Some readers might be looking for a new high earn gas card as the Ducks Unlimited card no longer earns 5% back for new users.
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In this post we’ll look at the best credit cards for gas purchases. The average American will spend over $2,000 per year on gasoline purchases. Those who have to travel regularly for work, or have a growing family know that this is one of their biggest expenses each year. That’s why we bring you this, it’ll tell you which cards give you the best bang for your buck on gas purchases. Do you know of a card that’s better? Contact us and we’ll add it to this page.
Keep an eye out to see if there is a cash discount or credit card surcharge. A lot of gas stations now charge you extra for using a credit card to pay for your gas. You should make sure you work out if it’s cheaper to use a rewards credit card or just pay cash.
Contents
- 1 Top Gas Cards
- 1.1 VantageWest Credit Union Connect Rewards Credit Card – 3x, No Annual Fee ($15 Joining Fee)
- 1.2 Blue Cash Cards From American Express: 2-3% Cash Back
- 1.3 Wells Fargo Propel 3x Points, No annual fee
- 1.4 Chase AARP 3% Cash Back
- 1.5 Golden 1 Platinum Rewards Visa 3% Cash Back
- 1.6 U.S. Bank Business Edge Cash Rewards World Elite – 3% cash back + 25% annual bonus
- 1.7 Bank of America Cash Rewards 3%-5.25% Cash Back, First $2,500 Per Quarter, No Annual Fee
- 1.8 American Express EveryDay Preferred & Mercedes-Benz From American Express: 3x Membership Rewards Points
- 1.9 Citi Premier 3x ThankYou Points
- 1.10 Cardless New Orleans – 4% Cash Back, No Annual Fee
- 1.11 PNC Cash Rewards Visa – 4% Cash Back (AL, DC, DE. FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI, WV)
- 1.12 PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card: 4.25% Visa Gift Card Back
- 1.13 Citi Costco Personal & Business Cards 4% Back
- 1.14 USAA Cashback Rewards Plus American Express 5% Cash Back
- 1.15 American Express Old Blue Cash Card: 5% Cash Back After $6,500 In Spend
- 1.16 Sam’s Club Personal & Business MasterCard’s: 5% Cash Back
- 1.17 Abound Credit Union (Formerly Fort Knox) Visa Platinum Credit Card: 5% Cash Back
- 1.18 AAA Travel Advantage: 5% Cash Back
- 2 Honorable Mentions
- 3 Business Cards
- 4 Cards That Didn’t Make The Cut
- 5 How Do They Work Out What Is And Isn’t A Gas Purchase?
Top Gas Cards
We’ve ordered these cards from best to worst, but every individuals “best gas card” will vary based on their other spending habbits. You should always try to get a minimum of 3¢ per $1 spent at a gas station in value (whether it be a straight 5%+ cash back card, or a card that gives you points which you value at 5¢ per dollar spent). 5¢ per $1 is the gold standard when it comes to gas station purchases, so that’s what you should ideally be getting if you purchase a lot of gas.
VantageWest Credit Union Connect Rewards Credit Card – 3x, No Annual Fee ($15 Joining Fee)
No annual fee, but joining fee of $15 for some people will apply. The advantage is you can also choose another category to earn 5% in ($1,500 max per quarter).
Blue Cash Cards From American Express: 2-3% Cash Back
Blue Cash Every Day
- No annual fee
- 3% back on all U.S. Gas Station purchase, up to $6,000 per year (then 1%)
Blue Cash Preferred
- $95 annual fee
- Sign up bonus of $100 and one year of Amazon Prime
- 3% back on all gas purchases
American express has two versions of it’s Blue Cash cards. The EveryDay version earns 2% on all gas purchases and the Preferred version earns 3% on all gas purchases. The preferred version comes with an annual fee of The main advantage to these cards is that they earn 3% and 6% respectively on the first $6,000 in grocery store purchases. You’ll be better off getting the preferred card if you spend an additional $7,500 on gas a year or $2,500 in groceries
Recommended for: People whose main expense is grocery stores but want a slight bonus on their gas expenses.
Not recommended for: People who spend a lot of money on gas purchases each year. For example, if you spend $4,000 on gas each year you’ll be loosing $80 a year when you compare it to a card that earns 5% cash back on gas (this is for the preferred card. On the Every Day card you’d be loosing $120).
Wells Fargo Propel 3x Points, No annual fee
This card earns 3x points on dining, gas & travel with no annual fee.
Chase AARP 3% Cash Back
This card earns 3% cash back on all gas & restaurant purchases with no annual fee.
Golden 1 Platinum Rewards Visa 3% Cash Back
Card earns 3% cash back on all gas, grocery and restaurant charges. There is no earning limit, although your cash back is only paid out once yearly. No annual fee and earns 1% cash back on all purchases.
