After gas prices skyrocketed in 2022, we were all on high alert to find the cheapest place for fuel. If you drive regularly, the costs can really add up and make a dent in your wallet. But did you know that the best gas credit cards have rewards to help you save on these costs? Just make sure to pay off your balance in full every month. This way, not only will you be saving money on gas, but you’ll also be building good credit and avoiding debt.
There are a lot of cards out there, though, making it hard to know which one is right for you. We’re breaking down the best gas rewards credit cards for you so you can maximize those points and rewards at the pump.
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1. Get up to $530+ cash back plus gas rewards with U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No annual fee — for the first year, anyways. | |
| Generous introductory bonus of $500 when you spend $2,000 in the first 120 days after opening your account. | Annual fee of $95 after first year. |
| Potential of no cap on cash-back rewards spending. | |
| 4% cash back on gas and EV charging purchases. | No introductory APR offer. |
| Additional cash back of varying percentages on all other purchases. | |
| Annual $30 credit if you use your card to pay for certain streaming services throughout the year. | APR isn’t terrible for a credit card, but it’s still too high to take on. Make sure you’re paying your balance in full every billing period to avoid interest charges. If you can’t, don’t open the card. |
- Annual fee: $0 for first year, $95 for every year after that
- Cash-back rewards: 1% – 5%
- Standard variable APR: 16.24% – 24.24%
- Introductory cash-back offer: $500 when you spend $2,000 in the first 120 days
You will need good to excellent credit to qualify for the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card. The first year, there’s no annual fee, but after the 12-month mark you’ll be charged $95 every year.
There’s no introductory offer on APR, and rates are fairly standard for a credit card but still too high to carry a balance. If you spend $2,000 in the first 120 days (about six months) of opening your account, you’ll be rewarded with $500-worth of points.
On top of that, you’ll earn the equivalent of 4% cash back at gas stations, EV charging stations, and on certain travel purchases. There’s no blatantly advertised spending cap for cash-back offers, which means it’s possible the only caps on your rewards are how much you spend.
You can earn the equivalent of 5% cash back on prepaid hotel and rental car reservations you make through the Altitude Rewards Center, 2% back on grocery, dining, and streaming service purchases, and 1% cash back on everything else.
Plus, if you use one of these streaming services every month for 11 months, you’ll receive a $30 bonus each year:
| Amazon Music | HBO Max | Peacock, Showtime |
| Amazon Prime Video | Hulu | SiriusXM |
| Apple Music | iHeart | Slacker Radio |
| Apple TV+ | Luminary | Sling TV |
| DirecTV Stream | MLB TV | Spotify |
| Discovery+ | NBA League Pass | Starz |
| Disney+ | Netflix | Stitcher |
| ESPN+ | NHL Live | Tidal, Vudu |
| Fubo TV | Pandora | YouTube Music |
| Google Music | Paramount+ | YouTube TV and YouTube Premium |
Potential cash back: $530+, and that’s before counting your gasoline rewards.
2. Chase Freedom Flex could earn you $800 the first year.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | You must sign up for 5% cash back in rotating categories every quarter — except for gas. | |
| 5% cash back on gas for first year or first $6,000 spent. | ||
| $200 bonus when you spend $500+ in the first three months of account opening. | 19.24% – 27.99% APR after 15 months isn’t the worst in the world of credit cards. But it’s still high interest, and you want to avoid paying it by paying your balance in full every single billing cycle. | |
| Additional cash back of varying percentages on all other purchases. | ||
| 0% APR on purchases for the first 15 months. | Subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1% – 5%
- Introductory APR: 0% for first 15 months
- Standard variable APR: 19.24% – 27.99%
- Introductory cash-back offer: $200 after you spend $500 in first three months
You will need good to excellent credit to qualify for the Chase Freedom Flex card. Chase also has a rule that if you have applied for more than five credit cards in the past 24 months, you will not be approved.
