topic Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not? in Credit Cards

Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

expatCanuck — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:32:32 GMT

Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

kilroy8 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:47:57 GMT

Well, during gas quarters, you typically will get 5% cash back. This would be worth more unless gas goes under $2/gallon.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

expatCanuck — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:55:47 GMT

Thanks, @kilroy8.

Good point. Currently, I only have Disco -- don't expect to have the CF until November.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

randomguy1 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:58:06 GMT

Load up on gas cards during drugstore, grocery store, and gas station quarters and forgo the card. Only thing is you need to prepay. Or just go electric. 😊

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

kilroy8 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:00:33 GMT

Only marginally related, but I don't think most should swipe at the pump anyway.

Skimmers are everywhere.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:01:02 GMT

@expatCanuck wrote:
Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?

That's a better rebate than they used to offer (5c). Depending on the price of gas in your area, that might beat the 4% cards. At $2.50/gallon, that's 4%.

I never could justify getting a Shell card, I looked at one about 6 months ago. My 4% card gets me almost 12 cents a gallon. At 10c, that's very competitive, much better than 5c.

If you don't have a 4% gas card, gas is cheap in your area, and Shell gas is not more expensive than other stations, it would be worth getting.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

M_Smart007 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:53:47 GMT

@expatCanuck wrote:
Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?

Sure is a pretty card

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

KJinNC — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 20:03:07 GMT

I thought this thread already existed, or maybe a similar one recently?

I would suggest instead getting the Shell loyalty card, which gives 5 cents per gallon every time. It may give more depending on some other kind of complicated uses that I don't bother tracking.

The loyalty card is like a grocery store loyalty card. No credit check and no effect on credit reports. The only downside is that you use two cards, not one card, when you buy gas. Loyalty card to trigger 5 cent discount, then your credit card to pay.

Stack that with whatever your best card is for gas (mine is 3%), and you will typically save about 12 cents a gallon at current prices. Of course, this will fluctuate based on prices, but will usually beat 10 cents per gallon.

JMO. Good luck!

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

expatCanuck — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 20:53:19 GMT

@Anonymous- may I ask what card offers 4% on gas?

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 21:02:24 GMT

PNC cash rewards, up to 8,000 per year total (with other categories, restaurants etc). There is one or two more, not sure which ones. I also have DISCOVER and Chase Freedom, which covers part of the year at 5% with rotating cats.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

KJinNC — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 21:19:57 GMT

Ducks Unlimited is 5%

Costco and Sam's have good percentages for gas, but redemption is weird and you need to be a club member

I think there is also a credit union in Kentucky (I want to say Fort Knox Credit Union) with a 5% gas card

But 3/2/1 rewards cards are a dime a dozen. That's what I use, my Coastal card, until I am able to get a Ducks Unlimited card.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

K-in-Boston — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 22:30:20 GMT

@expatCanuck wrote:
Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?

It looks like the card also has a 10% rebate (up to $120 in statement credits) in the first year. But after the first year, the card may or may not make sense. For me, my car requires 93 octane fuel and even though I live in one of the lower-cost states for gasoline, $0.10 off a gallon would be 3% back at best. It's also worth noting that the 10 cents is a combination of 5 cents for the card and 5 cents for Fuel Rewards Gold, which is very easy to obtain and maintain for anyone who regularly fills up at Shell. So the card itself is really only 5 cents off per gallon.

Personally, I think you'd do much better with having the Fuel Rewards program and any category card that gives a bonus for gas. When gas isn't a 5 UR category on Freedom (or more commonly through Chase Pay, although that app is going away soon) my default is Citi Premier since the 3x travel category gives me 3.75% toward travel on top of the Fuel Rewards. Also add on the Dunkin Donuts offer where you get an additional 5 cents per gallon for every 5 coffees purchased, and I typically have 25-30 cents off per gallon every time I fill up. I don't really spend much for gasoline unless doing road trips, so it's not huge but it's easy for me to rack up savings.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

JNA1 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:05:53 GMT

I have the PNC cash rewards, and the 4% gas and 3% restaurants adds up cash back pretty quickly! I got this card less than a month ago and we’ve already racked up $18.73 in cash back. There is a $25 minimum redemption threshold, but we’ll average $21 per month based on our average spend for gas and dining. There is an $8000 on 4/3/2% categories, so we’ll only use it for gas and restaurants, and with the 5% quarters on my Discover, we’ll never max out the $8000 cap.

