best credit card for gas for my usage

[micvite]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@NoMoreE46 wrote:

I am gonna muddy the waters a little bit with this specific set up. 

One must use the Exxon Mobil app and pay with Apple Pay linked to their Apple card of course.  This gets the 3% back which is less than 4% or 5%...

Here's the mud. 

Using your EM App at each purchase accumulates EM points.

Each gallon of fuel  = 3 points 

100 EM points = $1.00

These EM points are can be redeemed off your entire purchase at the pump.

Now if link your AARP membership to the EM app, then you get more EM points.  This is where I am not exactly how it adds up but trusts that it works.  So in terms of cash back, I get 3% no issues via Apple cash. 

It is harder to quantify the Total cash back when including the EM and AARP bonus points redeemed at the pump.   

One may say well I am not old enough (at least 50) for AARP membership.  Full membership is for 50 and up.  Any adult can join but at the Associate membership level.   

See more here:  Link describing EM points with AARP.

I am sure someone like @Aim_High  could probably run the calculations and determine the true cash back which is greater than 3%.  

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Thanks for having faith in me, @NoMoreE46, but I'm only going to "muddy the waters" more.  I believe it would be very difficult to calculate exactly how much savings there would be for a specific individual and next-to-impossible to come up with a "one size fits all" solution.  There are just too many variables.   I believe it's possible to reap some additional savings with several caveats.  I don't think the Exxon-Mobile App combined with Apple card on Apple Pay would beat a flat 5% gas card in most cases.   However, I do think this app and similar ones could be a good "stacking" approach to reap more savings.  It would be better to link a 5% gas card to Apple Pay and stack onto it instead of using the Apple card at 3% base.

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First of all where the *bleep* were you when I had papers to right and research to do back in college lol. 

Secondly thank you so much for all the info, and well.... Yeah my cars all take premium, and yeah you're right I "COULD" drive a more fuel efficient car, and I COULD be less of a thrill seaker, but when you car does 0-60 in 2.5s it's impossible not to want to test that out at every opportunity haha... 

The electric car will basically free up my commute gas money and my spending won't be going down necesarily as I'll be taking road trips and I won't be caught taking an electric car further than half it's range even if you paid me to. I'm not going to sit there and wait for it to charge haha. So it's just a simple matter of relocating my expenses haha. I've done the math and buying a new 70k electric car is cheaper than me running any of my current or future vehicles for daily driving hence the change. I basically get to own another cool car for free so why not? 

I also try to go to costco as it's sometimes cheaper, but area depends greatly... the closest costco to me, 45 minutes away is still 30c over what my friend pays 1.5 hours away, so I have cheaper options like sinclair or conocco near my house that are the same as the costco prices somehow. Closest to where I live I have sinclair at 3.49 and wawas at 3.69 for 93 octane. thankfully I'm not quite up to 3.88  yet!

[Gollum]

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@micvite wrote:

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@Gollum wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

Gas is by far my biggest spending category outside of dining, typically 300-500 a week spent on gas. That's not set to change until my new electric car gets ordered late next year. I know there are plenty of 3% cash back cards, theres even the 4% from PNC or the 5x points from penfed (not sure how great those are in terms of redemption). But what is the best rewards card for gas? either a 5% cashback or something that's going to be good on points that I can redeem for air travel at good rates (cap1 we're looking at you're terrible miles)

Edit: found the abound visa for 5% CB on gas, anything better for points?

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Micvite,

Your gasoline useage seems like an outlier.

I pay for gasoline using my American Express Blue Cash Everyday credit card. The 2% cash back is good enough for me.

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I mean nothing against 2% but that's just the norm nowadays with all of these ccs offering 2% back on everything. and while 5% back assuming my 500 a week avg (its usually higher in the summer) would be $1300 a year, that same spending would net me 100+k points at 4 points a dollar and depending on redemptions that's quite a bit more.

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Depending on how well maintained your car is, changing the spark plugs and the distributor cap can result in twice the gas mileage.

