For those of us that travel on a regular basis, we know how expensive it can be. Whether you’re commuting to work, driving to visit family, or living full time on the road, gas prices can really put a dent in your bank account.

Just to put things in perspective, Rachel and I have been living on the road for the entire month of January. We’ve made our way from Ohio to Nebraska to Texas and a few other states in between. Our gas bill for the month of January is right around $900. Woof….

We’ve been looking into some ways that we can save some money at the pump and found that credit cards might be the way to go. Most big gas station companies offer credit cards that will get you discounts when you use them to pay for their gas.

Credit Cards the Save You at the Pump

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of using different credit cards for specific purchases. For example, I have an Amazon Visa credit that I use for Amazon purchases to get the 5% cashback and for grocery purchases to get the 3% cashback. I’ll then use my Venmo Visa credit card for our utility bills to get 3% cashback in that category. Whenever I’m able to pay for something with Apple Pay, I’ll use my Apple Card to get 2% cashback on every purchase.

You get the picture. I’m one of those people that has a book of different credit cards whit each one being used for a specific purpose so I can take advantage of the different rewards. While this can be tedious for every purchase, when it comes to gas, it makes more sense.

Here’s how we plan to use credit cards to save at the pump: get a credit card from the major gas stations and pay for gas along our travels with those specific credit cards at the corresponding stations.

We’ve done research on the most popular gas stations in the USA and found the ones offering discounts on gas when purchased with their special credit cards. We ended up only targeting gas stations that offered credit cards that provided a certain amount of money off your transaction, like $0.05 off per gallon. Some companies try to use a point system but that gets too confusing and forces you to take multiple steps before even getting any savings. No thanks.

Top Five Credit Cards to Save You on Gas

Here are the top five gas station credit cards and their associated perks that we’ll be getting to help us save some money as we travel across North America.

Shell

Personally, I’ve been using the Shell Fuel Rewards program for quite a few years. This is simply their loyalty program where you always get $0.03 off per gallon but have the ability to increase that to $0.05 per gallon the more you fill up at Shell locations.

You can sign up for that at any Shell gas station or online: https://join.fuelrewards.com/frconnect/registration.html

On top of the standard Fuel Rewards, you can also get the Shell Fuel Rewards Credit Card. This will save you $0.10 per gallon on every fill-up (up to 35 gallons). Unfortunately, you can’t compound the Fuel Rewards program discount with the credit card discount because Shell already builds that into the $0.10 per gallon discount.

When you sign up for the credit card, there will most likely be an introductory offer to give you even more savings. At the time of writing, when you pay with your Shell credit card, you get an extra $0.30 off per gallon for your first five fill-ups. Be sure to take advantage of that!

Shell offers two different types of credit cards, one for just the fuel discounts and one for added rebates you can get for shopping inside Shell locations. I’m more interested in the gas discounts so I went for the basic credit card option.

You can get more details on these credit cards here: https://citicards.citi.com/usc/rpg/landing/default.htm?lp=shellFRdual&BT_TX=1

Exxon Mobil

This is a credit card that will get you the most money off per gallon each fill-up that we’ve been able to find without needing to sign up for additional programs, using rebates, or accumulating points. Huge fan of the simplicity.

When you fill-up at an Exxon or Mobil gas station and pay with the ExxonMobil Smart Card, you’ll get an unlimited $0.06 off per gallon.

As with most credit cards, they periodically offer sign-up bonuses. At the time of writing, they’re currently offering a nice promotional deal. When you pay with your ExxonMobil Smart Card, you’ll get $0.30 off per gallon on every fill-up for the first two months!

You can get more information and apply online: https://www.exxon.com/en/smart-card

Chevron & Texaco

Here’s another double station card that will get you a solid $0.03 off per gallon. However, they have a variety of options that will get you saving even more.

You have two options, you can get the basic Techron Advantage Card or the Techron VISA Advantage Card. With either card, you’ll get that $0.03 off per gallon. With the VISA card, you have the ability to earn up to $0.10 off per gallon in extra savings. To do this, you’ll need to use your card to pay for things other than gas anywhere VISA is accepted. Your fuel savings are then calculated by the amount of money you spend during your billing period:
* Spend $100, earn $0.02 off per gallon
* Spend $200, earn $0.04 off per gallon
* Spend $300, earn $0.06 off per gallon
* Spend $400, earn $0.08 off per gallon
* Spend $500, earn $0.10 off per gallon

There are some special promotions associated with these cards as well. Currently, users can earn $0.06 off per gallon on PLUS and $0.08 off per gallon on Supreme/Premium when they pay with your Techron Advantage Card in the Chevron or Texaco mobile app, available for a limited time through 9/30/2022.

On top of that, new Techron Advantage Card holders will earn $0.37 off per gallon at Chevron and Texaco stations for the first 90 days.

Get more information and apply online: https://www.chevrontexacocards.com/Chevron/

BP & Amoco

Start saving big anytime you fill up at a BP of Amoco gas station! You can save up to $0.10 off per gallon with a BP credit card, just make sure you get the right one.

Following the trend, there are two different credit card options that you can choose from. The first is the standard BP Credit Card and the second is the BP VISA Credit Card. The standard BP Credit Card will get you $0.05 off per gallon and 1% cashback on anything you buy from a BP or Amoco gas station. The BP VISA Credit Card will get you that $0.10 off per gallon, 3% cashback on grocery store purchases, and 1% cashback anywhere VISA cards are accepted.

There is also a promotional offer going on that will get you $0.30 off per gallon for your first month of having either BP credit card. You’ll get $0.25 off per gallon when paying with a BP credit card and another $0.05 off per gallon if you pay with your BP credit card via the BPme mobile app.

You can learn more about this offer here: https://www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/home/products-and-services/our-rewards/credit-cards.html

Sunoco

Similar to Shell, Sunoco offers a rewards program that doesn’t require a credit card. You simply download their app and sign up. From there, any time you pay using their app, you get $0.03 off per gallon. The only catch is you need to pay for fuel at least twice each month to keep that discount going.

To increase your fuel savings at Sunoco gas stations, you can get the Sunoco Rewards Credit Card. This will get you a $0.05 discount on each fill-up. With the credit card, you don’t need to worry about how many times you fill up each month. You’ll just keep getting that $0.05 off per gallon during each fill-up.

There is a promotion currently going on where you get $0.25 off per gallon for 60 days after you activate your account and start paying with your Sunoco Rewards Credit Card. After those 60 days, you go back to your standard $0.05 off per gallon.

You can read more about their credit card here: https://www.sunoco.com/consumer-credit-cards

Be Careful with Credit Cards

Those are the top five credit cards that we’re getting to make fill-ups a little cheaper while we’re living on the road. A word of warning, be careful when it comes to using credit cards, it can be easy to rack up debt. I treat credit cards like debit cards and make sure they’re paid off every month.

If you do want to start using credit cards to get all those rewards points and discounts, gas credit cards are a great way to get started! Plus, they help save you money if you’re a heavy traveler or living on the road.

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