Save 5% on Gas Purchases With the Discover More Card
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As a followup to my previous post about the best cash back credit cards for buying gas, I wanted to highlight a comment by a reader named Dave. As Dave pointed out, the Discover More card offers 5% cash back on a different set of “bonus” categories every three months. Well…
For the period of July 1 – Sept 30, 2008 the 5% categories are gas and hotels.
And after that, the 5% rewards will switch over to grocery stores, restaurants and movies. Unfortunately, the 5% rewards are capped at $400 in eligible purchases per reward period. All other purchases will receive up to 1% unlimited cash back. Given this, I’m still partial to the Blue Cash Rewards Card from AmEx, but the Discover More card isn’t a bad alternative. Click here to apply now.
Published on July 7th, 2008 - 7 Comments
Filed under: Automotive, Credit Cards
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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7 Responses to “Save 5% on Gas Purchases With the Discover More Card”
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Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months. 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter.
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Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
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July 7th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I never really considered cashback or reward cards. I guess if they provide a true incentive I should really consider them.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I have this card and am currently using it for the gas cash back. You can only redeem the cash back every time it reaches $20 though.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Already ahead of you – signed up last week! My Discover card is my oldest credit card and thus one I’ll never cancel because it helps my credit score (ironic as that is). Heck getting 5% back may even make me fill up my tank instead of just putting in 5 gallons everytime. I know I’ll be filling up on Sept 30th though.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:19 am
For my gas I use the Barclays Gulf Platinum MasterCard. it gives me 3% on Gulf purchases, and I have 2 Gulf locations near my home and they are the closest gas stations to my home so it works out that way.
I know BP and Shell have better rates at 5%, but I have been using this card for years and the rewards is in the form of Gulf Gas gift cards, so when I go to station next I just pay with Gulf gift cards and essentially get free gas!
P.S. They now offer 6% on Gulf Gas!!!! Yeah!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
ns: That’s a 60 day promo, at which time you fall back to 3%. The better strategy would be an unbranded 5% card, which gives you 5% off at any station including Gulf.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
What would you do & use if you had to get 12 gallons of gas? Following stations are within a commute: BP (cash/credit) $3.979. Exxon (cash/credit) 4.029. Gulf (cash=3.889, credit=3.989). Valero (cash=3.879, credit=3.999). Hess (cash=3.919, credit=4.019). Shell (cash=3.919, credit=3.999). I think using the 5% cashback Discover Card is better; since you do get cashback. ($4×12= 48; 5% is 2.40; if paid by cas,$3.9×12=46.8.) If you use a 3% card, in the example, you profit only ~0.3% (24cents) since the pay-by-cash is cheaper. Any lower cashback or reward points are cost ineffective; unless these gas stations stop realistically charging more for credit gas purchases.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
SavingEverything: I would use the strategy that yields the lowest net price. So I would use a 5% card and buy at the place that gives me the lowest after-rebate pricing. As long as the card premium isn’t more 5% or more, you still come out ahead. Of course, if you want to get into the nitty gritty, you might also consider the cost of waiting for the rebate in terms of bank interest lost, etc. but that’s just splitting hairs.
As an aside, they don’t technically charge more for credit (they’re not allowed to). Rather, they offer a cash discount, which somehow doesn’t run afoul of Visa/MasterCard rules.