[micvite]

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@Gollum wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

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@Gollum wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

Gas is by far my biggest spending category outside of dining, typically 300-500 a week spent on gas. That's not set to change until my new electric car gets ordered late next year. I know there are plenty of 3% cash back cards, theres even the 4% from PNC or the 5x points from penfed (not sure how great those are in terms of redemption). But what is the best rewards card for gas? either a 5% cashback or something that's going to be good on points that I can redeem for air travel at good rates (cap1 we're looking at you're terrible miles)

Edit: found the abound visa for 5% CB on gas, anything better for points?

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Micvite,

Your gasoline useage seems like an outlier.

I pay for gasoline using my American Express Blue Cash Everyday credit card. The 2% cash back is good enough for me.

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I mean nothing against 2% but that's just the norm nowadays with all of these ccs offering 2% back on everything. and while 5% back assuming my 500 a week avg (its usually higher in the summer) would be $1300 a year, that same spending would net me 100+k points at 4 points a dollar and depending on redemptions that's quite a bit more.

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Depending on how well maintained your car is, changing the spark plugs and the distributor cap can result in twice the gas mileage.

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Well one car is a 2022 bmw m5 so I'd assume pretty well maintained from the factory, the other is a 600 wheel horsepower 2000 mustang gt with a supercharger, and last but not least a 2005 e55 amg with 550 hp. It's not the spark plugs, it's big thirsty v8 made worse plus me seeing how quickly I can get from one light to the next baha

[Crowhelm]

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@Adkins wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

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@Adkins wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

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@Hoben02 wrote:

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@username7 wrote:

Citi Custom Cash or Sams Club MC - both 5%

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>the citi custom cash the points can be transformed citi thank you points which are transferable miles

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yup, I'm aware, I do that with my double cash too. only issue is the 500$ cap on rewards

Edit: @Hoben02 do you know if the costco card can transfer CB to thank you points? I'm honestly considering something else that earns TYP just because I only have the 1 DC card and that sort of inhibits any big earning since dining typically goes to AMEX, discover sees 5% rotating, and DC is everything else. Like I only have 800$ CB stored in the card from the beginning of the year (aka 80k points) compared to close to 500k MR points on my amex since beginning of the year. if the costco card can turn 4% gas to TYP that's probably my best bet.1

EDIT2: Looks like according to citi website the cashback is just a costco giftcard at the beginning of the year...

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No, you get a cash certificate that can be used at Costco. Depending on the Costco associate, you can get straight cash back for it, but it's at their discretion. The easiest way to is buy something small and use the certificate to get the remaining cash back. 

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Ah, gotcha. Sadly no points. I'll have to do some math and see if 3x points is worth it compared to say 5% cashback in that case. 

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Yeah, no points. The Costco card is backed by Citi but it's in it's own ecosystem. And I think the Costco is 4% cashback for gas but has a higher limit than Sam's Club 5% cashback card. 

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Plus, around here Costco gas is at least 15 cents cheaper per gallon compared to Sam's Club. But I dislike the yearly thing with that card, no thanks.

[Aim_High]

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@micvite wrote:

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Well one car is a 2022 BMW M5

   ... the other is a 600 wheel horsepower 2000 Ford Mustang GT with a supercharger

        ..... and last but not least a 2005 Mercedes Benz E55 AMG with 550 hp

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Well, at least that further explains your opening statement, @micvite! 

"Gas is by far my biggest spending category outside of dining, typically 300-500 a week spent on gas."

Jeez, no wonder!

Nice rides but obviously not an emphasis on fuel economy with your thriftiest engine at "only" 550 hp! 

Life is all a trade-off in priorities.  If you like muscle cars, more power to you. (Pun intended.)  Lol   As I mentioned, I don't drive the most economical car either and enjoy some sporty driving so I just consider that a part of the overall cost involved in that pleasure.  From my experience owning a variety of brands, luxury and higher-performance cars carry a lot of other costs besides the fuel economy to include the higher price tags, higher insurance, and higher maintenance costs.   IMO, the fuel savings for you at this point is minor!   Besides the obvious savings of a small percentage at the pump and adding the electric car for in-town driving, there may be opportunies for other even more significant savings.  

I hope this thread gave you some good ideas on cards for more fuel savings!  Any ideas on which ones will work best for you?