U.S. Bank Business Edge Cash Rewards World Elite – 3% cash back + 25% annual bonus
Card earns 3% cahs back on cellular, gas and office supply stores. In addition you get an additional 25% annual bonus based on your prior years cash rewards (up to $250). This makes it a 3.75% card on gas purchases.
Bank of America Cash Rewards 3%-5.25% Cash Back, First $2,500 Per Quarter, No Annual Fee
The Bank of America cash rewards card lets you select one category to earn 3% cash back in on the first $2,500 in spend per quarter. This deal becomes better with Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. This lets you earn another 25-75% back, meaning this card can earn up to 5.25% cash back on this category.
American Express EveryDay Preferred & Mercedes-Benz From American Express: 3x Membership Rewards Points
Mercedes-Benz From American Express
- Earns 3 American Express points on U.S Gas stations on purchases under $400
- Earns 5 American Express points on select Mercedez-Benz purchases
- Earns 2x points at U.S restaurants
- 1x points on all other purchases
- Annual fee of $95
- 10,000 point sign up bonus
Recommended for: Those who love Merdedes-Benz
Not Recommended for: Those who spend more than $400 at a gas station in one purchase (e.g those doing manufactured spend or those with large vehicles like truckers).
AmEx EveryDay Preferred
- Annual fee of $95
- Earns American Express Membership Rewards Points which can be transferred to airline and hotel partners
- Earns 4.5x points on grocery store purchases
This card actually gives you 2x membership rewards points on gasoline purchases, but if you make 30 purchases within a month you get a 50% bonus, turning this into a 3x earning card (our tips for meeting the minimum purchase requirement).
This card would be ranked higher, but the high annual fee will only make it attractive for those who spend a lot at groceries.
Recommended for: People who prefer hotel or airline points than straight cash back and also spend a decent amount at grocery stores
Not recommended for: People who want straight cash back or only value hotel points at 1.67¢ or less (if you value them less than this, you’d be better off with a straight cash back card).
Citi Premier 3x ThankYou Points
- Annual fee of $95 is waived first year
- Earns 3x Citi ThankYou points on travel, including gas
Usually a good sign up bonus of 50,000 on this card and you earn 3x Citi ThankYou points on travel purchases (this includes gas). You can transfer the points to Citi’s travel partners, or redeem them for travel directly (worth 1.25¢ per point each when redeeming for travel through Citi’s travel portal). If you have the Citi Prestige card, then the points are worth 1.33¢ per point when redeeming for travel and 1.6¢ for American Airlines redemption’s. Meaning you could get a maximum value of 4.8% per point.
Recommended for: People who prefer hotel or airline points than straight cash back and especially those with the Citi Prestige
Not recommended for: People who want straight cash back, and those who value Citi’s transfer partners at less than 1.67¢ (if you value them less than this, you’d be better off with a straight 5% cash back card)
Cardless New Orleans – 4% Cash Back, No Annual Fee
Also earns 4x on dining as well
PNC Cash Rewards Visa – 4% Cash Back (AL, DC, DE. FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI, WV)
Card is only available in select states but has no annual fee. You are limited to $8,000 in spend per year.
PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card: 4.25% Visa Gift Card Back
- No annual fee
- No sign up bonus
This card earns 5 points at gas stations, 3 points at super markets and 1 point for all other purchases. 1 point used to be worth 1¢, but they are now only worth 0.85¢ per point. This means this card actually gives you the following rates:
- Gas: 4.25x cash back
- Groceries: 2.55x cash back
- All other purchases: 0.85x cash back
To make matters slightly worse you have to redeem your points for visa gift cards (minimum of $50 or 5,900 points), rather than statement credit or cold hard cash. The redemption rates are even worse if you try to redeem for gift cards.
Recommended for: Those who purchase a lot through gas and grocery
Not recommended for: Those who want a rewards program that is easy to redeem for. Those who want 5%+ back on gas purchases. Those who have low grocery store spend, or a card that earns more than 2.55x back at grocery stores. Those who want to cash back quickly and regularly)
Citi Costco Personal & Business Cards 4% Back
- No annual fee
- 4% back on the first $7,000 spend on gas purchases
This card earns 4% cash back, including purchases at Costco gas stations up to a maximum of $7,000 per year ($280 in rewards). It also earns 3% back at restaurants and travel purchases. This card is only available to both personal & business cardholders.
The reason this card is rated so highly is that it earns 4% on gas purchases at Costco where gas is usually much cheaper than other providers. Most of the other cards will provided in this list only provide rewards at stand alone gas stations (which doesn’t include Costco).
Recommended for: People who regularly purchase their gas from costco.
Not recommended for: People spending over $7,000 per year in gas and people don’t don’t purchase gas from costco.
