Loyalty Bonuses Effect on Fuel Tank Levels

**drmomentum**[$] · #1 06-30-2008, 11:51 PM

On NPR's On Point this morning I heard Jane Clayson say that roadside assistance organizations were getting more calls from motorists who were running out of gas because they were only filling up with the fuel they needed in...

More...

*emeleel* · #2 07-01-2008, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Also, near-empty tanks are more likely to leave you stranded when you forget to fuel your car.

And today, a near-empty tank almost made me look like an idiot at the repair shop.

When I went to leave the repair shop, first of all it wouldn't crank because of a loose connection. (I think it was something DH managed when we changed the battery a couple of weeks ago.) A few blocks down the road - ding, ding ding, "check gages" Ack! I almost turned around and went back, but Sean reminded me that it does that for low fuel, and it was very low. No, no "low fuel" light, it comes up with the same message that comes up for *any* other problem with the car - engine, brakes, whatever.

I would have looked a right dingbat if I'd showed up complaining about my "check gages" light and it was just low fuel.

I don't normally let it get low, I usually fill up at half a tank, so I've only had it come up a couple of times and I completely forgot that's what it does.

(And yes, it spells it "gages". Which apparently is a technically correct alternate spelling, but it looks really stupid.)

magenta321 · #3 07-01-2008, 06:31 AM

I wish our stop and shops had gas! Or our costco!

I let it go empty, usually. I fill when it has about 30 miles left. My car tells me that, so, I don't think it's quite as dangerous (although I do cut it close sometimes). I usually am just doing it so I can get home before I fill up. Gas is cheaper here by like twenty cents a gallon, so of course I want to fill it here rather than in an expensive town. Who wants to pay $4.50 for gas when they can pay $4.28? Crap, those numbers are unbelievable...

I wish I could find a "coupon" or discount for gas. The closest I can find is a "discount" for paying cash rather than credit. But everywhere I've seen this, they just jack UP the prices for the credit card, they don't discount anything. I think it's the new law in CT that they do this, however... today was supposed to be the first day, and I haven't bought gas since the end of last week, so I'm not too sure if ALL the companies are gouging or if it's just Hess that is gouging. Hess was the only one that had the supposed cash discount when I bought my gas.

*emeleel* · #4 07-01-2008, 08:46 AM

Interesting - I happen to remember, as a kid, when personal, general credit cards starting becoming normal in society. Most of the gas stations would offer a discount for cash, I think it was 4 cents. Now I know why, of course - merchants pay a percent of each transaction when you use credit.

Around here, the only grocery type places that have gas are Sam's Club and one of the two Kroger grocery stores. Neither offer any kind of shopping incentive, and although both are usually the lowest price in town, they're not spectacularly lower. They're only equal to the stand-alone cheap places in that town.

Which is odd, because back in Montgomery, the Sam's Club there was almost always the lowest, even below the cheapo places, at least by a couple of cents. Not here.

**mtomm**[$] · #5 07-01-2008, 11:15 AM

I hate seeing "gages." Drives me bonkers.

*emeleel* · #6 07-01-2008, 11:36 AM

Me too!

frazzledspice · #7 07-03-2008, 02:28 AM

In some states it is illegal to charge two different prices for gas.

And there are many benefits to the consumer for using credit. Reward points or discounts on the price of gas, for example.

And being able to scan your card at the pump instead of going in, waiting on line, and paying.

The latter is an advantage to the station owner, too--less drive aways and less personnel needs when drivers scan at the pump....that probably saves them a few cents a gallon in expenses.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #8 07-03-2008, 07:00 AM

Actually, some stations are limiting how much gas drivers can pump on credit cards because there's been a huge increase in credit card fraud at gas pumps that's outweighed the other advantages for station owners.

*emeleel* · #9 07-03-2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

And there are many benefits to the consumer for using credit. Reward points or discounts on the price of gas, for example.

But you have to be a wise consumer to do that right, and many people aren't. Usually, those "reward" cards carry a higher percentage rate than a plain card - so if you aren't wise enough to make sure you budget correctly to pay off every bit of that balance each month, and points, rewards or cash back you get gets eaten up with the higher interest rate.