The Chase Freedom Flex offers lots of attractive features, like a $200 cash-back bonus when you spend $500 in the first three months of opening your card. For the first year, you’ll earn 5% cash back on your grocery purchases on the first $12,000 spent.
That means on groceries alone, you could wrack up $600 in the first year. This is only an introductory offer, though. Assuming you earn the $200 cash-back bonus, you’re now up to $800 in rewards.
Additionally, you’ll earn 5% cash back in quarterly bonus categories. You will have to sign up for these inflated quarterly rewards or you won’t get them. For example, the first quarterly categories in 2023:
- January – March: Grocery stores (Target and Walmart don’t count); Gym and fitness clubs memberships.
At all times, you will earn 3% cash back on purchases made at drug stores, restaurants, and some food delivery services. You will earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Potential cash-back rewards: $800+
3. Check out Chase Freedom Unlimited if you’re not about rotating categories.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | ||
| 5% cash back on gas for the first year or first $6,000 spent. | 19.24% – 27.99% APR after 15 months isn’t the worst in the world of credit cards. But it’s still high interest, and you want to avoid paying it by paying your balance in full every single billing cycle. | |
| $200 bonus when you spend $500+ in the first three months of account opening. | ||
| Additional cash back of varying percentages on all other purchases. | Subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. | |
| 0% APR on purchases for the first 15 months. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1%-5%
- Introductory APR: 0% for first 15 months
- Standard variable APR: 19.24% – 27.99%
- Introductory cash-back offer: $200 after you spend $500 in first three months
Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited are very similar. Both offer you $200 in rewards points after spending $500 in your first three months as an account holder. And both will give you 5% cash back on the first $12,000 in purchases you make at grocery stores (except Walmart and Target) for the first year, for a total of $800 in rewards.
But everything after that is slightly different. Chase Freedom Unlimited does not have a 5% cash-back offer on rotating categories. While it does still give you 3% cash back on restaurant and drugstore purchases, it pays 1.5% cash back rewards on all other purchases. If you are looking at cash-back potential only, the Flex pays out more for most people if they actually register for the quarterly categories. However, if you forget to register or simply don’t spend money in any of the given quarterly categories, you may come out on top with Unlimited instead.
Potential cash-back rewards: $800+
Related: Earn even more cold hard cash by joining the Chase refer-a-friend program.
4. Get rewarded for your highest spending category with Citi Custom Cash Card.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | ||
| 5% cash back on first $500 you spend on gas every month — or in your highest spending category. | 18.24% – 28.24% APR after 15 months isn’t the worst in the world of credit cards. But it’s still high interest, and you want to avoid paying it by paying your balance in full every single billing cycle. | |
| $200 bonus when you spend $750+ within the first three months of account opening. | ||
| Additional cash back of 1% on all other purchases. | Cumulative cash back could easily end up being less than Chase’s offers depending on how much money you spend outside of your highest spending category. | |
| 0% APR for first 15 months. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1% – 5%
- Cash-back cap: $500 per month
- Introductory APR: 0% for 15 months
- Standard variable APR: 18.24% – 28.24%
- Introductory cash-back offer: $200-worth of points when you spend $1,500 in the first six months
You will need good to excellent credit in order to qualify for the Citi Custom Cash Card, which comes with no annual fee. It also comes with 0% APR on purchases for the first 15 months. However, after that, you’ll end up paying a fairly standard variable APR of 18.24% – 28.24%. You should pay your statement balance in full every month, even if you are not being charged interest. Paying late or letting your balance build up could have a negative impact on your credit report.
If you spend $1,500 or more in the first six months, you can currently get a $200 bonus reward. Plus, you’ll get 5% cash back on your highest spending category every month on the first $500 spent. One of the spending categories is gas stations, so if filling up your SUV is the biggest line item in your budget lately, rejoice!
