Cards can lower rising gas costs

Last year set a record high for the price of gas, and 2013 likely will set anoth- er.

The national average price for unleaded gas last week was $3.78 per gallon, leaving many consumer wallets running on empty.

Consumer financial specialists say there are steps people can take to lower fuel costs without resorting to buying hybrid cars or walking to work.

Some options include shopping at stores that offer discounts on gas, installing smartphone applications that pinpoint the cheapest places to buy gas and applying for credit cards that offer gas rewards.

Card Hub, an Internet company that evaluates credit cards for various needs, released its report last week on the top gas cards. It studied 1,000 credit cards and rated the best deals for consumers on gas station-affiliated and generic gas cards.

“The credit-card market continues to offer surprisingly lucrative gas rewards without requiring consumers to fill up at one particular station or another,” Card Hub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou said in an e-mail. “Not only can you save on gas wherever you hit the pump, but in many cases you can also maximize rewards value across major purchase categories with the same card.” Papadimitriou said that is a shift from recent years, when the best gas-rewards credit cards were co-branded, or tied to a single brand of gasoline or service station.

“We can chalk the change up to increased competition ... which has forced issuers to be more responsive to the wants and needs of their customers,” he said.

The type of gas card that best suits consumers depends on location and spending habits, the Card Hub analysis found. Among the top-rated generic cards were:

» Pentagon Federal Credit Union Platinum Rewards Card. Offers the equivalent of 5 percent cash back on gas at any station. It also offers 3 percent cash back at supermarkets and 1 percent cash back on other CALL 12 FOR ACTION

Call 12 for Action’s consumer-savings total so far in 2013. purchases. Eligibility requires membership in the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which costs $15. Almost anybody can join the credit union.

» Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express. Offers 3 percent cash back at gas stations and select department stores, 6 percent at supermarkets and 1 percent everywhere else. It charges a $75 annual fee, but it also pays a $150 bonus for spending $1,000 in the first three months.

» TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express. Offers 3 percent cash back on all gas purchases up to $4,000 and 1 percent thereafter; 2 percent at restaurants and travel, and 1 percent on everything else.

Among the top-rated station-affiliated cards were:

» Marathon Credit Card. Offers a 25-cent rebate for each gallon of gas purchased during months a cardholder charges at least $1,000, 15 cents between $500 and $999.99, and 5 cents for less than $500. Marathon stations are located in the eastern United States from Florida to Minnesota.

» Chevron & Texaco Credit Card. Provides a 30-cent-pergallon discount on Chevron and Texaco gas for the first 60 days, then a 20-cent discount during months a cardholder spends more than $1,000 and a 10-cent discount for spending between $300 and $1,000. There is a $300-per-month maximum discount.

“Marathon was the new kid on the gas-rewards credit-card block last year, and it’s nice to see that its presence wasn’t short-lived,” Papadimitriou said in the e-mail statement. “It’s also interesting to note that ExxonMobil was dropped from the Best Gas Credit Cards list after discontinuing its long-popular credit-card offer in favor of its new Smart Card.”

Card Hub said many cobranded cards offer good rewards but didn’t make the list because of high spending requirements in order to obtain top rates. It also said consumers could save significantly by shopping at grocery stores such as Fry’s and Safeway, which offer discounts at their affiliate gas stations.

“For example, spending $100 at Safeway will save you $2 on the next 20 gallons of ExxonMobil gas you buy,” Card Hub said.

Card Hub said gas is about 14 percent more now than it was at the beginning of the year, and prices are higher than $4.20 per gallon in California and Hawaii.

The U.S. average household spent $2,912 on gas last year.