I often read that some people buy Visa cards at grocery stores with the Amex Gold to take advantage of the 4x points. I'm not sure if Amex will close you're account because of this. I often buy gift cards at the same time I buy food to mask the gift card purchase. Not sure if that works.
Fort Knox CU is limited to certain areas of Kentucky, military, or select employer groups.
The rewards post as statement credit every month, which I am ok with. Even though their website is archaic, their phone app does have an "INSTANT BALANCE" button without even having to log in, making it very convenient. Push payment from my bank and done!
@digitek wrote:
With $200 a month gas purchase you are saving $6 a month over a normal 2% card, about $70 a year, can definitely be worth it to have a dedicated gas card if you spend enough each month, but if you only spend $100 a month on gas you're only saving about $30 a year over a normal 2% card. Just something to keep in mind..
This calculation is useful to keep in mind. I am in the range of $1,500 per year.
There is also the decision of where to buy the gas. At Fred Meyer, the gas prices are simply better. It does not code AMEX Gas in my area, but the gas price more than makes up for it, when compared to the name brand stations.
I was able to get the Chevron app to work once with PayPal, PayPal being funded this quarter by my Freedom card. The second time, the Chevron app wasn't able to authorize the PayPal, so I used Altitude Reserve on ApplePay at the pump.
Starting Score: F8 3xx
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@digitek wrote:This question comes up pretty often and it's been kind of universally accepted that the Duck's Unlimited card from FNBO is generally the best option. It has no cap, it has better acceptance (like Costco example above) and almost always codes as gas (Amex can be weird about pumps at grocery stores not counting as gas), it counts for all purchases made at gas stations and not just the pump, it also has 5% off sporting goods which while not used all that often adds another category besides gas, it is backed by FNBO which is solid - good customer service, website, and phone app (Fort Knox card is a little archaic), and it is not geofenced or requires membership. No real SUB, though, which is kind of stinks. With $200 a month gas purchase you are saving $6 a month over a normal 2% card, about $70 a year, can definitely be worth it to have a dedicated gas card if you spend enough each month, but if you only fill up once or twice a month you're only saving about $30 a year over a normal 2% card. Just something to keep in mind.
I had the NRA card which was almost exactly the same card from FNBO, except it supported NRA instead of Duck's Unlimited, but I recently got rid of it. I didn't really want to support the NRA anymore. It was a great card, though, and I recommend it. NRA card also let you design your own card with your own picture, which was cool. Not sure if you can do that with Duck's Unlimited, too, but I suspect you would.
FNBO doesn't really like credit seeking behavior, though, best to apply only if you have low recent inquiries and not a lot of new cards.
I had really wanted the Ducks card, but denied twice due to my "CREDIT SEEKING BEHAVIOR" ...
So I have settled on just using 5% Rotating cards Disco IT and Chase Freedom,
then 3% WF Propel, BoA Cash Rewards, NFCU More Rewards & BBVA Clearpoints.
I figure I am averaging around 4% or so. Is that extra 1% gonna make me rich?
I guess a few extra happy meals a year
I have the PNC cash rewards card which gives 4% on gas and 3, 2% on other categories up to 8K a year. But recently, I don't use it for gas. The DISCO and Chase rotating categories work, and in the past 6 months, Propel offered 10% off gas for a month or a single purchase in a month, 4 times. They got one going now. I'm going to hit it up tomorrow or Monday for $400 to max out the offer ($40 back + 3% = $52) by buying gift cards. That's about $1600 in gas since June on gift cards.
If you are able to spring for $400 at a time, at least until they stop offering it, it will get you 13% off gas. For me, that will be almost a year of 13% off gas, but you'll have to prepay for months of gas.
Check out the Earn More Mall offer if you have it, which expires Dec 15th. And decide if you want to do it, and you have a gas chain that codes their gift cards as gas purchases. I know Christmas time isn't the ideal time to fork out $400 in prepaid gas.
@staticvoidmain wrote:While Costco is not a 5% card, you'd save a lot more than that if you do gas up at Costco. But the only if you are already paying for Costco membership. I think it's not common to find a card that does category cashback on Costco/warehouse gas.
(e.g. AMEX had a 15% cashback promo a while back. I calculated the gas on non-Costco Gas stations near me, and Costco gas. It turns out, not only is Costco gas cheaper, it will also give me 4% back on gas, making it a grand total of 20%-ish discount).
My Costco codes as simple gas, so any category gas VISA card will work. Don't know about all Costco's and whether or not which state they are in has any effect on that.