They're popular because of the rebate you can get for buying gas -- it's higher than the rebate you can get with other credit cards. Paula Toti tells us if it's a move worth making.
Some gas cards give five percent rebates ... but you have to spend a certain amount of money.
Even with credit cards not tied to gas ... you might not be getting your full rebate.
This Costco American Express is two percent back ... if you spend at least six thousand dollars ... most people will only get one half of a percent.
Read the fine print.
Everyone is feeling pain at the pump .. imagine having a small business ... and filling up a bunch of vehicles.
"I had six vehicles last Saturday my bill was 223 dollars."
Jim Tracy pays for all that gas with a debit card .... getting nothing in the way of rebates. If he had a Chase Marathon Mastercard he could get 10 percent back.
But here's where you need to read the fine print .... after sixty days it drops to five percent.
Even so ... since he's loyal to one station Jim would benefit.
"That sounds good we need help on gas because of the prices."
On the other hand it might be a false savings if a gas station credit card stops you from shopping other brands that might have a lower price on any given day.
Some cards allow you to shop brands ... like Citibank's Dividend Platinum select with a five percent rebate. We found a lot of drivers paying with cash. "Just plain old regular green cash. Why not a gas card ... Interest is too high?"
An excellent point.
Interest is not only high if you don't pay off the balance ... but the rates have been going up.
The offers and rebates are changing too. MBNA's AAA card used to have a five percent rebate ... now it's as low as two percent if you only buy gas with the card. One deal that sounded too good .... I had to walk into a Speedway and try. It was true. Speedway sells a 50 dollar gift card you can get for 48 dollars. That's already a discount. Then if you reload the card with the right credit card you can double dip. If you reload the card with the Citibank card I talked about ... your total savings on a three dollar gallon of gas is about 26 cents or nine percent. It all requires some creative thinking ... but I know we got Jim thinking ... a change in the way he pays may be worth it.
I'm not going to take credit for finding that Speedway deal. There's a driver bragging about it on the internet. I will tell you the store I checked was all out of the gift cards.
We have a web site where you can see all the gas rebate cards and their terms. Just click here.
