topic Re: USAA 5% on gasoline in Credit Cards

USAA 5% on gasoline

LuckyBird — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:31:00 GMT

I'm not sure if this is a new card or not - you guys may already know about it. I just got an email from USAA saying I'm pre-selected for their Cashback Rewards Plus Amex, which gives 5% cash back on gas (and military base purchases) on $3,000 of combined purchases yearly. Not a quarterly thing, all the time.

(Also 2% on grocery up to $3,000 (meh) and 1% on everything else, unlimited).

This is the first card I've heard of with 5% back on gas year-round. Anybody have it?

~ LuckyBird

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Gmood1 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:40:18 GMT

I don't have that one but PenFed and Fort Knox FCU offer a card that gives 5% unlimited year round.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

LuckyBird — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:44:21 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
I don't have that one but PenFed and Fort Knox FCU offer a card that gives 5% unlimited year round.

Wow! I had no idea. I thought it was cool that between Discover & Freedom we get it half the time, lol!

Thanks for the info!

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:48:29 GMT

It does look like a good card. I live car-free, so it wouldn't benefit me, but pretty good deal if you use it in combination with the Visa 1.5% card....that's the USAA card I plan to get in the coming weeks. Also, if you shop on a military base then that looks like another good benefit. But it seems like a card you'd only use for the special categories.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

LuckyBird — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 20:56:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It does look like a good card. I live car-free, so it wouldn't benefit me, but pretty good deal if you use it in combination with the Visa 1.5% card....that's the USAA card I plan to get in the coming weeks. Also, if you shop on a military base then that looks like another good benefit. But it seems like a card you'd only use for the special categories.

I agree. I'm not planning to get it...in fact, I'm about to close the USAA card I do have because I don't use it. I was just trying to spread the word, but as usually seems to be the case I'm behind the times & there are other cards out there with the 5% gas. I thought I had some big news!

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

UncleB — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 21:03:24 GMT

@LuckyBird wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
It does look like a good card. I live car-free, so it wouldn't benefit me, but pretty good deal if you use it in combination with the Visa 1.5% card....that's the USAA card I plan to get in the coming weeks. Also, if you shop on a military base then that looks like another good benefit. But it seems like a card you'd only use for the special categories.
I agree. I'm not planning to get it...in fact, I'm about to close the USAA card I do have because I don't use it. I was just trying to spread the word, but as usually seems to be the case I'm behind the times & there are other cards out there with the 5% gas. I thought I had some big news!

Thanks for thinking of us!

Another alternative for 5% cash back on gas is the Sam's Club MasterCard... it's my go-to for my monthly fill-up. I believe the new Costco Visa gives 4% cash back on fuel purchases as well.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Appleman — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 21:19:36 GMT

Thank you for sharing, I am sure some have not seen or been offered this perk. I have had that on both of my USAA CCs for years. They sent me the offer to get the yearly (limited) 5% CB for gas swipes.

I told my parents about it and she was upset that she did not have the offer and called USAA. They signed my parents up as well at their request.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

RonM21 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 23:00:28 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
I don't have that one but PenFed and Fort Knox FCU offer a card that gives 5% unlimited year round.

My Penfed does also

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

woodyman100 — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 23:13:01 GMT

DW has 2 of 'em for $6k total. I buy that much in fuel for work, they reimburse and I get the 5%

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

gibeon — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 23:20:01 GMT

I have it. Drive less than $3,000 of gas per year so it works great for me.

I've had it since November 2015 and it is eligible for a cli in another week or so. Hoping for an auto increase like they gave on my classic Amex.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

digitek — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 23:37:54 GMT

The first card I ever got was the normal USAA amex cash back card. I called a few minutes ago to see if they could upgrade the card and the person on the phone said that I would just have to apply for it like normal and keep the old card, too. I don't really want another credit card, I have 3 now, and was hoping to keep the old account open but just upgraded to the new card.

