Comments on: Paying By Credit Card At the Gas Pump and Refusing To Use Cash

By: Cash “discounts” at Gas Stations | Student Scrooge

Cash “discounts” at Gas Stations | Student Scrooge — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:26:01 +0000

[...] Of course, as someone who advocates using a credit card (responsibly) as much as possible, this is a disappointing development. I wholeheartedly agree with Raymond over at Money Blue Book who listed many of the benefits of paying for gas with a credit card: [...]

By: Raymond

Raymond — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:28:54 +0000

JB,

You’re right. Cash only gas stations are almost always cheaper than “regular ones”. While location is the most determinative factor regarding gas prices, I’ve found certain gas pump brands are generally cheaper - 7-11, Costco gas stations, Hess, Citgo, etc. I personally view gas as a generic substance (like water) with little differentiating characteristics from one brand to another, so I always go for whatever is the cheapest. Of course, I always make sure they accept credit card payment though…never really got into the habit of using cash

By: JB

JB — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:50:37 +0000

I only purchase gas from ARCO in CA. ARCO does not accept credit cards at all. They accept debit cards with a .50 cent transaction fee. They have the cheapest gas in my area, so I only pay cash for gas. I am guessing the reason they are the cheapest station around is that they aren’t incurring/eating transaction fees from cc & debit cards, and they can offer the gas slightly cheaper?

Works for me!

By: Richard @ StudentScrooge

Richard @ StudentScrooge — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:28:13 +0000

I agree with you completely — paying for gas with a credit card adds both convenience and speed and makes it easy to track expenses. I would be very surprised if “banning credit cards” catches on — too many people feel the same way, I think.

Cash discounts, on the other hand… I don’t know how I feel about those. As a heavy credit card user, I don’t like it from an egotistical perspective, but that may be a fair middle ground for gas station owners to take.