Forget the quest for airline miles. Today's hot credit card perk is at the gas pump.
Drivers can get 3% or more of their fuel bills returned to them from card giants MasterCard Inc., Visa International and Discover Financial Services as well as large gasoline retailers including Shell Oil Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
"A number of cards are increasing the rebates, specifically rebates on gasoline, because they see how consumers are concerned about gas prices and how much it's costing them," said Matt Mills, founder of Seattle-based E-Wisdom.com, an Internet site that tracks credit card offerings.
Such offers come with plenty of caveats and fine print. But in California, land of high gasoline prices and long commutes, the deals are worth considering.
"A lot of consumers aren't aware that these kinds of cards exist," said Curtis Arnold, chief executive of Cardratings.com, a card reviewer based in Little Rock, Ark. "But if you go out on the street and ask someone, 'Instead of you paying $3 a gallon, you can pay $2.85, are you interested?,' then people perk up."
Motorists already are big on using plastic at the pump. As U.S. fuel prices pushed steadily higher, the percentage of gasoline purchases made with a credit or debit cards jumped to 65% in 2006 from 53% in 2003, according to the National Assn. of Convenience Stores.
David Wagner, a 36-year-old San Diegan, earns points on his Citibank reward card every time he fills up. The bonuses aren't as generous as some of the newer gasoline-focused cards, but he likes racking up points while making everyday purchases.
"The gasoline can add up because everybody needs gas if you have a car," Wagner said.
For consumers, there are three types of specialty cards for gas: Traditional branded gas-only cards issued by oil companies; newer general-purpose cards cosponsored by Shell and gas sellers; and general-purpose credit cards offered by banks, MasterCard, American Express and others. Consumer credit experts give the highest marks to gas reward cards that aren't issued or cosponsored by oil companies.
Most of the general-purpose gas-rebate cards carry a MasterCard, Visa or Discover logo and, like regular credit cards, can be used at any store that takes those kinds of cards. The difference is that gasoline purchases come with pumped-up rewards based on the amount of fuel you buy or how much you spend on gas.
