Gas Discount Cards?

[Twisties]

Do you have one?  Tell us about it.  Do you have to give the issuer access to your bank account?  Set discount or do you find out later what the discount is?  Is the card free, or do you pay a fee?  Where does it work?

[Twisties]

Thanks @John Ranalletta

[dirtrider]

10 hours ago, Twisties said:

Do you have one?  Tell us about it.  Do you have to give the issuer access to your bank account?  Set discount or do you find out later what the discount is?  Is the card free, or do you pay a fee?  Where does it work?

Morning Jan

 

I don't have anything specific, I do get 3% back on my credit card so that is a start  but my wife shops at Kroger's & they have a fuel points system based on the money spent on food & other products. That usually gives me another 15 cents to 20 cents off per gallon.

 

With the holiday weekend & other things (she has been a-shopping)  I have 80 cents off per gallon this month. 

[Hosstage]

We have the same as dr, credit earned on grocery purchases go to discounts on fuel at one chain of fuel stations. It adds up, my wife has gotten almost half off a tank of gas for the car a few times.

[realshelby]

Open Roads. For diesel only. But man does it work well. Fee up front to sign up. Then no fee. App shows prices of stations. You can zoom in anywhere in the US. Linked to checking, which I was cautious of but no problems ever occurred. You put in card, put in code, answer some questions about what you are buying on the pump screen, then pump away. One great bonus is you don't have to go into store to activate pumps! Only works at diesel truck lanes as far as I know ( that may have changed). Got this for my diesel motorhome. On one trip last year we saved literally hundreds of dollars on fuel. $.30 to well over $1 discount per gallon was common. You get an e-mail with charges to confirm. Your receipt at pump does not show discount. But it always worked out to be what was shown on the app. So if you have a diesel motorhome, large truck this is hard to beat. 

I have since traded the diesel motorhome for a gas motorhome....very sad to not have the discounts now! Will look into Gas Buddy....

[Twisties]

11 hours ago, realshelby said:

Open Roads. For diesel only. But man does it work well. Fee up front to sign up. Then no fee. App shows prices of stations. You can zoom in anywhere in the US. Linked to checking, which I was cautious of but no problems ever occurred. You put in card, put in code, answer some questions about what you are buying on the pump screen, then pump away. One great bonus is you don't have to go into store to activate pumps! Only works at diesel truck lanes as far as I know ( that may have changed). Got this for my diesel motorhome. On one trip last year we saved literally hundreds of dollars on fuel. $.30 to well over $1 discount per gallon was common. You get an e-mail with charges to confirm. Your receipt at pump does not show discount. But it always worked out to be what was shown on the app. So if you have a diesel motorhome, large truck this is hard to beat. 

I have since traded the diesel motorhome for a gas motorhome....very sad to not have the discounts now! Will look into Gas Buddy....

One of the critiques I hear, and have seen myself, regarding diesel cards is that they force you to higher priced stations, then discount the inflated price.  You may or may not be saving anything compared to other stations.  That's the critique, so what I wonder is, have you ever looked on gas buddy or similar to see the prices of stations that are not on this program simultaneously, to determine a real savings rate?  

[realshelby]

12 hours ago, Twisties said:

One of the critiques I hear, and have seen myself, regarding diesel cards is that they force you to higher priced stations, then discount the inflated price.  You may or may not be saving anything compared to other stations.  That's the critique, so what I wonder is, have you ever looked on gas buddy or similar to see the prices of stations that are not on this program simultaneously, to determine a real savings rate?  

Yes, I have double checked pricing many times. I have yet to find a better price near where I need fuel than what Open Roads gives. It is not so much Open Roads directs you to a brand/station, but it depends on the contract they have negotiated with that brand/station. For instance, no discount at Loves, but always $.30 off at Pilot ( might be backwards, have not used it in many months). But you can often get near or over $1 off at T/A travel centers, RoadRunner, etc. So, you have to bring up the app when planning for fuel to see actual prices you will pay in that area. And you can look all over the US! The price they discount off of is always the advertised price on the banners at those station, so no "inflating" pricing. 

If you stop at a station that does not offer discounts, you can still use your card. But there is a $.50 transaction fee. Worth that to not have to walk in the store to have pumps turned on in the diesel lanes!

[Hosstage]

So you're looking up info on an app while driving a rig?

Asking for a friend......

