Best 3 Credit Cards for Gas Purchases

Categories: Credit Card GuidesBy Last Updated: December 19, 2023

With rising gas prices, it can help to at least know that you are earning free hotel stays or cash back from your gas purchases. Here are my favorite options. Throughout the article, I will use a monthly cost of $250 to calculate rewards.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card

This is the highest earner on gas that I’m aware of at 8 points per dollar.

Redemption Options

Wyndham Rewards can be redeemed for nights at Wyndham hotels.

My favorite option for redeeming them is to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals. You can book a 1 bedroom house for 15,000 points per night (some restrictions apply).

If you spend $250/month on gas, you will have 24,000 points by the end of the year!

Take Note

This is a business card. If you have a small business or side hustle, you will likely qualify. Barclay can sometimes require you to send paper copies of documents like your driver’s license by mail — so be prepared that the approval process can take sometime. They also might send you an auto-decline when you just need to send in some documents so be sure to call in.

There is a personal version of this card that earns 6 points per dollar on gas, too.

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credit card

Current welcome offer:

up to 100,000 points

Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first 12 months. 

Annual Fee:

$95

  • Earn 15,000 bonus points on account anniversary
  • 8 points per dollar on gas
  • Automatic Diamond status which gives free upgrades
  • Status match to Caesar’s Diamond for a free 5 night stay at Atlantis Bahamas
  • Great for booking vacation rental homes.

This is a keeper for us. The 15,000 points on account anniversary easily offers more than $95 of value. I actually prefer it to getting a free night certificate because it doesn’t expire in a year. Great earning on gas purchases. And. with the Caesar’s status you get, you can get 4 nights at the Atlantis each year!

The standard bonus is 45,000 points and seems to raise once a year. In 2021 we saw a bonus of 90,000 points. The 100,000 point bonus is best ever but requires a high spending for full bonus.

Citi Custom Cash Card

This card has a unique twist on earning bonuses. At the end of the month, you will receive 5x points on your top earning category (up to $500 per month). Categories include Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Fitness Clubs, and more.

This would be a perfect card to use for just one category where you spend less than $500 a month — like gas — knowing you will always earn 5 points per dollar on those purchases!

Redemption Options

If the Citi Custom Cash is the only card you have from Citi that earns Thank You points, you will be able to redeem your accumulated points for cash back. At the end of a year of spending $250/month on gas, you will have 15,000 points which will give you $150.

This card is even more powerful if you also have a Citi Premier Card! The Citi Premier Card also earns Thank You Points — but includes the ability to transfer those Thank You Points to airline and hotel partners, which allows you to unlock even more value.

My favorite redemption with ThankYou points is to transfer to Choice Hotels because the points transfer at 1:2. This means that the 15,000 ThankYou points you earned can become 30,000 Choice Hotel points! Choice Hotels max their hotel rates out at 30,000 points per night and there are some great 1+ bedroom options in the US or great hotels in Europe, too. Read my full post on the Citi Premier for other flight redemption options, too.

Take Note

If you are new to points, make sure you are considering the Chase 5/24 rule in your overall strategy for applying for cards before you apply for this card. Read more here.

Essentially Chase is more restrictive with card approvals so if you imagine you will open multiple cards to earn points, it can make sense to start with Chase cards first. But if you only think you will open 2 cards per year for points (or 4 cards per year for a household if 2 people are applying) — it really doesn’t matter too much.

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Current Bonus:

$200 Cash Back

Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 in purchases within the first 6 months of account opening.

Annual Fee:

$0

  • Earn 5% cash back on your top spending category each month (up to $500).
  • Cash back is given as Thank You Points and if you have a Citi Premier card, you can combine points from the cards and these points will have all the transfer partners of the Premier as well.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card

This card earns 6 points per dollar on gas purchases as well as grocery stores. It also gives you 10 Priority Pass lounge visits per year.

After spending $250/month, you’d have 18,000 points. Hilton doesn’t publish award charts but that is unlikely to even give you one night at a Hilton hotel.

Still, if you are loyal to Hilton, this can be a good option.

Current Bonus:

130,000 points

Earn 155,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Annual Fee:

$150

(Terms Apply | Rates & Fees)

  • Get up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.
  • Earn 4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases.
  • Earn 6X Points for each dollar of purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations
  • Complimentary Gold status (enrollment required)
  • 10 Priority Pass visits per year (enrollment required)
  • Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club® program is required. Terms apply.

Though lower in points than previous Hilton offers, the Free Night Reward can be very valuable as you can use it at almost any Hilton property with standard award availability — making it worth up to 95,000 points.

This card offer fluctuates a lot! Ended 7/19: 130k points + free night award after spending $2,000. Ended 1/17/24: Earn 170k

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