USAA Cashback Rewards Plus American Express 5% Cash Back
- No annual fee
- 5% cash back on the first $3,000 in annual purchases on gasoline and military base purchases
Downside to this card is that membership is very restricted and there is a $3,000 annual spending cap.
Recommended for: Military members that don’t spend more than $3,000 on gas
Not recommended for: Non military members or those who spend a lot more than $3,000 annually on gas.
American Express Old Blue Cash Card: 5% Cash Back After $6,500 In Spend
The American Express old blue cash card earns 5% cash back on grocery stores, drugstores, and gas stations but only after you’ve spent $6,500. There is also a $50,000 spending cap on those 5% bonus categories. This is obviously a great card for big spenders.
Sam’s Club Personal & Business MasterCard’s: 5% Cash Back
- No annual fee (requires Sam’s Club membership)
- 3% cash back on all dining and travel expenses
- No sign up bonus
This card earns at 5% on all gas purchases on the first $6,000 spent per year, there is a business and personal version of this card. There are some restrictions though, this 5% cash back excludes purchases on fuel stations at wholesale clubs (other than Sam’s Club).
Recommended for: People who already have a Sam’s club membership and purchase less than $6,000 on gas per year
Not recommended for: People who spend more than $6,000 per year on gas.
Abound Credit Union (Formerly Fort Knox) Visa Platinum Credit Card: 5% Cash Back
- No annual fee
- No sign up bonus
This card gives you a straight 5% back on all gas purchases. Unlike other credit unions, you don’t need to be a member to apply for this one. There is also no limit on how much you can earn with this card. The downside is that on all other purchases you only earn 1%.
Recommended for: Those who spend a lot on gas and have other credit cards they can use for their other purchases that earn more than 1%.
Not recommended for: Those who only have or want one credit card and spend a lot of money outside of gas stations. Also not recommended for those who don’t spend a lot per year on gas, as the hard credit pull could be better used on a card with a better sign up bonus.
AAA Travel Advantage: 5% Cash Back
AAA Travel Advantage card earns 5% cashback on gas and electric-vehicle charging, up to $350 cashback per calendar year (1% afterward).
Honorable Mentions
Chase Freedom 5-5.5% Two Quarters Per Year
Our full review
Application link
- No annual fee
- $100 sign up bonus (goes as high as $200)
This card didn’t make it to the main list because the categories you earn 5% cash back on change every quarter. In 2013 you were able to earn 5% cash back for half the year (in Q1 and Q3). This will be repeated in 2014, with Q1 already being gas and Q3 also qualifying. Another reason it didn’t make the cut is that you only get 5% on the first $1,500 purchases each quarter (maximum of $75 back), where as a lot of people will use more gas than this per month if they travel long distances for work.
If you hold another card with Chase that can earn Chase UR points (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold or Chase Ink Plus) then you can also turn your cash back into Chase UR points.
Chase Freedom 2014 Gas Categories
Chase Freedom 2013 Gas Categories
If you hold a Chase checking account you’ll earn an extra 10% annually from the previous years purchases. This means you can earn up to 5.5% cash back on gas purchases for half the year (up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter). Make sure you check to see if there are any sign up bonuses for the checking account before signing up.
Discover IT 5% One Quarter Per Year
Our full review
Application link
- No annual fee
- Sign up bonus of $150 (highest sign up bonus this card has ever had), after you spend $750 within three months
This card is extremely similar to the Chase Freedom card, it also has rotating 5% categories that change every quarter and a limit of $1,500 for purchases earning 5% per quarter (maximum of $75 in cash back). Unlike the Freedom card they seem to only offer this for one quarter per year (2013 it was Q3 and 2014 Q3 also has a symbol of a gas pump), so it’s a little bit less desirable.
Wells Fargo Cash Back Card – 5% For The First Six Months
This card also offers 5% on gas purchases, unfortunately it’s limited to the first six months only. It also earns at this rate for grocery & gas store purchases. It also does not come with a sign up bonus.
Business Cards
American Express Business Gold Rewards Card – 3x Membership Rewards Points
This card let’s you choose a category to earn 3x points in and one of those categories is gas. You can earn 3x membership rewards points on up to $100,000 per year. Card also comes with a $195 annual fee.
Huntington Business Voice – 4% Cash Back – Up To $7,000 In Spend Per Quarter
This card lets you choose one category to earn 4% cash back in. You can change this category every quarter and you earn 4% cash back on the first $7,000 in spend on that category every quarter. One of the categories you can choose is gas stations.
Cards That Didn’t Make The Cut
None of the gas station specific cards made the cut. This is because they give you a flat fee rate off per gallon, which was usually less than the 5% some of the other cards offered. They also only pay out that discount at their own branded stores, which makes it impossible for you to price shop.
- Ink Plus Business Cards: Earn 2 Chase UR points per dollar spent at gas stations. Annual fees of $95 are waived for the first year only, worth it if you can get 2.5¢ or more in value per point.
