What is the best gas credit card? The answer is not black and white. While it may be tempting to just pick the card with the highest listed reward rate (see the table below), there are other things to consider first.
The Costco Factor.
* Costco has cheap gasoline, but most gas card programs exclude wholesalers from their 2%-5% gas category reward rates, somewhere in the fine print.
* In fact, it's probably safe to assume that the only way to get more than 1% rewards pumping gas at Costco is with the Costco True Earnings card, or the Costco True Earnings Business card. The fine print on these cards explicitly states that Costco qualifies for the bonus reward rate.
* Card issuers that explicitly ban Costco gas from their "gas reward rate" include American Express, and Citibank.
* Costco only accepts American Express.
Cheap Gas Stations, like ARCO.
* Gas stations such as ARCO in California often charge about 4% less if you pay in cash, and only accept debit cards otherwise. Furthermore, their gas tends to be about 5% or more cheaper than at national chains like Shell. Clearly, you should not pump with a 5% card at Shell if you are just as happy with ARCO gas which costs 9% less.
Diesel, Airplane Fuel, Marine Fuel, and Huge Gas Tanks
* Many cards, such as the Shell card only pay bonus gas reward rates for gasoline, not diesel fuel.
* Many cards, including Shell and PenFed Platinum Cashback Rewards don't pay bonus gas reward rates for Airplane or Boat fuel.
* Many cards have restrictions on the maximum number of gallons you can pump each time (e.g. 75 gallons with the Amex Costco card), or with the maximum you can spend each time ($400 with the Blue Cash card). Check the fine print first!
Limits on Gas Rewards.
When looking at the table below, keep an eye out for the right column, which limits how many dollars worth of gas qualify for the bonus rate each month. Restrictions start impacting you if you spend in excess of $200 per month on gas. This is taken into account on our Reward Credit Cards Home Page.
Below Find 26 Credit Cards, with Reward Rate, and Reward Limit (if any)
The Costco Factor.
* Costco has cheap gasoline, but most gas card programs exclude wholesalers from their 2%-5% gas category reward rates, somewhere in the fine print.
* In fact, it's probably safe to assume that the only way to get more than 1% rewards pumping gas at Costco is with the Costco True Earnings card, or the Costco True Earnings Business card. The fine print on these cards explicitly states that Costco qualifies for the bonus reward rate.
* Card issuers that explicitly ban Costco gas from their "gas reward rate" include American Express, and Citibank.
* Costco only accepts American Express.
Cheap Gas Stations, like ARCO.
* Gas stations such as ARCO in California often charge about 4% less if you pay in cash, and only accept debit cards otherwise. Furthermore, their gas tends to be about 5% or more cheaper than at national chains like Shell. Clearly, you should not pump with a 5% card at Shell if you are just as happy with ARCO gas which costs 9% less.
Diesel, Airplane Fuel, Marine Fuel, and Huge Gas Tanks
* Many cards, such as the Shell card only pay bonus gas reward rates for gasoline, not diesel fuel.
* Many cards, including Shell and PenFed Platinum Cashback Rewards don't pay bonus gas reward rates for Airplane or Boat fuel.
* Many cards have restrictions on the maximum number of gallons you can pump each time (e.g. 75 gallons with the Amex Costco card), or with the maximum you can spend each time ($400 with the Blue Cash card). Check the fine print first!
Limits on Gas Rewards.
When looking at the table below, keep an eye out for the right column, which limits how many dollars worth of gas qualify for the bonus rate each month. Restrictions start impacting you if you spend in excess of $200 per month on gas. This is taken into account on our Reward Credit Cards Home Page.
Below Find 26 Credit Cards, with Reward Rate, and Reward Limit (if any)
- PenFed Platinum Cashback, 5%, No Limit
- PenFed Platinum Cash for Students, 5%, No Limit
- American Express Blue Cash, 5% after you spend $6500 within a year. 1% until then, No Limit
- PNC Everyday Rewards, 4%, $250 Limit
- Lukoil-Getty, 4% at Lukoil & Getty, $1,250
- American Express Costco for Business, 4%, $500
- Citizens Bank Accelerator Rewards Platinum, 3%, No Limit
- Gulf, 3% at Gulf, No Limit
- US Bank FlexPerks Business Cash, 3%, No Limit
- Citibank AT&T Universal Business, 3%, No Gas Limit, but 100,000 total point limit per year
- Chase Ink Cash Business, 3%, No Limit
- American Express Costco True Earnings, 3%, $250
- American Express Hilton Honors Surpass, 2.5%, based on our estimate of Hilton Honor Point Value, No Limit
- American Express Hilton Honors, 2.3%, based on our estimate of Hilton Honor Point Value, No Limit
- Discover Business, 2%, $167
- Discover Open Road, 2%, $250
- Discover Student Open Road, 2%, $250
- Capital One LSU Tigers, 2%, No Limit
- Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards, 2%, No Limit
- Citibank Dividend for College Students, 2%, No Gas Limit, but $300 total rewards limit per year.
- Citibank Premier Pass - Elite Level, 2%, No Gas Limit, but 100,000 total point limit per year
- Quicken Rewards Visa, 2%, $2000 per month between Gas, Grocery, Pharmacy, Office Supply
- Bank of America UPromise, 2% at Exxon/Mobil, No Limit
- American Express Premier Gold, 2%, No Limit
- Fifth Third Bank Rewards, 2%, $500
- Heartland Bank Business Rewards, 2%, No Limit
Stephanie Neruda
President, NerdWallet LLC
http://www.nerdwallet.com
NerdWallet is a credit card search and comparison site, and seeks to become the best source for unbiased credit card information. The company was founded by a financial industry veteran in the wake of the financial crisis in August 2009, and officially launched in March 2010. NerdWallet is privately held, and is based in New York, NY.
President, NerdWallet LLC
http://www.nerdwallet.com
NerdWallet is a credit card search and comparison site, and seeks to become the best source for unbiased credit card information. The company was founded by a financial industry veteran in the wake of the financial crisis in August 2009, and officially launched in March 2010. NerdWallet is privately held, and is based in New York, NY.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Neruda
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