Cheap Gas - Arco and Safeway

Contributed by mm | August 22, 2003 10:38 PM PST

For the whole year of 2000 I was filling gas in Arco more than 50% of the time. Although it charges 35c transaction fee and only accepts debit card, it offers very low price in deed.

Recently I found safeway gas station (Bel-Red Rd, 140th Ave) to be an even better place to fill my tank. It usually offers a bit higher price (3c/gallon more), but offers 3c/gallon discount to safeway grocery card owners (I am one of them). Moreover, it accepts credit cards, which means I can get 1% cash back too. Adding the 35c transaction fee I saved, I can be better off by 50c or more in a regular fill.

I am looking for a credit card which may give me more rebates in gas. Considering my annual spending on gas tops $1,000, any 1% saving means $10 to me every year with no effort.

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Comments

>>> Sean Commented on March 31, 2005

I, too, thought that Arco didn't accept anything other than debit cards, and that I had to pay that blasted $0.35 transaction fee for using plastic...until I found an Arco station on my regularly traveled route that accepts credit cards. Strangely, they don't advertise this fact, and instead of charging $0.35, they charge $0.45, but only if you use a debit card. More interestingly, they accept American Express (Blue Cash), which is nearly unheard of for a gas station. My point here is that you should always check the limits of what you can do with your plastic.

Now, instead of paying that transaction fee, I will get cheaper gas at Arco, and when I finally get the 5% cashback Citi Dividend Platinum card I'm lusting after, I'll net about $68.70 in cashback just on my gas purchases.

For those who have a Pocket PC and care about such things, there is a great program that tracks vehicle-related expenses, gas fillups, gives maintenance reminders, and most importantly to me, tells me what kind of mileage I'm getting. Very handy for assessing your driving habits' effect on your mileage, as well as giving you a heads-up for car problems when mileage drops.

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