The other potential spending categories are:
- Restaurants
- Grocery stores
- Drug stores
- Home improvement stores
- Fitness clubs
- Live entertainment
- Certain travel, transit, and streaming purchases
If your grocery bill has nearly doubled over the past two years, that may end up being your highest spending category, despite sky-high prices at the pump.
You’ll still get cash back on gas in this scenario, though. Every other purchase you make outside of your highest spending category gets you the equivalent of 1% cash-back rewards.
Potential cash-back rewards: $450+
Related: Check out the best cash-back credit cards.
5. There’s no cap on gas rewards with the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | High credit standards. | |
| Decently low APR for a credit card. | No intro APR. | |
| Earn a 15,000 point bonus when you spend $1,500 within 90 days of account opening
5x points on gas and EV charging purchases. | No intro bonus offer. | |
| 1x – 3x points on all other purchases. | You will have to join the credit union — but it’s not hard to do. | |
| Rewards can be worth as much as 8% of purchase depending on redemption method. | No cash-back redemption option. | |
| No cap on rewards earnings.
Zero Introductory APR for Balance Transfers (within the first 90 days) for 12 months. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1x – 5x points per every dollar spent
- Standard variable APR: 17.99%
- Introductory cash-back offer: 15,000 bonus points when you spend $1,500 in the first 90 days.
You will need an excellent credit score to qualify for the Platinum Rewards Visa Signature Card. You will also need to join PenFed Credit Union, but that’s an easy enough process. All you have to do is sign up for a Member Savings Account with a minimum opening deposit of $5.
This card comes with an introductory bonus points offer and a zero APR for balance transfers (in the first 90 days) for 12 months. The standard APR is low, at least for a credit card. You will want to pay your balance in full every month anyways to avoid paying interest altogether.
Keep in mind you will earn five points for every $1 you spend at the pump, whether you’re gassing up your car or plugging it into the EV charging station. There is no maximum dollar amount where you’ll stop earning 5x points.
PRO TIP: Did you know you could save money on gas by not filling up on Thursdays?
PenFed’s rewards points are currently valued at around 1.6 cents per point. Depending on your redemption method, your mileage may vary. This would put you at around 8% in rewards on gas purchases, but you can’t claim them in cash back. Instead, you can claim them for gift cards, certain travel purchases, and shopping in PenFed’s online portal.
You will earn three points for every $1 you spend at:
- Grocery stores
- Target
- Walmart
- Restaurants
- TV, radio, and streaming services
Every other purchase will earn you one point per dollar spent.
Potential cash-back rewards: No cash back. But also no cap on rewards, which could earn you up to 8% back in redemption value on gas purchases.
6. The best gas credit card could be Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee for the first year. | ||
| 0% APR for the first 12 months. | $95 annual fee after the first year. | |
| $75 in rewards when you spend $1,000 in the first six months after opening your card. | ||
| 3% cash back on gas purchases. | 18.24% – 29.24% standard APRs aren’t terrible as far as credit cards are concerned, but it’s still high. Avoid owing it by paying your balance in full every month. | |
| Additional cash back of varying percentages on all other purchases — including 6% cash back on the first $6,000 your spend on groceries per year. |
- Annual fee: $0 for the first year, then $95
- Cash-back rewards: 1% – 6%
- Introductory APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers
- Standard variable APR: 18.24% – 29.24%
- Introductory cash-back offer: $75-worth of points when you spend $1,000 in the first six months
You will need good to excellent credit to qualify for the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card. There is no annual fee for the first year, but after that, you will pay an annual fee of $95.
For the first year, you won’t have to pay any interest. Still, pay your balance off in full every month to keep your credit intact. After that, the APR jumps up to fairly standard rates.
American Express offers a $75 bonus on this card when you spend at least $1,000 in the first six months.
While the cash-back offer on gas is only 3%, there is no spending cap in this category. You’ll also get the equivalent of 6% cash back on the first $6,000 of grocery purchases every year. That’s $360 max rewards per year before they drop to 1%.
