Finding cheap gas : Rooftop Views

Rooftop Views

Finding cheap gas

Our friends at MSN Money always come up with great ideas to save your hard earned cash. This time they've focused in on gasoline prices. With gas prices stuck in the stratosphere, you can save hundreds of dollars a year by using these tips and tricks to buy your gas for less.

When gasoline was relatively cheap, few people bothered to seek out the best deals. Who wanted to run all over town or take a chance on a no-name station just to save a few bucks?

The reality is that, with a minimal amount of effort and knowing a few things about the gas business, the typical driver can easily save a couple of hundred bucks a year by seeking out cheaper gas.

The more you drive, the bigger your savings. Todd Larson of Shorewood, Minnesota, drives 800 to 1,000 miles a week covering a five-state territory for a rotisserie manufacturer. Given that gas prices can vary 25 cents or more a gallon in many areas, Larson can save $500 to $800 a year just by being a little savvier about where he buys.

"Even if you only save four or five cents, it adds up," Larson said.

Here are some easy places to look for savings:

Check the Internet

Sites such as MSN Autos, GasBuddy.com and GasPriceWatch.com rely on volunteer "spotters" or the stations themselves to post prices from around the country. Participation -and coverage-tends to wax and wane along with gas prices, but you may well be able to discover cheaper alternatives just a few blocks from your regular routes. While the lowest-priced station can change by the day, certain stations consistently charge less than their brethren, said Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com. It can be profitable to you to know which ones.

A 25-cent difference means you pay $5 less for every fill-up of a 20-gallon tank, but sometimes the disparities are even greater. A recent check of major metropolitan areas on GasBuddy.com found the difference between the highest and lowest prices was 44 cents in Washington, D.C., 52 cents in New York, 67 cents in Chicago and 68 cents in Los Angeles.

Visit the other side of the tracks

Generally, the better the neighborhood, the more you'll pay for gas. The station owner's overhead tends to be higher, thanks to more expensive land and steeper property taxes. Refineries also may charge more because of something called "demand inelasticity," which basically translates as "they charge more because they can."

"People are less price-sensitive than they are in less affluent neighborhoods," Toews said.

A spot-check of Los Angeles gas prices certainly bore this out. The lowest price reported in the 90210 Beverly Hills ZIP code was 35 cents higher than the bottom rate in the decidedly more downscale Van Nuys area.

Get away from the freeway — and the service bays

Buying gas from a station you spot from the interstate almost qualifies as an "impulse buy," Toews said. Drivers pay for the convenience of being able to zip in and fill up. Continue just a few blocks "inland" from the off-ramp and you may find a significant price drop.

There's an example of this near my own neighborhood, where three name-brand stations share a one-mile stretch of a road paralleling a freeway. The two stations on off-ramps consistently charge 15 or 16 cents more than the one in the middle.

Gas also tends to cost more at stations that provide repair services.

Use a wholesale club

The big warehouse stores-Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale Club-typically offer some of the lowest gas prices in town. The downsides: You may find lines at the pumps, and the cost of membership (typically $40 to $45) will offset some of your savings if all you do is buy gas.

If you shop at one of these outfits anyway, or you're a heavy gas user-you drive a lot or pilot an SUV, for example-you may still find the savings worthwhile.

Look for 'loss leaders'

Discount retailers (Wal-Mart, Kmart) and grocery stores that have pumps often charge less than the competition to get people on their lots, knowing that they'll probably spend enough inside to more than make up the difference.

You may find lines at the pumps, similar to those at the warehouse stores, but at least you don't have to pay a membership fee.

Check for local price wars

These can break out anywhere, but may be more common in areas where independent stations are struggling to survive.

Also check stations around the wholesale clubs and discount retailers that offer gas; you may find you're paying only a couple cents more per gallon while avoiding the lines.

Consider a gas rebate card

You'll get the most generous cash-back offers initially if you're brand-loyal. The Marathon Platinum MasterCard, for example, offers a 10% rebate on Marathon purchases for the first 60 days, with a 5% rebate thereafter.

The Hess Visa Platinum Card extends its 10% rebate for 90 days for purchases made at Hess or Wilco stations, while the Speedway SuperAmerica Platinum MasterCard has an 8% rebate for the first 60 days; as with the Marathon card, the rebates drop by half after the initial period. Another option: The Shell MasterCard from Citi Cards, with its 5% rebate. All the cards offer a 1% rebate on other purchases.

Or a general-purpose rebate card

If you want more flexibility to seek out the best deals, regardless of the station brand-and get good rebates on grocery and drugstore purchases, as well-then consider a general-purpose cash-back card that rewards gas purchases.

These cards typically offer 5% cash back on gas, grocery store and pharmacy purchases, said CardRatings.com's Curtis Arnold, and 1% rebates on all other purchases. Some of the options include Citi Dividend Platinum Select, Chase Rewards Plus Card, Chase Perfect Card (with a 6% initial cashback rate for gas that drops to 3% after 90 days), Discover Platinum Card with Cashback Bonus Plus, and Blue Cash from American Express.

Some caveats: Many of these cards cap the rewards you can earn in a month or a year, which could limit the savings of big spenders. The Citi card limits your annual rebate to $300, for example, while the Chase Perfect card has a $15 monthly cap. Also, some — like American Express' Blue or the Discover card — have a tiered system, which means you won't earn the top rewards until your spending reaches certain levels (making them a less-than-optimal choice for light spenders).

Finally, many cards offer their highest rebates to stand-alone stations only, Arnold said. Gas purchases at wholesale clubs and discount retailers may not qualify.

That's because the issuers tend to earn lower transaction fees at the discounters than at the stand-alone stations, and that makes them less willing to offer the biggest rebates. It's hard to know in advance when these restrictions might apply, Arnold said. Often, neither the card's phone reps nor the station's employees will know for sure. "You just have to make the charge," Arnold said, "and check your next statement to see what kind of rebate you got."

Keep cash handy

Some of the cheapest stations accept only cash or ATM or debit cards. (The stations save by not having to pay transaction fees to credit card companies.)

Be careful about using an ATM or debit card at an unfamiliar station, however. Fraud experts consider gas stations one of the riskier places to use these cards, because employee turnover is high and it's pretty easy for a dishonest worker to steal customers' bank-account information. When in doubt, use cash.

Use legitimate coupons

Gas stations with car washes may offer discount coupons; you can also check those coupon packets you get in the mail or the back of grocery-store receipts.

What you don't want to do is fall for one of those telemarketing scams that offers $200 or so in gas vouchers for a small handling fee, usually $4 to $5.

Once you've given up your bank account or credit card number, you'll find unauthorized charges cropping up like weeds. Regulators in states from Oregon to Maryland have warned consumers not to fall for these scams and to never give out financial information to solicitors, regardless of how great the deal seems.