Best Fuel Card for 100LL???

mcoflyer

mcoflyer

Pre-takeoff checklist
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mcoflyer
At my home airport there's Shell gas and UvAir...both have the same prices. Within a 20 mile range there's several other gas places around the same price.

Here's the golden question.

What is the best gas card for 100LL? Who gives the best deal?

I was looking at the Shell Aviation card but couldn't find any specific benefits, and didn't find anything great about the UvAir card unless you buy bulk.

Am I better off just using my regular credit card with 1.5% cash back?
 
i like my debit card. Zero fees.
 
Most likely yes. BP use to give 5% but, I not sure now. Of course that was just for BP fuel. A no fee CC that gives you 1.5% is probably the best way to go.
 
AggieMike88 said:
i like my debit card. Zero fees.
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I'd avoid a debit card. First off, if there is a security issue they HAVE your money versus a credit card where they do not.

The big problem though with buying avgas on a debit card is that pumps may do rather large authorizes that will tie up funds for days or more.
 
Get the best deal on a credit card (miles, points, cash back) that you can and use that. None of the fuel deals were really worth it.

I briefly contemplated Airnav's FuelBoss guard, but it's $39/yr and I didn't think I'd use it enough to make it worth while over using my amex card.
 
I wonder if a regular credit card with 3% cash back on fuel purchases also included aviation fuel?
 
I've used the Phillips 66 Aviation card for my rental planes...the Wing points reward program is nice...never really had an issue. Seems like they are on the fraud alert ball too...now keep in mind this is really only a home base card..as it only works at Phillips FBO...but that's where we buy 99.5 percent of our gas.
 
mcoflyer, most likely but, you will need to check. Many times it is cash back for major brands only. On debit cards, what Jesse said. Debit cards are not a very good choice. Why use my money when somebody else will pay me to use theirs?:dunno:
 
jesse said:
The big problem though with buying avgas on a debit card is that pumps may do rather large authorizes that will tie up funds for days or more.
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So far, this hasn't occurred.
 
I agree, debit cards is a bad deal. Most places put a hold on your card $300-$500 when you fill up and there's always the chance of something else going really bad.

I get 1.5% back with my mastercard and it doesn't look like there's much else out there that will beat it unless they're running a promo.

I just found an airport about 30 miles away that has 100LL at $4.25 per gallon :-D so with my 1.5% cash back that brings it down to about $4.19 per gallon.

I just flew a long cross-country the other day and was trying some things to see how low I could go as far as tach/hobbs ratio and fuel. I got 8.1 on the hobbs and only 6.4 on the tach and burned an average of 5.7gph on a 172. Not bad :)
 
jesse said:
I'd avoid a debit card. First off, if there is a security issue they HAVE your money versus a credit card where they do not.

The big problem though with buying avgas on a debit card is that pumps may do rather large authorizes that will tie up funds for days or more.
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I've purchased 1,000's of gallons of LL on my debit card and never experienced any problems.
 
The hold could only be an issue at automated pumps. I never even show my card until they're ready to run the actual bill otherwise. At the most common automated terminal used for avgas, you get to chose how much fuel to authorize.
 
flyingron said:
you get to chose how much fuel to authorize.
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This has been my experience so far with the self serve kiosks. I can choose to "authorize" a certain dollar or gallons. Pump will cut off when that limit is reached.
 
If someone steals your credit card number and spends thousands it is the card issuer who is out the money while it is resolved. If it is your debit card it is your money. Given that and the poor rewards programs what advantage do you have using one?
 
Recently, we had a break in of our office and had the debit card stolen that is used for our delivery driver to fuel his truck. Between the time the theft occurred and we discovered the break-in to our office (discovered Monday morning, break in occured on weekend), about $900 worth of purchases (mostly cigarette stores and oddly, Dollar General) and $500 of overdraft charges had racked up.

Working with our bank officer, we were able to get all of our money returned and the bank charges reversed. This was done within 48 hours of filling out the paperwork and within 5 days of the theft.
 
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i find the company credit card works best. rewards aren't that great, but i don't pay the statement when it comes due. That makes it worth it right there...
 
Debit cards also don't generally offer any cash back or points as rewards. The only time I use a debit card is at an ATM to get cash if I need it. Otherwise i'm always using my AMEX or MasterCard.

So it looks like 1.5% back is as good as it's gonna get for me, better than nothing I guess.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Recently, we had a break in of our office and had the debit card stolen that is used for our delivery driver to fuel his truck. Between the time the theft occurred and we discovered the break-in to our office (discovered Monday morning, break in occured on weekend), about $900 worth of purchases (mostly cigarette stores and oddly, Dollar General) and $500 of overdraft charges had racked up.

Working with our bank officer, we were able to get all of our money returned and the bank charges reversed. This was done within 48 hours of filling out the paperwork and within 5 days of the theft.
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Depending on the complexity of what went wrong you can really get hosed. 48 hours is still time without money and a mess of things you need to deal with. Some banks will be by far worse.

To me 48 hours without my money when I don't need to be without my money is 48 hours too long.

Keep in mind the security of credit cards is what I do for a living :)
 
I use Amex and if they don't take that, I have a Visa as a backup! :D I got the AirNav card for discounts, saved $.40 per gallon in Athens, bought 100 gallons and paid for it the first use.:yes: Haven't used it anywhere else yet. ;)
I just paid for my wife a ticket to Miami for a cruise using AMEX points that I get mostly from aviation related spending. :yes:
As for debit cards, I have never had one, and while I hate to say never, I hope I never have one! :nono: We have become brainwashed by the banks into using them, I don't like anyone having direct access to my bank accounts. I realize people can hack accounts, but I don't want to make it easy for them. ;) All my accounts that I pay online are controlled by me, I don't give anyone authorization to draft my account. :D
 
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I use my Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa card.

...and yes, I do find it ironic that I am racking up free flights by buying gas to go flying!
 
It escapes me why anybody would use a debit card. Seems like no upside and plenty of downside. For me just a normal no fee credit card with cash back makes the most sense, JMHO.:dunno: For me a company willing to pay me to use their money and not charge any fee for the card is a win - win.
 
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There was a high percentage of Chevron in my area, until they pulled out recently. Now it is all over the place as far as which brand.
 
There are only two places I ever use my debit card -- the ATM and one of the warehouse club places that only takes the debit card or Amex, which I don't (and won't) have. For everything else, including avgas, it's one of the cards that gets me from 1% to 5% cash back, or the one that gets me hotel points. We almost never pay for a hotel room when we travel.

Of course every credit card gets paid in full a couple of days before the due date, every time. I wouldn't use them otherwise.
 
We give 10 cents per gallon off on a Shell aviation card. They don't charge us the regular credit card processing fee and we pass the majority of that savings to the customer.
 
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