Best Airline Card for Gas

Citylights18 · ‎10-12-2020

I'm looking for an airline card that is at least earns 3x points on gas.

Are there any such cards across the issuers? The best I generally know of is 2x which is not great given the lower valuation of airline miles. 3x though might be a solid score.

M_Smart007 · ‎10-12-2020

A random thought, don't know if it fits the bill?

https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/propel

At least I tried

Loquat · ‎10-12-2020

I can't think of any airline card that offers 3x on fuel...not at least without some kind of temporary promo attached to it. The best I've seen is 2x across the U.S. legacy carriers.

If you don't mind me asking...is there any reason you want an airline specific card? Reason I ask is because as mentioned above, there are a lot of 3x earning card in fuel and other categories for roughly the same amount you'd spend in AF on an airline card.

Aim_High · ‎10-12-2020

@Citylights18 wrote:
I'm looking for an airline card that is at least earns 3x points on gas.
Are there any such cards across the issuers? The best I generally know of is 2x which is not great given the lower valuation of airline miles. 3x though might be a solid score.

Are you looking for airlines-specific cards or just travel cards?

Closest match that comes to mind is Citi Premier that earns 3x TY points on gas.

Regarding the Wells Fargo Propel card that @M_Smart007 mentioned which pays 3% on gas, you can make a poor man's bifecta with the Wells Fargo Visa Signature where if you combine Go Far Rewards points, you can redeem for 50% additional value on airfare through the WF travel portal and all for no annual fee. So Propel is a great choice but especially if you combine with a Visa Signature.

Short of that, you might be best just sticking to a cash back card if you have high gasoline spend and then using the cash for travel if you wish. The best gas cards I know of now are:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/gas-cards/m-p/6105506#M1737863

Business Cards

Length of Credit > 40 years; Total Credit Limits >$898K
Top Lender TCL - Chase 156.4 - BofA 99.7 - AMEX 95.0 - CITI 94.5 - NFCU 80.0
AoOA > 30 years (Jun 1993); AoYA (Feb 2024)
* Hover cursor over cards to see name & CL, or press & hold on mobile app.

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2020

This is oddly specific, I would think a point card is a better choice then you could use the points on Air travel. Fuel must be your largest expendature if that's the route you seek.

notmyrealname23 · ‎10-13-2020

Avianca miles can be purchased from LifeMiles.com at rates around 1.3-1.4 cents per mile almost all the time- so if you can find a 4% cashback card for gas, you can just use the cash to buy miles, and you are in effect getting 3x.

As Homer says...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgct3Jn8pFA

Citylights18 · ‎10-13-2020

@notmyrealname23 wrote:
Avianca miles can be purchased from LifeMiles.com at rates around 1.3-1.4 cents per mile almost all the time- so if you can find a 4% cashback card for gas, you can just use the cash to buy miles, and you are in effect getting 3x.

As Homer says...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgct3Jn8pFA

That is a creative way of looking at it. Go with a nice cash back and buy the miles when you need them.

SecretAzure · ‎10-13-2020

Omg Propel is accepting apps again? How is this not on the front page? For those infrequent travel people the card is pretty awesome...

Is what I would have said 2 years ago. This card is trash now. They removed the $100 credit for travel expenses. It now barely competes with Chase Freedom Unlimited except exclusively with gas which you may have covered with any number of other cards. The "streaming services" category has some pretty popular omissions as well (YouTube TV/YouTube Music, etc.). This is a real bummer, I still don't have a travel card and it was pretty stellar before the Chase Freedom line updates this month. I'm kind of thinking there are few $0 AF cards competing with Freedom and AOD at this point that are so versatile.

"Show your thanks with action! Hit the "Kudos" button (the stripe with the star) for every post you find helpful to show your appreciation to the community of great individuals who help you on these forums" -Me

Active Cards: Chevron Texaco, Amex BCE, Barclays Ring, Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Best Buy Visa, Marvel MC

Must garden until 2/1/2022 to hit my goal AAOA.

Citylights18 · ‎10-13-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
This is oddly specific, I would think a point card is a better choice then you could use the points on Air travel. Fuel must be your largest expendature if that's the route you seek.

My logic on this is this actually has to do with the negation of other categories.

For hotels I already have a Hyatt card which is taking in 50-75% of my hotel spend and then I have an AMEX Green for travel. Quite a few hotel cards have a nice rate for gas (I wish Hyatt was one of them) but I don't think I have room for a second hotel loyalty program.

The point issuing cards. I'm already getting 3x UR dining with the CFU and that as we all know is about as good as it gets. With MR and UR eaning do I really have space for another ecoystem? Wells Fargo duo has the 1.5 redemption which is equivalent to the CSR which you could argue is above average as far as to what an airline mile is worth (think sky peso here). Not bad but I like the idea of airline cards sporting 1:1 transfer with the MR/UR systems. Like Delta functioning as an extension of AMEX or United as an extension of Chase.

This gas card is also designed to fill in when I don't have 5% gas on the CF or on Discover which is about half the year. Whenever I have 5% category coverage I wouldn't use it. A couple options I'm considering.

-PC my Citi AA card (AF due in Feb) to a Citi Rewards+. Rewards+ is only 2x gas/groceries but with the round ups you might be getting about 2.5. I called Citi about it and they tried to scare me off saying I the miles will expire in 18 months that I earned. Well I haven't exactly earned too many miles with it so might want to take my chances there.

-Go with AMEX Blue Cash preferred and its 3% gas but also 6% grocery and streaming. However this card has an AF of $95 and I had have to put on $1600 in groceries in 6 months just to break even on that category. I don't know if its worth busting out a new card.

-Citi Premier as I can transfer miles to airline partners but I'd be absorbing an AF in process which may be tough to justify once I get beyond the bonus period for gas and groceries only. Another benefit here is no foreign transaction fees on the gas and groceries, a feature you just aren't going to get with the Freedom line. This is another card I could potentially PC to instead of going new account.

It seems to me Citi Rewards+ might be the way to go since its no-AF. An eight dollar 2x purchase at the grocery store rounds up to 20 points compared to 12 points for the CFU. However that would be 24 points with the Citi Premier. Sitting on 20+ HPs I don't know if I can even get into Citi at all right now for a new card.

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2020

I don't see very many if any non AF products that offer more than 2% on gas, aside from the Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa at 5X or the PNC Rewards Visa at 4%. However, PNC is cash back and I don't know what point system Penfed is in.

Whenever I need to fuel up I either use Bonvoy Biz at 4X points or BoA BIZ at 3% cash back, but that is rare unless I have to travel out of town.

On average I fill up once a month if that, so that category never concerns me and can be placed on any card. If I was spending what i used to several years ago on gas, i think $200-400 per month, then I could see focusing it on a particular point system to boost those earnings. Now I'm lucky if I can spend 100 in a month on fuel.