Gasoline Cash Back Credit Cards

[javacontour]

Getting a late start, but I need to revisit my gasoline card choices.

A little background. I was using the Citi Shell MasterCard and the Chase BP card for 5% rebates on fuel purchases at the respective Shell or BP branded stations.

I preferred the Citi/Shell because they would simply credit your account with the rebate the following month. With Chase, you had to apply for a BP gift card or other choices.

The Citi/Shell card stopped the 5% rebate, but kept the account open.

So I obtained a Citi/Phillips66 for 4%, but today is the last day. They are closing all the accounts, not just ending the rebates. No big deal since they set my initial limit during the first 6 months to $1000. But I will miss the $25 or so I earned in rebates each month.

Sure, I can use the BP card and get 5%.

Anyone have any other options that get good rebates? I know my Discover Card offers 5% for a quarter, but I believe that's capped to the first $300-$500 in purchases of fuel, so that's like one month.

So any suggestions on rebate earning gasoline credit cards?

Thanks!

 

[ryland]

The AMEX blue cash preferred gives you 6% on groceries, 3% on gas and 1% on everything else. It has a annual fee of $75 I believe but if you just bought gas and groceries with the card it would more than pay for its self. The Blue cash card gives 3% groceries and 2% gas and that has no fee. The good thing about both cards is there is no cap to the money you get back.

 

[JHZR2]

Pentagon federal credit union. 5% on gas all the time.

 

[opus1]

People here have mentioned PenFed Credit Union's card, and the evil Bank of America offers a card that gives (I think) 2% back on gas.

I have a Chase Freedom card that almost mirrors Discover's quarterly categories, and has a $1500/quarter cap. What I've done is use either card to buy a gift card at my favorite station during the promotion period, max out the bonus amount, and then use the gift card for my actual purchases during the rest of the year.

In my mind, this has 2 benefits: a) despite the fleet, I'm never going to max out the bonus during the quarter because I use public transit for most of my commute; and b) there's a bit of security involved, if someone puts a skimming device on the pump, they're not going to get my actual credit card info. Now, I'm not losing sleep over this possibility, but it can happen and this minimizes the loss if it does.

I also do something similar when the cards offer bonuses for drug or grocery stores; all the stores in my area offer some sort of gas gift card so I max out my bonus during the quarter and then use the card whenever.

When I squeeze a penny, Lincoln screams in agony....

 

[xBa380]

I am upset Shell changed the 5% kickback. Only reason I got that CC. Now you have to buy something like 75 gallons before you get a kickback, per month.

 

[Artem]

I'm interested is this as well...

Shell sucks that they are stopping the cash back but if there's no better option, i'll still use their card simply because it's convenient and i have a $900 limit to play with.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: opus1
People here have mentioned PenFed Credit Union's card, and the evil Bank of America offers a card that gives (I think) 2% back on gas.

I have a Chase Freedom card that almost mirrors Discover's quarterly categories, and has a $1500/quarter cap. What I've done is use either card to buy a gift card at my favorite station during the promotion period, max out the bonus amount, and then use the gift card for my actual purchases during the rest of the year.

In my mind, this has 2 benefits: a) despite the fleet, I'm never going to max out the bonus during the quarter because I use public transit for most of my commute; and b) there's a bit of security involved, if someone puts a skimming device on the pump, they're not going to get my actual credit card info. Now, I'm not losing sleep over this possibility, but it can happen and this minimizes the loss if it does.

I also do something similar when the cards offer bonuses for drug or grocery stores; all the stores in my area offer some sort of gas gift card so I max out my bonus during the quarter and then use the card whenever.

When I squeeze a penny, Lincoln screams in agony....

But if you get your gift card skimmed, it's your money you're fighting to get back, not a credit you can choose not to pay while they sort out the fraud.

 

[surfstar]

PenFed.
5% any gas station and 1% on everything else.

Best thing that I didn't find out until my first statement: credit goes on the same statement as purchases. No waiting until next month, $25 minimum etc. I just hope they don't change their terms in the future.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
But if you get your gift card skimmed, it's your money you're fighting to get back, not a credit you can choose not to pay while they sort out the fraud.

True, and I realize that I gave the impression that I buy one gift card for the full amount. I only buy cards in $50 increments, and when I fill up the Dakota, it's usually almost $50 right there, the loss would be relatively minor, plus it's not like they can take my number and run to Best Buy and buy $4000 worth of plasma TV's before I notice. Like I said, it's a very minor factor in my decision.

The bigger factor is that I get to max out the bonus on my terms.

 

[javacontour]

Just joined PenFed. As a former member of the military, that seems good enough to join.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The best rebate credit card I have is "HSBC Platinum Cash". It gives 5% cash back on 3 essential categories: Gasoline, Groceries and Drug Stores; But only 0.5% cash back on everything else if it is less than $2000 a month, 1% if over $2000. The cash back is accumulated and cashed out once a year, the cash out is applied to balance only. It's okay with me, I just get $3xx credited to my balance last month. I don't remember what is interest rate of this card, I paid off balance each month so that I don't pay attention about it.

All members of my family use it for those 3 categories with 5% rebate, we use Chase business card for everything else. Chase business card gives 3% cash back on dining out, hardware and home improvement stores and office supplies, everything else is 1%.