Clark Howard's Tips

June 12, 2008

Gas rebate credit cards are hot right now. Is that any surprise? We're all shell-shocked by prices at the pump and the promise of HUGE rebates sounds great. But beware that these offers may only be good for a couple of weeks or months.

For example, BP has one heavily advertised offer for a card that gives you 10% back on gas for 2 months. After that, it drops to 5%, which is still not that bad.

But Clark doesn't recommend getting a rebate card for any one particular brand of gasoline. Consider this: The price of gas at BP may be, for argument's sake, 10 cents higher per gallon than other brands. So after the rebate drops down, you'd probably be better off having a plain vanilla MasterCard or Visa with rebates.

A word to the wise: Purchasing gas from a major oil company will usually cost more than at an independent. You can buy with confidence from indie brands because their gas is regulated by the government just like the majors. In fact, Clark only goes to the off-brands for gasoline because they're so much cheaper.

Consumer advice courtesy of