Save Money on Gas with these Hacks
Tl;dr: Gas is expensive. Check out our favorite ways to save at the pump!
My oldest memory of getting gas was my parents asking the attendant at the full-service corner station to put $10 in the tank, at a rate of 88¢ per gallon. Those were the days.
With gas prices seemingly always on the way up, here are a few ways to earn some extra rewards or savings on gas, sorted by laziness.
Set-and-forget
Use the right credit card. Check out our list of the best credit cards to use on gas purchases here.
Get an automatic discount at Shell stations. One of my favorites. Just add your credit card to the Fuel Rewards app and get a discount every time you pump at a Shell station. You can also opt for AAdvantage miles as a reward instead.
Pay cash
Yeah, this is a credit card site, but you can often save 10¢/gallon just by paying cash, which is pretty easy if you have it on hand.
Find your offers.
Check your Amex, Citi, or Chase app for offers at gas stations, like this example from Amex. Don’t forget about SimplyMiles, if you have a Mastercard.
How lazy this is depends on how much effort you put into keeping track of which cards have which offers from which stations. But it only takes a minute or two to search your offers every now and then and make sure you activate any gas offers. You can also use an app like Cardpointers or MaxRewards to just activate them all to make sure you don’t miss out.
Personally, my local gas station is a Marathon, and I have a Chase Offer to save 3-5% almost every month with my IHG Premier, making it easy to regularly fill up at a discount.
Pump where you shop.
Costco members can enjoy discounted gas at Costco stations, while grocery store chains like Safeway and Giant offer rewards for shopping that can be redeemed for discounts at their (or affiliated) gas stations.
Register and enter your phone number at the pump.
While Shell will recognize your payment card, other fuel rewards programs offer discounts or rewards simply by entering your linked phone number at the pump. These include ExxonMobil and Citgo. I use Marathon’s app for extra savings when entering my phone number at the pump.
Use the app as at the pump.
Several chains allow you to connect their app to a checking account. While you won’t earn any points, you can save money, often around 10¢ per gallon. These include Valero and Circle K. Others, such as Speedway and Flying J, offer rewards when paying through the station’s app.
Because the savings when paying with a checking account is often per gallon, the per-dollar rewards can be less than credit card rewards, especially at higher gas prices. (At $5/gal, a 2% cash back card will earn cash back equal to a 10¢ per gallon discount.)
GasBuddy has a similar program that is not tied to any specific chain, and claims to work at 95% of US stations.
If you have a Walmart+ membership (basically free if you have an Amex Platinum card), you can also save quite a bit at the pump using their app.
Find the right station.
Finally, if you plan a bit in advance, you can save money by searching for the cheapest gas in advance. Google maps allows you to easily check gas prices in your area or along the route you are traveling, and GasBuddy has a similar feature.
When we have time, we often use Upside, which offers (sometimes large) discounts at certain gas stations. You simply “claim” the offer in the app then pay with your linked credit card. You get your normal credit card points, along with cash back. The cash goes into your Upside account and can be redeemed by transfer to your bank account or for gift cards.
Use our referral link to earn 15¢/gallon on your first fill-up.
Conclusion
Gas may be expensive, but opportunities for discounts, rewards, and cash back abound if you know where to look for them.