- BankAmericard Cash Rewards™ Credit Card: Earn 3% cash back on the first $1,500 in gas spend each quarter (or grocery store spend which earns 2%). Most people will easily reach this limit, which is why it wasn’t included.
- La Quinta Returns: 2 La Quinta Returns points per $1 spent at gas locations.
- BP Visa® With Pump Reward: This card gives you 15-25¢ off per gallon. Unfortunately the 25¢ rate is only for the first 60 days on purchases above $100. After that it drops to 15¢ a gallon which is less than 5% per gallon (assuming gas is above $3 per gallon). To make matters worse it only includes purchases made at BP.
- Chevron & Texaco Credit Card: This card gives you 10¢-30¢ off per gallon. You get 30¢ for the first two months of card membership and then 10¢ if you make $300 in qualifying purchases per month or 20¢ off if you make $1,000 in qualifying purchases. Requires a $25 fee to enroll in the Chevaron premium program.
How Do They Work Out What Is And Isn’t A Gas Purchase?
Every merchant (in this case, a gas station) is provided with something known as a Merchant Category Code (MCC), this is used by the credit card companies to determine where your purchase is made. If you make a purchase at a gas station, it should be coded correctly. Visa allows you to look up MCC data using the name of a business or address, whilst Mastercard, Discover & American Express don’t make this data public.
We suggest reading our article in full to learn how MCC’s work.
Disagree with any of our rankings? Let us know in the comments why.
You can find information on other categories in the links below:
- Bookstores
- Charities
- Department stores
- Drug stores
- Everyday purchases
- Grocery store
- Hotels
- Office supply stores
- Restaurants/Dining
- Telecommunications
- Cards that earn 5% or more cash back
Came across this one and wanted to share. University of Illinois Community Credit Union appears to be strict about membership according to its website (has Illinois and Maryland connections), but for any who qualify for membership, it has a great rewards card with:
5% cash back on travel and gas
2% cash back on groceries and restaurants
1.5% cash back on everything else
They double your cash back up to $150 in the first year
0% APR for 12 mos on balance transfers
https://www.uoficreditunion.org/signature-cashback/
As others have mentioned, the Wyndham business card for sure should be on here, at the very top of the list. Is there a better earning gas card right now? If you can get even 1 cent per point, it’s 8% back with no cap; if you use Vacasa, you can get over 2 cents per point, which is 16% back.
For business cards, the Amex business gold card now earns 4x (on up to $150k in calendar year spend) and that card is mentioned but should be updated to reflect the 4x rate. If you have the Schwab card that equals 4.4% cash back (or an even better return if you transfer the points for premium travel).
I think another card worth mentioning is the Chase Hyatt Business card which earns 3x at gas stations. For those that like Hyatt points and have a significant amount of gas spend, it’s worthy of consideration as well as it can potentially get you all the way to Globalist status (with a lot of spend).
I’ve been researching this a bit lately and these are the three top contenders for me as I anticipate significant gas spend in the coming year (for my business). Open to other ideas as well!
Verizon Visa offers 4% on gas and groceries, plus 3% on dining and no foreign transaction fee. (It’s also the only credit card accepted for Verizon autopay and offers 2% on Verizon purchases.) A good option for Verizon postpaid customers.
Shop Your Way Mastercard offers 5% on gas up to $10k/yr
https://www.shopyourway.com/credithub/overview
With the special offers you can add up to 20% back on gas.
Citi Custom Cash, if you want a card just for gas (or one that can be for gas part of the year and something else another one.) 5% back and no annual fee. Just sharpie “gas” on it and use it just for that and you’re good to go. If you have a spouse, grab another and use for restaurants or grocery spend. BOOM!
Redstone’s Visa Signature has 5% on gas / groceries. Max $7k spend/year. Must be a member of the credit union to apply though.
https://redfcu.org/personal/credits-cards/visa-signature/
It is gas/restaurants. Not gas/groceries.
The Title says; Best Gas Credit Cards for April 2023 but the Article Written actually on April 2020 !!
and is completely outdated !! Considering the massive shake up in the world and local economy .
PLEASE DO NOT SWAY THE TRSUT OF YOUR REDARS DOC!!
Yes, the article is updated frequently. If you see any errors let us know and we will update
For Example “The Blue Cash Cards From American Express: 2-3% Cash Back” that still shows on top of the list as 2-3% has changed and rewards are not like that anymore !! it actually comes with 3% in all its Three Categories of, Gas, Grocery and Online Retail Purchase !! It also comes with $250 sign in bonus which in my opinion makes it one of the best nationally available cards out there at this time / compared to other locally available Credit union cards.
We only focus on the ongoing earn rate and not the sign up bonuses, but I’ll give the whole page a tidy up
I wish this was updated. Thanks for the help in the comments.
Should be $1500/qtr