Can a Gas Rewards Credit Card Save You Money?

Gas rewards credit cards can be tempting, especially with current skyrocketing fuel costs. But are they worth it?
Written by Alex Reale
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Top-of-mind for anyone with a gas-powered car right now is that painful feeling of watching the needle on the fuel gauge dropping toward E. Prices are
historically high
right now, with some drivers shelling out an unprecedented $6 a gallon at the pump. 
So is there anything that we can do to ease this burden and
save money
, short of ditching the minivan and buying a Prius? Let’s take a look at the gas rewards credit card.

Here’s how it works

A gas rewards credit card is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a credit card you can obtain from a gas company that, with each purchase of gas, will earn you financial rewards. 
Consumer Reports
gives us a handy primer on the gas rewards credit card lifestyle. Your plastic should save you between 5 and 10 cents a gallon, so a tank that costs $62.40, says CR, could drop by $1.50 with the use of the card.
Gas rewards credit cards often have strings attached, like annual fees and limits.
U.S. News
notes that some cards will start out with a higher percentage cash back reward, but will drop down once you hit a certain dollar value on your gas purchases. And they often have higher interest rates, so you’ll have to be vigilant about payments. 
But U.S. News also points out gas rewards credit cards can be a good way to help build credit and save on other necessities, if used responsibly.
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Maybe not your best option

There are a few benefits to having a gas rewards credit card, but if your main goal is to save money on gas, then you may want to go in a different direction. CR points out that regular cash-back credit cards, which often have rewards of about 5% cash back, will actually save you more at the pump. It’s a problem of percentages. 
To use CR’s example of the $62.40 tank again, on which we saved $1.50, if we used the 5% payback from a regular cash-back card, we’d save about $3.00 on this fill-up. So with the gas rewards credit card we’re paying $60.90, and with the cash-back card we’re paying $59.40. Multiply that over many trips to the gas station and you can see the growing divergence of these two numbers. 
But, as with any credit card, we can’t forget about the hidden costs of swiping with plastic, like annual caps and annual fees. So choose wisely as you go looking for a cash back credit card to use on gas.

Saving money either way

So is a gas rewards credit card worth it? Maybe. It will of course save you money on gas, but if you want to maximize your fuel savings, you might want to bump up your numbers using a regular cash back credit card. CR also advises stacking rewards wherever possible, and looking for deals with companies that dig bundling, like Costco and Sam’s Club.
Your savings will feel modest, but as you steel yourself to pull up to the Shell station, at least you’ll know that it could be even worse.
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