Whether you have a branded gas card, a warehouse club card, or a rewards card, you’ll want to stack as many discounts as you can
By Penelope Wang, Keith Barry
Consumer Reports’ experts have found that gas-brand credit cards, rewards cards, and payment apps can help you combat rising costs at the gas pump, as long as you know how to use them.
Gas credit cards, such as those offered by Shell or ExxonMobil, typically offer 5 to 10 cents off per gallon, which can save the typical driver hundreds of dollars a year. But regular cash-back credit cards can offer even more savings. Plus, you can often combine them with a gas station’s own rewards program. It’s a strategy known as “stacking” discounts, and many personal finance experts recommend it. In some cases, the savings can rival or exceed the discounts that gas stations offer customers who pay in cash.
“By linking a credit card that pays gas rewards, you can stack both discounts,” says Ted Rossman, principal analyst at Bankrate, who uses this strategy himself. For example, you could combine 3 percent cash back on your credit card with 5 cents off per gallon through the gas station app for a discount of a little over 6 cents a gallon.
Some credit cards also offer savings when you pay to charge an electric vehicle at a public charging station.
To find more ways to help you save at the pump, our experts did a deep dive into credit card rewards. Here are some strategies for finding the biggest savings, along with some cards that will save you the most at the pump:
• Using the right credit card can save money when buying gas.
• When gas prices are high, rewards credit cards save more than cash-back gas cards.
• It’s easier to qualify for gas company cards.
• To avoid running up against a rewards cap, use one card just for gas.
A Rewards Card Offers Big Savings
For the most generous gas discounts, look to rewards credit cards that offer cash back on gas purchases. Because gas credit cards pay you back in cents rather than a percentage of the total, you actually get less of a benefit when gasoline prices go up.
For example, paying to fill a 15-gallon tank with a gas card that offers a 5-cent rebate per gallon could shave as much as $1.50 off the total. But using a rewards card that pays 3 percent on gasoline purchases could save about $2 on that 15-gallon fill-up.
“When gas prices are high, those gas card discounts lose value,” Rossman says.
You can find options with no annual fees. Just make sure you understand the limitations on the discounts.
For example, the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card has no annual fee and offers 3 percent cash back on your first $6,000 in yearly purchases at U.S. gas stations and 1 percent cash back after that.
Another option is the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card, which earns 5x points on gas purchases and electric vehicle charging, with no mileage cap. Those points can be redeemed on PedFed’s website for travel, merchandise, and gift cards, among other categories.
To compare different credit card rewards, check out websites such as BankRate, CreditCards.com, CreditKarma, MoneyCrashers, NerdWallet, The Points Guy, and WalletHub. They summarize card benefits and fees, and break down the terms and conditions. (Many of these sites make commissions if you use them to sign up for a card.)
Warehouse Club Cards Have Gas Savings, Too
Membership warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club offer credit cards with generous cash back on gas purchases, which can be made at any gas station. Even better, you can buy discounted Top Tier gas at your local Costco, which contains detergents to help your car’s engine last longer. The savings alone from these cards will more than pay for membership. If you already belong, it’s wise to take advantage of this perk.
Sam’s Club MasterCard offers 5 percent cash back on purchases up to $6,000 per year, after which it drops to 1 percent. The Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi pays 5 percent on gas at Costco and 4 percent back on gas purchases or EV charging at non-Costco locations, up to $7,000 per year, then it drops to 1 percent.
When Gas Cards Are the Better Choice
A gas card may be a better choice for those who lack good or excellent credit, because they can often qualify with just a fair credit score. Most gas cards don’t charge annual fees, but you’re likely to be charged steep interest rates if you run up a balance. Shell, for one, levies a 29.49 percent APR vs. the 18.79 percent national average for credit cards.
As noted earlier, gas card discounts are modest. Say you buy 35 gallons of regular gas a month, paying $3.92 a gallon, for a total of $137.20. Assuming your card gives you a 5-cent reward rate, you’d get back $1.75, which works out to a cash-back rate of 1.28 percent. As prices increase, that percentage is reduced.
You may also bump up against caps on the number of gallons eligible for the discount. For example, Stop & Shop Go Rewards points are limited to 20 gallons per transaction. And your discounts are typically limited to the gas company’s brand.
Still, some cards offer other benefits, such as discounts on nonfuel purchases or cash back in other spending categories.
How to Stack Your Rewards
To maximize your discounts, try combining your credit card’s rewards with other rewards programs whenever possible. These programs offer a few cents off per gallon on a purchase, and they don’t require a gas-branded credit card.
Instead, you can link your rewards credit card to the gas station app, then use the app to pay or scan a code or enter a membership number at the pump.
For example:
• The Cumberland Farms SmartPay rewards app can save up to 10 cents a gallon.
• Amoco, AMPM, and BP’s Earnify app can save 5 cents a gallon for most drivers, and Amazon Prime members save up to 10 cents a gallon.
• Walmart+ members can save up to 10 cents a gallon at many major branded gas stations, including ExxonMobil, in addition to Walmart gas stations.
• Shell app users can save up to 10 percent on gas, and the Shell Fuel Rewards Program can be linked to the Stop & Shop Go Rewards program.
• Grocery store apps and the Upside app can offer points that can be redeemed for gas savings.
A Sam’s Club member could use the Sam’s Club Mastercard, which pays 5 percent cash back on gas, along with the Cumberland Farms rewards app, which has a discount of 10 cents off per gallon. This is more than the 5 or 10 cents a gallon discount that some stations offer for paying in cash.
But be sure to read the fine print on privacy because rewards programs can build quite sophisticated profiles of your shopping habits.
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