You’ll also earn 6% cash back on your streaming service purchases, 3% cash back on transit purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Potential cash-back rewards: $435+, and that’s before factoring in your gas-specific rewards.
7. The Costco Anywhere by Visa Card by Citi allows you to buy gas anywhere.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | Must have a Costco membership. | |
| 4% cash back on the first $7,000 you spend per year at all gas stations — not just the ones owned by Costco. | High credit standards. | |
| 1% – 3% cash back on all other purchases. | Because the cash-back percentage is lower, you’ll get more from cards higher up on this list even though the annual spending cap for rewards may be slightly higher. | |
| No introductory offers for APR or bonuses. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1% – 4%
- Standard variable APR: 19.49%
- Introductory cash-back offer: None
You will need excellent credit for the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi. On top of that, you’re gonna need a Costco membership.
There are no introductory offers with these cards. But you will get 4% cash back on the first $7,000 you spend on gas and EV charging every year. Plus, you don’t have to buy the gas at Costco! You can purchase it anywhere. There’s a $280 cash-back max on gas and EV charging purchases every year.
You can also earn 3% back on restaurant and some travel purchases, plus 2% back on purchases at Costco and Costco.com. All other purchases will net you 1% cash back.
With this card, your cash back will be issued in the form of a certificate which you can redeem at Costco for cash or as a credit against a Costco purchase.
Potential cash-back savings: $280+
8. USAA Cashback Rewards Plus American Express Card has high gas station rewards — but they’re capped.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| No annual fee. | Military or USAA affiliation required. | |
| 5% cash back on first $3,000 of gas purchases every year. | High credit standards. | |
| Additional cash back of varying percentages on all other purchases. | Relatively low cap on annual cash-back spending. | |
| No introductory offers for APR or bonuses. |
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash-back rewards: 1%-5%
- Standard variable APR: 12.15%-26.15%
- Introductory cash-back offer: None
You will need excellent credit to qualify for the USAA Cashback Rewards Plus American Express Card. You will also need to be eligible for USAA membership by having an association with the military, whether that’s through yourself, a parent, or a spouse. You’d also be eligible if those family members were not military but had USAA memberships themselves.
There are no introductory offers on this card, whether we’re talking sign-up bonuses or reduced APRs. However, you will get 5% cash-back rewards on gas purchases and all purchases made on a military base. There is a $3,000 spending cap per year for this reward level, which means you’d max this reward out at just $150 per year.
You will also earn 2% cash-back rewards on your first $3,000 in grocery purchases and 1% cash back on everything else.
Potential cash-back rewards: $150+
9. What to consider with store-branded gas station credit cards.
These cards can look alluring, but there are a few things you have to consider.
You might encounter a card that offers a certain number of cents per gallon off every time you use the card to pay at their specific gas station. That’s great if you have 100% gas station loyalty. But if you don’t, it doesn’t make much sense to only save at one gas station.
Then you have to look into the value and fine print of these discounts themselves. For example, the Shell Fuel Rewards Cards offer $0.30 off per gallon. At an average cost of $3.30/gal, that comes out to an impressive 9% discount — much better than almost any of the credit card offers.
But that offer only lasts for your first five visits. Let’s say you have a 20-gallon tank. You’ll be saving $6 every time you fill up with the $0.30/gallon discount. However, you only get it five times for a whopping $30 off. That’s not terribly impressive.
After the first five visits, you get $0.10/gallon off, which currently equates to about 2% off with current average prices. So everything after that first $30 is less than you’d get with the non-branded cards above.
Speedway’s Speedy Rewards Mastercard does come with an introductory bonus, but the points can’t be converted to cash. They can only be redeemed on Speedway purchases, and points aren’t even worth $0.01/each in most cases.
You may find a card where the rewards are worth it. But in many cases, the perks of store-branded credit cards aren’t that helpful when you consider the restrictions that accompany them.
PRO TIP: Save even more on gas by learning about the best fuel reward programs.
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