card for one year (5% on gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else), but after the first year it drops to 1% flat rewards, no extra for gas, etc. So I "converted" it to a Driver's Edge Card (3% gas, groceries, drugstore, 1% on everything else), then "converted" my normal Discover to a Discover Gas (5% on gas, no other rewards).

Right now my rewards cards are resting though as my local Kroger affiliate, Smith's, also sells gas, so I did the Economic Stimulus promo of 10% back on a gift card, so a $330 GC cost me $300 (which I charged on my Citi Drivers Edge card for $9 back), and buying the gift card qualifies as a purchase, which earned me 15c off per gallon on gas. I plan to do this 3 more times (you can do up to $1200 in GCs), but I'm spreading it out so each "purchase" of a $330 GC gets me 15c off per gallon on my next fill up, so DH and I coordinate to fill up both cars at the same time when we get the 15c off per gallon.
That is genious.

My input is to get a BP card. My logic behind it is this- BP is not selective at all. The 90 Day introductory is 10% back at BP Stations, 6 % Back Travel and Food, 2% Back - Other. This drops to 5%, 3% and 1% after the introductory period. After this period you can either keep the card at the lower rewards amount, or trade it in. Also, and i'm not saying to do this- but I lost my card. They are sending me a new account with introductory rewards again:shrug7::BigHand: