As Gas Prices Surge, Here Are The Best Gas Rewards Credit Cards Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images March 21, 2022 Checkmark Bankrate logo How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. "Expert verified" means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. Ted Rossman is a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. He focuses on the credit card industry and helps consumers maximize rewards, get out of debt and improve their credit scores. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to: Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options. Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions. Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Gas prices have been on a shocking upswing, rising 48 percent over the past year and 21 percent over the past month, . The national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.27 as of March 18, down slightly from the record-high $4.33 set on March 11. In California, it was an obscene $5.80 (an all-time record). The latest catalyst was Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, but gas prices were already high for other reasons, including supply chain imbalances and strong demand as COVID cases receded. Your best bet to save on gas is to use a —but it might not be the card you expect. Gas stations cobranded cards are lackluster
An obvious choice would be to sign up for a gas station’s credit card. However, most of these cards aren’t very lucrative. The typical discount is a mere 5 to 10 cents per gallon, according to a recent Bankrate analysis of 22 cards offered by 17 popular gas retailers. These cards are even more forgettable if you ever plan to carry a balance. The average interest rate of the 22 cards we analyzed was 25.8 percent, much higher than the of 16.34 percent. You’ll rarely come out ahead if you carry a balance on a , but the math is particularly unfavorable for gas cards. General-purpose cards can offer much better gas rewards
A much better choice would be to sign-up for a general-purpose credit card—that is, one that can be used much more widely—with lucrative gas rewards. My no-annual-fee favorites include: : 5 percent cash back on your top eligible spending category each billing cycle (up to $500 in purchases, with 1 percent cash back on all other purchases). : 5 percent cash back on gas (purchased almost anywhere, not just at Sam’s Club—up to $6,000 per year). This card also gives 3 percent cash back on dining and at Sam’s Club. Other purchases earn 1 percent cash back. The total cash back maximum per year is $5,000. The : 5 percent cash back on rotating quarterly categories (gas makes an appearance from April 1 through June 30, 2022). The rate applies after activation on up to $1,500 in quarterly spending (then 1 percent cash back after that). : 4 percent cash back on gas (again, purchased almost anywhere, this time with a $7,000 annual cap), plus 3 percent cash back on eligible travel and dining, 2 percent cash back at Costco and 1 percent cash back on everything else. Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card: 5 points per dollar at gas pumps and electric vehicle charging stations, 3 points per dollar at supermarkets, restaurants and on streaming services with 1 point per dollar elsewhere. Among these four cards, this is the only one that does not have a spending cap on its gas rewards category. The and are both offering new customers 5 percent cash back on gas (up to $6,000 in purchases within their first year). That’s in addition to the standard welcome bonus of $200 after spending $500 (on anything) within their first three months. The promotion is scheduled to expire June 30, 2022. In more normal times, most Americans should spend well below these limits. For example, in 2019, the average household spent $2,094 on gas, according to the . In 2020, that fell to $1,568 as the pandemic led most people to drive less. But with gas prices skyrocketing and more people returning to the roads for daily commutes and vacations, it’s a good time to seek out as many savings opportunities as possible. Because these cards offer rewards as a percentage of your purchase price, they’re much more meaningful than the flat 5- or 10-cent per gallon discounts offered by gas stations’ cobranded cards; the advantage stays steady as prices climb. Gas station apps
Another good tip is to stack your credit card rewards with a gas station’s app. Most of the major brands have these. For example, Phillips 66 is offering 10 cents off each gallon for a limited time when you pay through their app. Elsewhere, discounts of 3 to 5 cents per gallon are more common. And you can save 10 cents per gallon via Shell’s app if you pay with your checking account (since those transactions are cheaper for the retailer to process). At the grocery store
You can also stack gas savings by buying groceries and redeeming those points at the pump. Kroger and Albertsons are among the large supermarket chains that allow customers to rack up rewards on food shopping which can translate into gas rebates. This is a great example of getting money back from purchases you would have made anyway. You’ll benefit even more by using a rewards credit card. Research the best prices
It’s common sense to shop around for the best prices, but that can be easier said than done. I thought I recently found an amazing deal on , but when I got to the station, the posted price was 90 cents per gallon higher than what the app was showing. is another popular resource, but with prices changing so rapidly, it’s also having trouble keeping up with the latest information and the surges in website and app traffic. If you’re willing to link your debit card to GasBuddy’s payment card, you could save up to 25 cents per gallon. Carry less junk in your trunk
The that your fuel mileage decreases by about 1 percentage point for every additional 100 pounds your car carries. If you’ve been using your trunk as a storage unit, find somewhere else to put those items. The agency also says that your fuel mileage drops off rapidly as you exceed 50 miles per hour, so ease off the accelerator, lead foot. Avoid excessive braking and idling and consider using cruise control to smooth out your gas consumption. Also, consider combining errands whenever possible. Working from home and cutting back on some outings could also make sense if you can. The bottom line
Gas prices are one of the most obvious and frustrating examples of a troublesome trend: , the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Almost all Americans are noticing this trend, and a recent Bankrate survey revealed that . Ultimately, we have a few choices. According to the Bankrate survey, the most common reaction is to cut back on some purchases to afford higher prices elsewhere. This makes sense at the household level, although it could hurt some sectors of our consumer-driven economy, particularly discretionary spending categories such as travel and dining. Others will surely cut into their savings or add to their debt. Many will probably end up doing all three. Inflation is causing consumers to make hard choices. with an eye toward this new normal is a good first step. Additionally, seek out ways to save whenever you can. At the pump, that means a gas rewards credit card and perhaps a gas station’s payment app as well. SHARE: Ted Rossman is a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. He focuses on the credit card industry and helps consumers maximize rewards, get out of debt and improve their credit scores. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to Related Articles