So far, I really like the card.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:11:38 GMT

Why not the Ducks Unlimited? Uncapped 5% for gas. I opened my account in April of last year and I’ve already gotten 200 in cash back, with almost 25 ready to claim already

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:13:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why not the Ducks Unlimited? Uncapped 5% for gas. I opened my account in April of last year and I’ve already gotten 200 in cash back, with almost 25 ready to claim already

Can anyone get that card, or is it regional?

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:37:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Why not the Ducks Unlimited? Uncapped 5% for gas. I opened my account in April of last year and I’ve already gotten 200 in cash back, with almost 25 ready to claim already
Can anyone get that card, or is it regional?

The Ducks card is not geofenced. FNBO's core cards are however.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:56:10 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@expatCanuck wrote:
Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?
It looks like the card also has a 10% rebate (up to $120 in statement credits) in the first year. But after the first year, the card may or may not make sense. For me, my car requires 93 octane fuel and even though I live in one of the lower-cost states for gasoline, $0.10 off a gallon would be 3% back at best. It's also worth noting that the 10 cents is a combination of 5 cents for the card and 5 cents for Fuel Rewards Gold, which is very easy to obtain and maintain for anyone who regularly fills up at Shell. So the card itself is really only 5 cents off per gallon.

Personally, I think you'd do much better with having the Fuel Rewards program and any category card that gives a bonus for gas. When gas isn't a 5 UR category on Freedom (or more commonly through Chase Pay, although that app is going away soon) my default is Citi Premier since the 3x travel category gives me 3.75% toward travel on top of the Fuel Rewards. Also add on the Dunkin Donuts offer where you get an additional 5 cents per gallon for every 5 coffees purchased, and I typically have 25-30 cents off per gallon every time I fill up. I don't really spend much for gasoline unless doing road trips, so it's not huge but it's easy for me to rack up savings.

If you have cell service through T-Mobile, you can stack an additional ~10c/gallon once a week through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app. (Previously it was much higher, though only offered maybe once a month at best.) There was one holiday season where stacking a Chase Pay promo + normal Fuel Rewards + T-Mobile got me 50c/gallon off--on top of the CC bonus points.

Anyway, definitely concurring with the point that a gas CC (especially Shell's) probably isn't worth it.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 00:13:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Why not the Ducks Unlimited? Uncapped 5% for gas. I opened my account in April of last year and I’ve already gotten 200 in cash back, with almost 25 ready to claim already
Can anyone get that card, or is it regional?

Anyone can get it

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Gmood1 — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 00:24:51 GMT

I stack the T-Mobile Tuesday/Fuel rewards discount of 15 cents a gallon with my Penfed Cash rewards CC( no longer offered from Penfed) that gives a 5% discount. This adds up to roughly 25 cents a gallon in discounts every week.

Re: Citi Shell MasterCard -- why not?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 02:25:05 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@expatCanuck wrote:
Typically get my gas at Shell -- a local station where my Giant points are applied.

I wouldn't mind an additional $.10/gallon.

Other than an INQ and a stupid low limit, any reason not to?
It looks like the card also has a 10% rebate (up to $120 in statement credits) in the first year. But after the first year, the card may or may not make sense. For me, my car requires 93 octane fuel and even though I live in one of the lower-cost states for gasoline, $0.10 off a gallon would be 3% back at best. It's also worth noting that the 10 cents is a combination of 5 cents for the card and 5 cents for Fuel Rewards Gold, which is very easy to obtain and maintain for anyone who regularly fills up at Shell. So the card itself is really only 5 cents off per gallon.

Personally, I think you'd do much better with having the Fuel Rewards program and any category card that gives a bonus for gas. When gas isn't a 5 UR category on Freedom (or more commonly through Chase Pay, although that app is going away soon) my default is Citi Premier since the 3x travel category gives me 3.75% toward travel on top of the Fuel Rewards. Also add on the Dunkin Donuts offer where you get an additional 5 cents per gallon for every 5 coffees purchased, and I typically have 25-30 cents off per gallon every time I fill up. I don't really spend much for gasoline unless doing road trips, so it's not huge but it's easy for me to rack up savings.

So it looks like it's still a 5c off card, since you need not get the credit card to get 5 of the 10c off.

Looks like the best way to go is to get a card with gas rewards, like Ducks or PNC.