If you are like most Canadians you've already had your fill of high gas prices, but if you need to drive then you're probably looking for ways to cut your fuel costs.
Major gas retailers draw us to their gas stations using loyalty card and reward and points programs -- but you may be surprised at how much you have to spend to get a little free gas.
We decided to look at three major gas retailers and the reward programs they offer. It can be difficult to compare programs as they offer different rewards for purchases made in the store, whether you buy regular or premium fuel or car washes.
Some points programs also allow you to collect points or air miles when you buy items other than gasoline. For the purposes of our review we decided to find out how much we needed to spend to get $20 to $25 in free gas -- if you only bought regular gasoline from the gas retailer.
We used the information from the gas retailer's websites and here is what we discovered:
SHELL AIR MILES
- Earn 1 AIR MILE for every $20 worth of gas
- 175 reward miles = $20 worth of gas
- Cost to get $20 in free gas: $3,500
ESSO EXTRA
- Earn 1 point for every $1 of regular gas
- $3,500 points = $20 worth of gas
- Cost to get $20 in free gas: $3,500
PETRO POINTS
- Earn 5 points per litre of regular fuel
- 45,000 points = $25 worth of gas
- Cost to get $25 in free gas: $11,700
You can earn Petro Points faster by buying premium fuel and purchasing item in Petro Canada stores, but as you can see you need to buy a lot of regular gasoline to get $25 in free gas! (For our purposes we used the calculation of $1.30 a litre for regular fuel -- the price that regular was on the day we did the calculation).
Many drivers were surprised to know these reward programs required such a large expenditure before $20 to $25 dollars in fuel could be received for free.
But in typical Canadian fashion drivers at the pumps told us: "Oh well, we will take what we can get" or "at least every six months I get a free car wash."
Consumers can try to add to their savings by using credit cards that discount gas two to three cents a litre. However, these savings are only realized if you pay off your balance each month. If you don't, the 18 per cent interest charged on the card will quickly erode any savings at the pumps.
With fuel prices so high these days, oil and gas companies should do more to "beef up" loyalty programs to help consumers fill their tank with "free gas" a little quicker. Drivers could use a better break.
Key Points:
- Petro-Canada offers a Petro-Points system where you can collect five points per litre on regular fuel (seven points for PlusClean Fuel and 10 points for SuperClean Fuel)
- Shell has an Air Miles offer where you can earn one reward mile on your first $20 purchase and another reward mile on each additional $30 spent in the same transaction
- Esso Extra allows users to earn one point for every dollar spent on regular gas (two points for extra grade and 3 points for supreme grade)
- Canadians can often earn additional points through special offers, purchases from partner companies and credit cards associated with the program
- Canadian Tire also offers a credit card that can save you from two to 10 cents a litre depending on how much you spend per month
- Costco members are eligible for savings of up to six cents a litre but there are fewer locations and the line-ups can be extremely long
