I am about to get a gas card and have narrowed it to the PenFed, Fort Knox, and USAA Amex that all give 5% cash back for gas. PenFed seems to be only at the pump, Fort Knox seems to be for the whole gas station, and the USAA one I'm not really sure and am wondering about.
Does anyone know if the USAA 5% gas card gives 5% off for the whole gas station or just if paid at pump? And more importantly, can anyone tell me if they get 5% off at Kroger fuel stations with the USAA 5% gas card? I just realized that my wife's Amex BCP only gives her 1% at the Kroger pumps instead of 3% like it should for gas. For that matter, does anyone know if the Fort Knox or PenFed cards care about Kroger gas pumps?
The USAA documentation says this about the gas category:
"What are Qualifying Purchases of Gas?
"Qualifying Purchases of Gas" are Qualifying Purchases of gasoline at businesses that are included in a merchant category identified as primarily selling automobile gasoline to consumers (such as Shell and Exxon stations)."
I'm thinking that supermarket gas stations might be different somehow for Amex?
Thanks for any input you can provide
@digitek wrote:I am about to get a gas card and have narrowed it to the PenFed, Fort Knox, and USAA Amex that all give 5% cash back for gas. PenFed seems to be only at the pump, Fort Knox seems to be for the whole gas station, and the USAA one I'm not really sure and am wondering about.
Does anyone know if the USAA 5% gas card gives 5% off for the whole gas station or just if paid at pump? And more importantly, can anyone tell me if they get 5% off at Kroger fuel stations with the USAA 5% gas card? I just realized that my wife's Amex BCP only gives her 1% at the Kroger pumps instead of 3% like it should for gas. For that matter, does anyone know if the Fort Knox or PenFed cards care about Kroger gas pumps?
The USAA documentation says this about the gas category:
"What are Qualifying Purchases of Gas?
"Qualifying Purchases of Gas" are Qualifying Purchases of gasoline at businesses that are included in a merchant category identified as primarily selling automobile gasoline to consumers (such as Shell and Exxon stations)."
I'm thinking that supermarket gas stations might be different somehow for Amex?
Thanks for any input you can provide
I can't give you a direct answer to your USAA question, but I do have a 'workaround' to your Kroger/BCP problem... I actually dealt with that myself before I got my Sam's Club MasterCard.
Inside the grocery store, buy yourself a Kroger gift card... there's no fee, and you can put any amount on it. It will count as a grocery purchase (so you'll get 6% cash back with the BCP) and you can use it at the Kroger pump - since it's their own gift card the usual caveats about using a prepaid product at the pump don't apply - it actually works quite well (and even prints your remaining balance on the pump receipt). Note that you won't get fuelpoints on the purchase of the GC itself.
It's not the perfect solution, but until you select a dedicated gas card it will effectively give you 6% cash back on fuel purchases. 
Hopefully somebody with USAA Amex experience will come along and answer your question soon.
Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it.
That's a pretty sweet trick UncleB, I hadn't thought about that! I thought of getting the Sam's card for gas, but closest Sam's is almost an hour from me. I might have to check it out before I pull the trigger, I've never been to one so might like it ☺️.
And thanks for the clarification joshuatree, I guess the BCP language is pretty specific whereas the Amex one is a little more open.
That's a pretty sweet trick UncleB, I hadn't thought about that! I thought of getting the Sam's card for gas, but closest Sam's is almost an hour from me. I might have to check it out before I pull the trigger, I've never been to one so might like it ☺️.
And thanks for the clarification joshuatree, I guess the BCP language is pretty specific whereas the Amex one is a little more open.
Can't answer your question about using the USAA card at Kroger but I can tell you, you get the %5 in the store and at the pump.
I definitely do NOT get the 5% at my Kroger gas. Just the 1%.
So I am assuming that their coding may vary from store to store. You think it would be all the same.
USAA gas card works at the pump and in the store. My son buys cigerettes at the gas station with my card pays me the money and I get the 5% on his purchase. I use it a lot at Wawa they have good food and stuff that is easy to grab and I get 5% on that too.
Ok, I just found something out!
I am the primary on my account, and I asked for a secondary card for my wife.
The secondary card does NOT get the 5% cashback. Those were the transactions I was looking at when I made my earlier post.
I have now tested both my (primary) card and her (secondary) card at the same pump.
Primary = 5%
Secondary = 1%