A gas rebate card may seem like they are saving you money on gas but you need to understand how they work and read all of the fine print. The introductory offers are always quite good but once those offers end you will need to get a bit creative to keep receiving good rebates using a gas card. The main point of the gas rebate card is that you can save when buying gas from specific gas stations or retailers.
However the large rebate tends to only be available for the first few months, generally at about 90 days. For example Chase's MasterCard has a 6% rebate on all gas purchases but only for the first 90 days and then after this time the rebate drops to around 3%. As with many credit cards the terms and conditions can change drastically. There have been cards in the past that offered rebates on gas but when the card issuer discovered that people were only using that card to purchase gas and not other items they quickly changed the policy.
You will also need to realize that many gas rebate cards only offer rebates at specific gas stations. To receive the full rebate you will have to go to a standalone stations. Also the savings you may be receiving from the rebates may not be savings at all as gas rebate cards tend to have much higher interest rates then traditional credit cards. If you carry a balance on your credit cards then it is advised that you do so on a low interest card and not the gas rebate card.
A few gas rebate cards are tricky in that you need to actually send in a request to receive your rebate wither as credit or in the form of a check. Many times you will need to reach a specific limit or the rebate will disappear. This is how frequent flier miles have recently changed, as you must use them within a year.
For example it is possible to buy a gas card, such as a $50 card for about $48. But to purchase the card you use a rebate card that offers a rebate on all gas station purchases, say about 5% rebate. So altogether that may be about an 8% discount, which can save you about 26 cents per gallon if gas is above $3 a gallon. In the long run gas rebate cards are not as great as they first appear.
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