[micvite]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@micvite wrote:

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Well one car is a 2022 BMW M5

   ... the other is a 600 wheel horsepower 2000 Ford Mustang GT with a supercharger

        ..... and last but not least a 2005 Mercedes Benz E55 AMG with 550 hp

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Well, at least that further explains your opening statement, @micvite! 

"Gas is by far my biggest spending category outside of dining, typically 300-500 a week spent on gas."

Jeez, no wonder!

Nice rides but obviously not an emphasis on fuel economy with your thriftiest engine at "only" 550 hp! 

Life is all a trade-off in priorities.  If you like muscle cars, more power to you. (Pun intended.)  Lol   As I mentioned, I don't drive the most economical car either and enjoy some sporty driving so I just consider that a part of the overall cost involved in that pleasure.  From my experience owning a variety of brands, luxury and higher-performance cars carry a lot of other costs besides the fuel economy to include the higher price tags, higher insurance, and higher maintenance costs.   IMO, the fuel savings for you at this point is minor!   Besides the obvious savings of a small percentage at the pump and adding the electric car for in-town driving, there may be opportunies for other even more significant savings.  

I hope this thread gave you some good ideas on cards for more fuel savings!  Any ideas on which ones will work best for you?

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Yup, but you know the old adage, you get what you pay for lol. The maintenence doesn't matter, I own a repair shop so... you get the idea😉. I just want to get something useful out of the spending.  I'm probably going to go with citi or wyndham as I prefer points to cb (even though I'm still clueless how to use them effectively lol)

The electric car plus insurance isn't going to really save me much, but why not get another car if it's going to cost the same to drive my other cars or get a fancy 2023 i4 ya know?

[NoMoreE46]

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Ha @micvite !

I know right?

You will come to realize that @Aim_High is freakin' awesome at this type of analysis.    In a lot of his detailed posts, I have to read them like seven times to understand everything in them.  

PS,  An option to assuage the need for speed/thrills with a balance on fuel economy:  Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R.   
While it may be a fraction slower to 0-60, it gets at least 30 MPG...

@micvite wrote:

First of all where the *bleep* were you when I had papers to right and research to do back in college lol. 

Secondly thank you so much for all the info, and well.... Yeah my cars all take premium, and yeah you're right I "COULD" drive a more fuel efficient car, and I COULD be less of a thrill seaker, but when you car does 0-60 in 2.5s it's impossible not to want to test that out at every opportunity haha... 

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[micvite]

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@NoMoreE46 wrote:

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Ha @micvite !

I know right?

You will come to realize that @Aim_High is freakin' awesome at this type of analysis.    In a lot of his detailed posts, I have to read them like seven times to understand everything in them.  

PS,  An option to assuage the need for speed/thrills with a balance on fuel economy:  Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R.   
While it may be a fraction slower to 0-60, it gets at least 30 MPG...

@micvite wrote:

First of all where the *bleep* were you when I had papers to right and research to do back in college lol. 

Secondly thank you so much for all the info, and well.... Yeah my cars all take premium, and yeah you're right I "COULD" drive a more fuel efficient car, and I COULD be less of a thrill seaker, but when you car does 0-60 in 2.5s it's impossible not to want to test that out at every opportunity haha... 

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I'm still paying off my 2019 ninja 650 lol... I don't think I'd be able to handle a 14r, maybe a ninja 1000 at most haha... and yeah I get like 50mpg doing 80)) I just don;t like using it for commutes, one reason being my glasses get smooshed lol.

[Anonymous]

This thread started with the OP mentioning the AboundCU Visa Platinum that gives 5% cash back on fuel purchases. I recently received that card, and now I noticed that they have a 5% cash back at Amazon through the end of the year. They don't publish their cash back categories that I can tell, they just notify you that they are available.

I can use my Discover at Amazon for 5% cash back, but it's nice to have an alternative, also there is no cap on what you can earn!

[micvite]

Sorry to open up a long time thread again, but I'm surprised that no one mentioned the Amex business gold. I think that's what I'll end up going with as I can get 4x MR points and since that's my main points ecosystem anyway it'll be a good fit for me. Sadly there's no benefits with the AF but I'm hoping they'll give me nice retention offers lol.