The girl on the phone didn't really seem to know what I was talking about. I'm wondering if you think I should maybe call again? I thought this was kind of a common thing. Same issuer, same type of card (AMEX), and upgrade isn't possible?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

LuckyBird — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 23:43:55 GMT

@digitek wrote:
The first card I ever got was the normal USAA amex cash back card. I called a few minutes ago to see if they could upgrade the card and the person on the phone said that I would just have to apply for it like normal and keep the old card, too. I don't really want another credit card, I have 3 now, and was hoping to keep the old account open but just upgraded to the new card.

The girl on the phone didn't really seem to know what I was talking about. I'm wondering if you think I should maybe call again? I thought this was kind of a common thing. Same issuer, same type of card (AMEX), and upgrade isn't possible?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Some issuers do allow product changes, but some do not. I really don't know USAA's stance on it...sorry I'm no help with that. Hopefully someone who does know will chime in on it.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 00:54:36 GMT

Mine is a USAA AmEX and it is a 5/2/1 card
Gas/groceries/Everything else for sure....for the most part it's my GAS only card.

Got approved for 3 cards on one pull, when I opened my USAA membership I'm February
Visa sight
Rate Advantage Visa and the
AmEx

The AmEx has the best cash back rewards but also the highest % rate and lowest CL (2500) of the 3... in fairness it was the 3rd of 3 apps....
Had it been the 1st app run may have been different, who knows?

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

UncleB — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 11:13:57 GMT

@LuckyBird wrote:
@digitek wrote:
The first card I ever got was the normal USAA amex cash back card. I called a few minutes ago to see if they could upgrade the card and the person on the phone said that I would just have to apply for it like normal and keep the old card, too. I don't really want another credit card, I have 3 now, and was hoping to keep the old account open but just upgraded to the new card.

The girl on the phone didn't really seem to know what I was talking about. I'm wondering if you think I should maybe call again? I thought this was kind of a common thing. Same issuer, same type of card (AMEX), and upgrade isn't possible?

Thanks for any help you can give.
Some issuers do allow product changes, but some do not. I really don't know USAA's stance on it...sorry I'm no help with that. Hopefully someone who does know will chime in on it.

Many people have found getting a PC to be elusive with USAA, but I have read of at least one person on here a few months back having luck with a PC, although in that member's case the card remained on the same network (Visa) and just changed to a different rewards program.

The member was also able to get the APR lowered, which is also elusive for most people with USAA (they are seemingly second only to Chase and Capital One with the static APRs), so it might have been either a 'fluke' or a really knowledgeable CSR... there's no way to know for sure.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

digitek — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 13:56:39 GMT

Thanks for the reply.

I suspected that they were able to change the rewards because when I called them earlier this year they mentioned something about changes being suspended while they switched from Mastercard to Visa. It was mentioned in passing when getting my wife a credit card.

It would be the same card (AMEX) at the same company, and I'm not concerned with lowering the APR (I pay in full each month).

Think I might have to give them another call

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 14:39:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Mine is a USAA AmEX and it is a 5/2/1 card
Gas/groceries/Everything else for sure....for the most part it's my GAS only card.

Got approved for 3 cards on one pull, when I opened my USAA membership I'm February
Visa sight
Rate Advantage Visa and the
AmEx

The AmEx has the best cash back rewards but also the highest % rate and lowest CL (2500) of the 3... in fairness it was the 3rd of 3 apps....
Had it been the 1st app run may have been different, who knows?

Wow you went for the trio! Nice.

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 15:20:14 GMT

@Gmood1 wrote:
I don't have that one but PenFed and Fort Knox FCU offer a card that gives 5% unlimited year round.

Yes, the Penfed Cash Rewards will give unlimited 5% (if you meet a few conditions) and the Penfed Plat Rewards gives unlimited 5 points per $ which is about 4.15%

Amex OBC also gives 5% on gas, up to a spend of $50K per year (combined with grocery and drug store) once you meet the yearly threshold

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

digitek — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 21:23:35 GMT

Yeah so I called again and got someone who sounded like they knew what was going on and she said she was 100% sure that they don't do Product Changes for this particular AMEX card. Guess I'll figure something out.

