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Gas Station Branded Cashback Credit Cards
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The other day, someone searched for “gas card 41 cents cash back credit card,” which I assume is about the Shell branded credit card (they ran that commercial with the little yellow boxes with red 41′s written on them a little while ago). Personally, I don’t like getting a gas station branded credit card because you’re then forced to go to that station in order to get the 5% at their gas stations. The Shell card itself, though offered by Citi, has a promotional offer where you can get 15% cash back gasoline for 90 days, after which it’ll revert to the normal 5%. While 15% cash back sure is nice, it’s only valid for 90 days and only at Shell gasoline stations.
Before the 5% cash back on the Citi Platinum Select card was canceled, I would’ve advocated for that card over a card like the one from Shell. Now, however, it’s not as easy to find a 5% cash back card on gasoline these days so maybe that Shell card sounds a little tempting… if only for 90 days. I think you shouldn’t get it because it’s simply not flexible enough and there are other options out there.
Two that I know of, one of which I just applied for, are the Citi Driver’s Edge Platinum Select and Discover’s Open Road Card. The Citi Driver’s Edge Platinum Select card will give you, among other sweet driver related benefits, 6% cash back on gasoline for a year whereas the Discover Open Road Card will give you 5% on gasoline (and auto related) purchases on your first $1,200 in purchases for the foreseeable future.
Or, you can just check out my list of the best cash back credit cards and select one that will give you better cash back on more categories outside of gas.
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The Shell card was my very first credit card, and it still serves as my default card to this day. Any purchases I make that don’t fall under grocery, home improvement, office, or something else I have a better card for, I use the Shell card and get 1% back.
The reason I like the Shell 1% better than any other card’s 1% is that Shell’s rewards are credited to my statement balance monthly. So if I spend $100 in September and get 1% back on it, I get $1 off my September balance. Other cards tend to store your rewards as points which you must accumulate over weeks and months and then cash in.
Obviously this card isn’t for everyone. In fact, it isn’t for anyone who isn’t a devoted Shell customer. My car strongly prefers Shell gas to other brands, so that’s what she gets!
I know there are slightly better than 1% back cards out there, but most of them have special requirements or don’t pay back as quickly as the Shell card.
I’ve actually had the Discover Gas Card for a couple years now, and it gets a good grade in my book. I was worried it’d be canned along with the Citi card, but it was instead limited (the $1200 you mentioned). Anyway, that works out to $100 a month, which still works for me. Yes, its a Discover Card, but I’ve only found one gas station that didn’t take it (it was a mom and pop store on the Eastern Shore, Maryland). And as a company, I’ve really liked Discover. Great interface on their website, easy cashback options, potentionally good “bonus rewards” for gift certificates, etc, etc…