Fuel Discount cards for smaller RVs?

Kirk W · January 26, 2022

In another thread about TSD discount cards it has become apparent to me that those cards have very little value to me with my truck and smaller travel trailer or to those who use gasoline to fuel their RVs. In our travesl this past summer I became aware that most bit truck stops have gasoline prices that are about the same as smaller stations nearby but that the diesel was typically 20Ȼ to 30Ȼ above the price of the nearby gasoline stations. Because I use the Gas Buddy app on my phone to choose where I buy gasoline for the car or diesel for our pickup truck, I frequently see their advertisements for a Gas Buddy discount card and now Escapees have also introduced one. So my question is, do you use one of the other discount cards and/or would it be cost effective to do so. To date I have just avoided buying my diesel at truck stops as they usually have lighted price signs to make it very easy to see when their diesel prices have been inflated to absorb the discounts of the commercial truck discount cards, but with all I am hearing about these two I have begun to consider them. And also, do you know of other discount cards for those with smaller rigs or who burn gasoline?

trailertraveler · January 26, 2022

I have found that the cashback on fuel credit cards give a lot of flexibility in where to purchase fuel. Penn Federal and at times Discover and Visa give 5% cashback on fuel purchases. At $3.00/gal that is $0.15/gal. Combining that with a Shell or other loyalty card that gives $0.05/gal or the Good Sam $0.08/gal at Pilot/FlyingJ puts the savings over $0.20/gal. There is also an American Express Card that gives 6% cashback on Groceries and 3% on fuel, but it has an annual fee ($95). If you shop at any of the several Kroger owned stores, the base discount at their fuel stations and Shell stations is $0.03/gallon (more if you have enough purchases for the month). This can also be combined with a Credit Card discount.

Will B. · January 27, 2022

While I drive an F-350 and a 44' toy hauler, I'm not always hooked up. Yes, I need diesel, but Gas Buddy has been somewhat useful for me. I actually signed up for and received their card. It works just like TSD, draft from a bank account. When you use it (where it's accepted, which has been 95% of the places I've tried), you save a guaranteed 3 cents. Not much, I get that. But, using the app, there are sometimes "deals" you can activate. I'm guessing you know about this. Those savings have been dramatic on occasion.

It would be my opinion that if you're looking to a credit card that gives points, I'd look at one that gives you something you'll always spend. Either cash (like Capital One does on some flavors). For me, I'm an Amazon junkie...always needing something. 99% of all my purchases go through my Chase Amazon Visa. Seems like everytime I order something on Amazon, it's "free"!

I have no experience with Flying J. I'm still mad that TSD had to kill the relationship because of Good Sam a couple years ago.

palmeris · January 27, 2022

My issue with Gas buddy CARD was the daily limit, think it was something like 21 gallons a day that you get the discount, then you cant pump any more on the card. So if you have a smaller tank or dont mind spreading out your fill up over multiple days it might work for you.

Also they are a huge marketing app, deals that you can click on to activate then use with in X amount of time before deal expires, stuff like that. For some folks they may find a value with that kind of stuff, for me it just seems a lot of hoops to jump through for 21 gallons of fuel discount.

I used it once for a savings of $2.08 , then had to reset the pump and use another card to finish my fill up.

They also were inidiating with marketing emails of all the "deals" in the area that you can click on.. turned that off in the account settings.

Again for me to much other stuff and not enough gallons so i dont use it any more

Edited January 27, 2022 by palmeris

Kirk W · January 27, 2022

46 minutes ago, palmeris said:

My issue with Gas buddy CARD was the daily limit, think it was something like 21 gallons a day that you get the discount, then you cant pump any more on the card.

This comes from the Gas Buddy website:

Quote

To help prevent abuse and fraud, there is a $75 daily limit and a $300 weekly limit on all Pay With GasBuddy cards. Once either limit is reached, the pump will stop, and the transaction will be complete.Mar 10, 2021

palmeris · January 27, 2022

Thanks Kirk, knew there was some type of limit that I was hitting when I used it the one time...makes sense to be a dollar amount....with the current price per gallon that could end up being a teacup full of fuel these days...however its an option to have in the wallet...

GeorgiaHybrid · January 28, 2022

Kirk, I thought Escapees has a discount fuel program? I heard somewhere (probably wrong...) that TSD was looking into adding the gas islands at the truck stops to their plan. Don't know if that is correct or not and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on it.

Kirk W · January 28, 2022

9 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Kirk, I thought Escapees has a discount fuel program?

Escapees has joined a fuel discount plan operated by Fuel Access Network. Parts of it are attractive but at this time they do not have enough stations in TX to be attractive to me since we are now only traveling part-time. Even so, I do continue to monitor their plan as it is quite new and will likely grow. Like all of the fuel discount plans that I have looked over, it does require direct billing to a bank account and not to a credit card, so that means that you can't use both benefits for the same purchase. Time will tell if the coverage grows to a point that it would save me money, but thus far I haven't found any that seem to do so with our current travel situation.

palmeris · January 28, 2022

11 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Kirk, I thought Escapees has a discount fuel program? I heard somewhere (probably wrong...) that TSD was looking into adding the gas islands at the truck stops to their plan. Don't know if that is correct or not and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on it.

From the tsd open roads web site.....Have a gasoline vehicle? You're in luck! Coming in early 2022 we will be offering a gasoline discount card as well as the diesel card.