I have the USAA Preferred Cash Rewards Signature Visa, 0% Foreign Transaction fee and 1.5% unlimited cash back. I also have the Citi Double Cash World Elite Mastercard, 2% unlimited cash back. Was hoping to get one just for groceries/gas.

My wife has the AMEX Blue cash preferred and we spend about $750 a month on groceries. Thats about 9000 a year, not sure if the $95 annual fee for the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred would be worth it for me. Guess it would still save us about $50 or so (really its about $85 but I could get 2% already so its just saving me 4% of 3000). Not really sure if the regular Blue Cash would be worth it either (I can already get 2% cash back on gas with Citi DC), and only save 1% on about 3000 in groceries a year (about $30).

Actually pretty sure I'm not going to worry about the Product Change or an AMEX. I was just reading about what they consider gas stations. I work from home 4 days a week and only fill up about twice a month, and when I do its at a Kroger that sells gas and I get .10 off each gallon for each $100 spent on groceries at Kroger. Each time I fill up its about .40 cents off, which is about 14% off. Turns out that AMEX does not consider this a gas station.

This has turned out to be way more complicated than I expected...

Re: USAA 5% on gasoline

UncleB — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 21:42:23 GMT

@digitek wrote:
Yeah so I called again and got someone who sounded like they knew what was going on and she said she was 100% sure that they don't do Product Changes for this particular AMEX card. Guess I'll figure something out.

I have the USAA Preferred Cash Rewards Signature Visa, 0% Foreign Transaction fee and 1.5% unlimited cash back. I also have the Citi Double Cash World Elite Mastercard, 2% unlimited cash back. Was hoping to get one just for groceries/gas.

My wife has the AMEX Blue cash preferred and we spend about $750 a month on groceries. Thats about 9000 a year, not sure if the $95 annual fee for the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred would be worth it for me. Guess it would still save us about $50 or so (really its about $85 but I could get 2% already so its just saving me 4% of 3000). Not really sure if the regular Blue Cash would be worth it either (I can already get 2% cash back on gas with Citi DC), and only save 1% on about 3000 in groceries a year (about $30).

Actually pretty sure I'm not going to worry about the Product Change or an AMEX. I was just reading about what they consider gas stations. I work from home 4 days a week and only fill up about twice a month, and when I do its at a Kroger that sells gas and I get .10 off each gallon for each $100 spent on groceries at Kroger. Each time I fill up its about .40 cents off, which is about 14% off. Turns out that AMEX does not consider this a gas station.

This has turned out to be way more complicated than I expected...

I agree, nothing is as simple as it once was.

You're exactly right about Kroger being excluded for gas on Amex... it was one of the first 'test' purchases I made when I got my BCP, and I was disappointed to find out the documentation was very precise - they definitely didn't overlook it. On the other hand, on my Sam's Club MasterCard Kroger is also listed as an 'exclusion' yet I do get 5% back off all purchases at the Kroger fuel island (even when I buy a bag of ice it's treated as 'fuel'). I don't know if this is a 'fluke' unique to my Kroger store or is like this everywhere, but if you have a Sam's Club MC it's worth trying out.

If you have grocery expenses at $9000+ per year it sounds like you would do quite well with the BCP as long as your purchases are at an actual 'grocery' store (Kroger, Publix, etc.) and not Wal-Mart or Target SuperCenters. The break-even point with the BCP over the BCE is now approx. $265/month; if you spend that much or more on groceries you'll earn more cash with the BCP even after you subtract the annual fee (before the AF increase, the 'break even' amount was $210, you might still see that on older threads). You'll earn 6% on grocery purchases up to $6000, and 1% on grocery purchases after that (of course if you have a BCE as well you might consider putting that last $3k on it, since you would earn 3%, still better than 1%). Also don't forget the BCP gives you 3% cash back on many of the 'big' stores at the mall (Sears, J.C. Penney's, etc) which can be helpful as well.

I'm sorry you got nowhere with USAA... I was really hoping you would have some new information for us. In any case, things are always changing, and just because they said 'no' today doesn't mean in the future they won't be more reasonable.