Fuel cards? Are they worth it?

Let me get this right, your asking if a fuel card that guarantees 3c a litre off the pump price is worth getting....Derrrrrr.

Once you hit the road you'll find very few places that take shoppa dockets.

I have three, BP, Caltex and Shell as my car is on a lease. I have that many because you will arrive some where to fuel up to find it doesn't take your card or that fuel provider isn't there. So to lenghten the odds we have 3. Lets call it insurance.

When your out there you don't have the choice, a lot of the time, especially based on which has additives or not. All your interested in is getting diesel into your tanks and there might only be one servo in the town that can do that.

I find shell is usually much more expensive than any other..

if only it was that simple, there is a monthly charge of $1.50, and the shell card only says 0-4c per litre guarranteed, the caltex one is a straight 3c per ltr, plus there is a service charge every time you fill up (50c or so).

I'm guess I'm also asking which company has the most servo's out there, to maximise the chances of using the card.

Cheers,

Chris

One of my cars is on lease and checking the statement it would seem Caltex charge me full pump price plus a $2.75 monthly fee for the priveledge.
I spend an average of 620 to 650 a month on that card so where is the reward for loyalty.
Get a BP citbank credit card and use it only for fuel and pay it out each month or better still pay it into credit before you use it and then no fees at all for credit. They give %5 off,.

They are good, as long as you dont mind getting another bill. It does make it harder when your outback and they dont accept them. You are also ablr to change the purchace preferences on your card, ie, to just allow fuel; fuel and oil, fuel, oil and services; or the entire lot - ie include shop purchaces.....like drinks, coffee, smokes, chips....

If they offered you Motorcharge Id take that but they aren't...if you really feel like one Id go Caltex purely cos they were my boss! Ive always had performance issues with Shell but that was only with ULP, not diesel - i dont use theirs....

But more available....Caltex.....

Laura

I have a Caltex as my primary fuel card for my leased vehicle. However I find that there are so few Caltex outlets in regional Australia (Where I live) that it becomes next to useless. The value of the fuel discount I get can be quickly burned up trying to find the nearest outlet, and they charge me a per fill fee as well. Also, on the Woolworths/Safeway outlets they usually have only one slowflo diesel pump and they have removed the catch that holds the pump open, so when I am filling both tanks it becomes a real PITA standanding there holding the pump open for the 15 or so minutes it takes to fill up.

I have since got BP and Mobile cards (Shell wanted to charge me $5.00 per month for their card) as well. In regional areas it seems mobile is the most common. However, I only have these cards as I have a lease vehicle and it gets charged back to the leasing company.

If I where paying for it directly I would not waste my time with the fuel card as they are not worth the trouble. Just get a Visa/Master card and buy the fuel where ever you can get it cheapest when you are traveling. The days of fuel companies having any sort of customer loyalty is long gone.

Cards are an attempt to lock you in to buying one brand of petrol . Can be valuable, can also be bad if Shell is 5c dearer than everyone else and you have a Shell card etc etc. I don't trust petrol companies, Easter fuel prices are a classic example.

I looked at a couple the other day for business use (shell & mobil I expect), and couldn't see any benefit in a fuel card.

I don't recall the specifics, only that it seemed an expensive card to be carrying about.

The only benefit may be access to 24hr fuel - not sure how it works, but do those swipe gadgets only take proprietary cards, or credit cards too?? I must pay attention next time I'm at a servo.

We are getting Mobil cards for two reasons, 1: there is only Mobil in Jabiru and 2: A Mobil card can get you up to 8 cents per litre on volume, and my monthly bill from May to November is about $7000 per month, that was at $1.55 and at the moment it is $1.70.

Mobil out here also accept Motor charge.

Cheers Steve.

Chris, We have a Caltex card for convenience (they are open only weekdays, 7 - 5). We can use it after hours at our local supplier if we are caught short, and it can be used at other Caltex outlets but we don't. It does seem to cost us a couple of cents a litre more than filling through the regular bowser in office hours. A Caltex card my son and daughter in law had came with a $5 per month fee - charged whether the card was used or not.

The only card i use when travelling is my trusty MasterCard. Some smaller fuel outlets pass on the 'bank fee' (eg the infamous Nanutarra), but most don't. It can be used at any fuel outlet, and for every $3,900 i spend on the card, i get enough Brownie Points to get a free $25 Caltex Card. Much better idea.

Motherhen