[HOCKYDOC]

Thought I'd pass along a way to save alot at the pump. While there's alot of gas credit cards out there from the oil/gas companies, you only get a discount at that particular station.

I stumbled upon a Master Card, by MBNA America Bank that many of you may not be aware of. You save 5% at EVERY gas station as long as you pay at the pump. There is no annual fee. I marked the card GAS ONLY, so I don't confuse it with other cards. This is very convenient and you can save alot, especially when premium is high and likely continuing to climb. My son also uses it in his lawn mowing business.

Try MBNA customer service at 800 421-2110, if you're interested.

 

[Nick]

hockeydoc

What you are saying doesn't make any sense.

5% discount using the card and there is probably a 5% (or about fee to the gas station) means they are selling gas at a 10% discount cost to the station.

A few years back the gas stations out here in CA offered discounts for paying cash rather than by credit card. That was declared illegal (for some reason).

There are some attendantless gas stations but, I think those are for the trucking industry as we have none for the general public.

Next thing I can imagine is that the banks will give you a discount for using the ATM machines instead of charging for it.

Course IL may do things different.

Nick

 

[gotapex]

Also, don't forget the Citibank Dividend Platinum Select.

http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/divplat/index.jsp?

5% on gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores, 1% everywhere else. No annual fee.

If you're a big spender, the AMEX Blue Cash card ends up paying you more though.

http://home4.americanexpress.com/blue/bluecash/bluecash_prodinfo.asp?BlueCash=Cash_Back

Disclaimer: I work for neither of these companies, but I do carry both.

 

[HOCKYDOC]

Re: hockeydoc

What you are saying doesn't make any sense.

5% discount using the card and there is probably a 5% (or about fee to the gas station) means they are selling gas at a 10% discount cost to the station.


Course IL may do things different.

Nick

Again, this is not a gas or oil company card. This is a bank MasterCard that gives you 5% back on every gas purchase.

The station takes a 5% hit for you using a credit card over cash (not 10%). It's the bank that takes the other 5% hit, passing on the savings to you. The bank of course is hoping you don't pay you balance off every month, thus profiting on the interest.

My monthly statement tells me how much I spent on gas then takes the 5%
off, showing the balance owed.
It's a national bank. Try it.
By the way most IL stations do not have the two prices (credit and cash) for gas.

 

[Ground Loop]

Dang.. time to upgrade from my Chase Freedom card. It pays 3% cash back on gas anywhere, and 1% cash back on everything else. The cool thing is that the rebate is applied to your next statement -- no year-end stuff.

Also be careful that some of the cards cap your rebates to something pretty small annually.

As for the Cash vs Credit thing, those rules are in place from Visa/Mastercard -- a merchant that accepts those cards can not charge a premium for using them. That ended the Cash/Credit pricing at gas stations. Note that ATM cards don't have this rule, which is why Arco charges an extra fee to use it (and your bank adds another fee).

Some local computer shops skirt the issue by offering a "3% Cash Discount", but I'm sure Visa wouldn't see this as legit if someone complained.

 

[HOCKYDOC]

Dang.. time to upgrade from my Chase Freedom card. It pays 3% cash back on gas anywhere, and 1% cash back on everything else. The cool thing is that the rebate is applied to your next statement -- no year-end stuff.

Also be careful that some of the cards cap your rebates to something pretty small annually.

Nope, there's no cap on the rebate, and I use it alot. (have 4 cars, inc a motorhome). Currently, saving over 10 cents/gal, and I don't have to look for a particular station when on vacation.

While on the topic, I also have a Chase card that let's you choose one store, out of a long list, to get a 5% rebate (also shows up as a discount on your monthly statement). We chose Walmart and have a SuperCenter 5 mins from our house. With a large house and 6 kids, we save a bundle. As long as you are able to pay the balances off every month, you can't beat these deals.

 

[amcmahon]

I have an MBNA platinum card I wonder if they'll let me upgrade it. It's a world points card.

 

[Ground Loop]

The Citibank Dividend card above looks like it has a $300 annual cap. If you put more than $30k on your card in a year, it's something to consider.

I don't know who is behind it, but Shell has a more limited Visa card that offers 5% back only at Shell. Not that cool any more.

Lots of deals out there.. finding the one that matches the way you spend can be pretty profitable.

I've found you can also usually get car dealerships to put a portion of the car on a credit card -- maybe $2k to $5k depending on how flexible the sales manager is. Every little bit helps.

 

[Tintin]

I've found you can also usually get car dealerships to put a portion of the car on a credit card -- maybe $2k to $5k depending on how flexible the sales manager is. Every little bit helps.

I've paid all the deposit on my Elise (4K so far) with a frequent flier credit card. If I could pay the entire amount it would be nice In general though the way I clock up the miles is to spend other people's money (business trips, pay for a group lunch and everybody gives me cash, etc.).