Last year, I called my Credit Card company (Chase) and asked if they offered a rewards program. My parents were enrolled automatically and I wasn't (I think because I pay off my balance every month) Now that I'm enrolled I receive a point for every dollar I charge, sometimes 2 points.
3000 points yields a $25 Gift Card for a gas station!
3000 points may seem like a lot, but it adds up quickly if you charge stuff that you normally write a check for.
I use the card for every expense possible and switched from using my checking account for automatic bill payment to using the card, where it's allowed.
I bought a HCH this year and used a gift card for the second tank, the dealership paid for the first one. I have 2 more cards in my wallet and will earn another one in February.
I can't wait to compare the money spent on gas for the HCH in 2006, compared to a normal year for my Pathfinder!
So if you spend $1500 to get 3000 points, you get $25 worth of gas. That's a reward of 1.67%. If you spend $3000 to get 3000 points, that's a reward of 0.83%. Miniscule.
My suggestion to you is to dump that card like an ugly girlfriend and get a Citi Dividends Platinum or an AT&T Universal Cash Rewards. 5% cash back on any purchase made from a gas station, grocery store, or drugstore, and 1% on everything else. There's a $300 yearly reward limit, but you can get two cards of each per household.
IIRC Discover also offers a card with a 5% rebate at gas stations. Check their Web site to make sure.
IIRC Discover? Is this the NOVUS Dicover Card? If so, they rotate the items that you can earn 5% cash back on every few months. Currently it is Health related items - Health clubs, Dr and Dentist vists, Drug Stores, GNC, Lenscrafters.
I just buy a Marathon gift (gas) card. 100 bucks gets you a $104 card, and I don't have to deal with any companies, changing incentives, or anything else. (I don't spend much on the Credit Card; or in general for that matter )Then again, I'm not an engineer or math whiz.
In Pittsburgh we have a grocery chain called Giant Eagle and it owns a chain of gas stations called "Get Go". For every $50 you spend in groceries, you get 10 cents off per gallon on your next fuel purchase at Get Go up to 30 gallons. Every two weeks I fill up the Prius and the four 5 gallon gas cans that I bring with me. I usually have about 70 cents in discounts saved by then so I save $21 in gas every two weeks. Since I use a Discover Card to pay for both the groceries and the gas, I also get 1% cash back on those purchases.
The Get Go stations always have the lowest gas prices but I will have to admit that Giant Eagle doesn't have the lowest food prices. But since we have a Giant Eagle just down the hill, it's the only place that my wife will shop.
Making lemonade from lemons.
Dan
It's a Wonderful Day for Science!
Last edited by krousdb; 01-27-2006 at 01:07 PM.
Reason: clarification
That card, along with my Chase card, would be 4+5 = 9% cash back. Woot! The downside is other stations might be 4-5 cents cheaper--but you can't go there. You have to stick with the more expensive Marathon.
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I don't know about Grand Rapids, but in the Metro Detroit area, they're really quite plentiful, and if not the, close to the cheapest stations around. (Speedway here is almost always cheaper, but usually less than two cents so.)
Also helping is that there's one next to my subdivision, and plenty around in good areas, so I'm never very far from one. (Though that's not much of a problem since I got a hybrid. ) There's probably 7 within 10 miles of my home, 2 within a mile of where I house-sit, and a few close to where I teach; though I pretty much just fill up at the one next to home.
The have the same deal for lower amounts as well, $50 gets you 2 bucks free for example. I like getting the 100 (Which I believe is the max), because then I get one bill out, and that's good for three months that I don't have to think about getting gas money or anything like that.
Discover Card gives 1% off everything. AAA Card gives you 3% off all gasoline purchases. My Chase Bank card gives 5% off gasoline/food/drugs.
Sorry. Don't mean to be harsh-- just showing you could be doing better.
I'm not surprised that there's a card that yields more. I'm just happy to get anything for money spent of utilities! I just wanted to share with others how they can get free gas, without having to buy anything extra, just re-route automatic payments to a credit card, versus using a checking account.
Free Gas
)Then again, I'm not an engineer or math whiz.
) There's probably 7 within 10 miles of my home, 2 within a mile of where I house-sit, and a few close to where I teach; though I pretty much just fill up at the one next to home.