[Twisties]

1 hour ago, realshelby said:

Yes, I have double checked pricing many times. I have yet to find a better price near where I need fuel than what Open Roads gives. It is not so much Open Roads directs you to a brand/station, but it depends on the contract they have negotiated with that brand/station. For instance, no discount at Loves, but always $.30 off at Pilot ( might be backwards, have not used it in many months). But you can often get near or over $1 off at T/A travel centers, RoadRunner, etc. So, you have to bring up the app when planning for fuel to see actual prices you will pay in that area. And you can look all over the US! The price they discount off of is always the advertised price on the banners at those station, so no "inflating" pricing. 

If you stop at a station that does not offer discounts, you can still use your card. But there is a $.50 transaction fee. Worth that to not have to walk in the store to have pumps turned on in the diesel lanes!

Thanks Terry!  By "inflation" I meant higher prices relative to nearby stations, not relative to the advertised price at the chosen station.  You addressed this in your reply, so it sounds like a good card.  We have a diesel truck, so I'll give it a look.  Unfortunately, we don't have any of those truck stop places near us, so it may not apply for local fill-ups.  A Loves is coming, but if there is no discount at Loves that won't help.

[RogerC60]

Both Love's and Pilot/Flying J offer 10 cents off per gallon with their loyalty card. For me, it's an app on my Android phone. I figure this discount will go away at some point, but for now I'm taking full advantage of it.

[realshelby]

22 hours ago, Hosstage said:

So you're looking up info on an app while driving a rig?

Asking for a friend......

Not at all. Just like many owner operators of "big rigs" I would plan fuel stops for a day or the next 2-3 days on occasion. I was driving a 40+ ft motorhome with a motorcycle lift on the back and a 4 door jeep. Right at 65' long. My wife is the "navigator" and she would double check stuff like prices....and use Google Earth to zoom in to see if we could easily get into a station ( you cannot back up when flat towing....).

[pwillikers]

AMEX Blue Cash card.  No annual fee.  1.5% back on everything.   And, 5% back on gas (drugs and groceries) after $6K is spent each year (beginning on the annual anniversary of card's inception).

 

Eg.: From March 1 (my card's inception anniversary) onward, until I spend $6K, I use this card exclusively.  After $6K is spent, I then use this card for gas, drugs and groceries and get 5% back, which turns out to be pretty big money, until the next March 1st rolls around and I start the process over.

[John Ranalletta]

Re: Gasbuddy.  Still using it and getting up to 13-15 cents/gal when a local station is offering a deal.  The "deals" tend only to appear in areas where there's competition.  We've seldom found them in small towns.

 

Today, I rec'd this offer.  I'm not recommending.  It's just FYI.  At $10/mo, you'd have to buy at least 50 gals/mo to break even.  I don't know how much more would be available in the Gasback deals; or, how valuable the Allstate roadship assistance might be to you.  Based on my experience with the base level GasBuddy, this is only a "deal" if you use a lot of fuel and live in a metro area where Gasback deals are more likely to be offered. 

 

We have Kroger stores locally that offer discounts based on in-store purchases.  A friend purchases one of 300 different types of gift cards for events, restaurants, etc. at Kroger, e.g. anticipating a remodeling project, he bought a $500 Lowes gift card.  That purchase builds gas discounts.  He says he often gets as much as $1/gal off.  

 

 

[roadscholar]

I just got something with better mileage for commutes, averages about 35mpg.

 

 

Edit, my other daily(s) gets around 17-18 in real world driving so theoretically monthly gas bill should be half. At that rate it’ll pay for itself in a year and a half. That’s what I told Molly when she asked why I needed/wanted another car. She wants me to help her rationalize some future purchases : )

[realshelby]

Gas Buddy Premium sounds like a scam offer. My typical fill up of the gas Motorhome is about 65 gallons. So it would not give the large discount for even the FIRST full tank. Then only 5 cents per gallon off after that. My credit card amounts to about 9-10 cents off per gallon most places. With no $10 per month fee. 

[Hosstage]

5¢ per gallon is a big deal if gas is 50¢ a gallon. At $3.50 to $5.00 a gallon, not so much.

 

True story: out on a weekend ride, a friend followed along in his truck as he could not ride at the time. He kept saying to stop at a certain brand gas station when we needed, as he gets 7¢ off per gallon. For me, I stop when we need it at whatever decent station that is. After him repeating it a few times I finally said "can I just give you $2.00 and we can stop wherever we end up?"

He uttered a double swear word at me and a good time was had by all.