Do gas cards really save you money?

by Darla Hernandez (darlah@wsbt.com)

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Many gas stations offer credit cards that promise to save consumers money.

Many gas stations offer credit cards that promise to save consumers money. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

SOUTH BEND — Gas price has hit another record — it is now $3.34 a gallon nationally. That's 55 cents higher than a year ago.

People are looking for ways to save as much money as possible when fueling up.

Many gas stations are offering credit cards that they say will save you at the pump. It may sound good, but some say these cards could cost you.

Laura Dickerson, who commutes to Gary for school, says the gas gauge hurts.

“It's getting ridiculously high!” she told WSBT News.

It's no surprise with prices soaring — gas cards seem to popping up at the pumps. One offers a 5 percent rebate on every dollar you spend on fuel.

But Dr. Grant Black, an economics professor at IUSB, says ‘buyer beware.’

"You need to pay attention for the length of time the rebate lasts,” he explained. “Sometimes it might only last for up to a year."

Some say these cards, which tend to have higher interest rates, could end up costing you more.

"Open up another credit account and get yourself into more debt,” said Charlene Anthony of South Bend. “You just pay and try to budget and limit your driving and take it from there.”

Dr. Black says with gas prices only going up, conserving is the way to go.

"Can you carpool, can you consolidate to one vehicle, and can you take turns using the car?” he urges consumers to ask themselves.

Dickerson says the gas card is just a small fix to a big problem.

"I wanted to buy a bigger SUV when I was done with school, but with gas prices I don’t want to!” she said. “I'll just stay with what I have.”

Black recommends reading all of the fine print before applying for a gas card and if you have one try to pay off your balance every month.

Friday, Apr 11 at 9:41 AM Jeff wrote ...

I have been using the Speedway credit card(pay off every month) and the Speedway gift card(20 points per $1.00 purchased) to make my gas purchases. The points I have been accumulating on my credit card and gift card have given me a free $25.00 credit about every 3 months. Using the Speedway credit card works only if you pay it off every month. Speedway gas prices always seem to be the highest here in South Bend, but using their reward points is a good thing.

Friday, Apr 11 at 8:21 AM Speedway "gift" cards wrote ...

here is an interesting thing that happened to me at the pump. I knew I had $50 on my Speedway gift card, so I had it on the auto pumping usually around 49.00 is will slow down it kept going finally after 53.50 I shut it off. I went in an asked the clerk to double check my gift card - she said it was empty, but for some reason you can their computer systems go down on the pump and you can keep pumping. If I would have driven off they would have been out the money. The clerk says it happens a lot

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