Gas on I 90

Planning a trip late summer/early fall from upstate NY to Montana. Will be spending big $$$ on fuel. Wondering if there is a common gas station across the country? Maybe I could get a card with customer rewards to save money. Cash back on fuel spending?
Trying to think of any details. Never tried a camping trip of this magnitude before. Also looking for any safety tips for a long road trip? Any advise?

2013 Summerland 2570 TT
2012 Chevy 2500

I use Costco when I can and find them usually fairly conveniently located along the way. The fuel is Top Tier rated and cheaper as well as getting 4% cash back on my card. Use the Gas Buddy app to find stations along your route as well. It shows fuel prices. If I need fuel during the middle of the travel day I use whatever large station presents itself with the quickest on/off access. Price is less important than ease then. If it is the end of the day I have time to hit Costco for fuel and food.

We went on a similar journey in 2007 with Yellowstone being the ultimate destination. I do not recall any consistency to the gas stations but then again, I was not specifically tracking them (we did track gas costs at every stop but not the actual station/brand name). Discover Card happened to have extra cash-back on gas that summer so we dedicated it for gas purchases.


I know what you are saying - some stations have big discounts for using their card - but other than the big boys (Pilot, Flying J, etc.), I think most stations are regional.

We will do another 5000 mile trip this summer we use gas buddy or the ford app which shows every station with a little flag with the price on it i can search anywhere i want with it by city or route

We use Pilot with the Good Sam's 3 cent discount and Shell with the Kroger's discount. However, when you need gas these are not always around. Out West especially, we bought gas when we reached half empty. It is the only place where we checked distances between destinations and filled up often.

Surprisingly, the only place I have run out of gas was in FL on the Interstate. We turned off to find gas, Big Big mistake! even though it was the first time I have run our of gas in 50 years since high school, it was a lesson learned. Now we keep a five gallon can of stabilized gas with us.

Take care

I use a cash rewards card.  See what your present credit card offers.  My Bank of America Cash Rewards Visa card offers 3% cash back at gas stations, up to $2500 worth of purchases per quarter.  That's 7.5 cents cash back at $2.50/gallon or 9 cents cash back at $3.00 per gallon and is on top of any other affinity card discounts like Good Sam, etc.

Just be aware that many stations are now posting different cash vs. credit card prices that can eat up part or all of the cash back savings.

As far as brands, what's convenient or cheapest will vary depending on what part of the country you're in.  But almost all gas stations accept Visa/MC in addition to their own card.  Arco is the exception - they only take cash or a debit card with a 35 cents per transaction surcharge.

Costco requires a $60 or $120 annual membership to use their gas stations.  You may or may not make back that cost just on fuel purchases.

Gas Buddy is a good website (www.gasbuddy.com) - they also have an Android app available.  Their Gas Price Heat Map shows pricing trends in various areas.  Sometimes going across a state line or into a different region can make a significant difference in gas prices.  Or you can zoom in on the map, or enter your present location to find the prices at individual gas stations.

RGP said:

We use Pilot with the Good Sam's 3 cent discount and Shell with the Kroger's discount. However, when you need gas these are not always around. Out West especially, we bought gas when we reached half empty. It is the only place where we checked distances between destinations and filled up often.

Surprisingly, the only place I have run out of gas was in FL on the Interstate. We turned off to find gas, Big Big mistake! even though it was the first time I have run our of gas in 50 years since high school, it was a lesson learned. Now we keep a five gallon can of stabilized gas with us.

Take care

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Yeah, I was going to also mention the major truck stop chains.  I get gas discounts with Pilot also.  I have a commercial truck card from them that also gives me the discount on gasoline for my personal stuff.  I have never checked to see it TA/Petro or Love's has similar deals.  Unlike being a member of something, the Pilot discount card is free.

And I am fond of using the Gas Buddy app as well.

keymastr said:

I use Costco when I can and find them usually fairly conveniently located along the way. The fuel is Top Tier rated and cheaper as well as getting 4% cash back on my card. Use the Gas Buddy app to find stations along your route as well. It shows fuel prices. If I need fuel during the middle of the travel day I use whatever large station presents itself with the quickest on/off access. Price is less important than ease then. If it is the end of the day I have time to hit Costco for fuel and food.

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Just came back from a trip Georgia to Arizona and back... Most of the gas was either Pilot or Flying J... If you have a good sams club membership you can swipe the card for 5Cents off per gallon.... Many are RV accessible also with a little maneuvering... I also use my Costco citicard and get 4% back on all gas purchases... So if gas is 2 bucks a gallon, save a nickel a gallon and I get 4 cents on the dollar as cash back on my card.... Have a safe trip and enjoy the camping.... Probably 8-10 miles per gallon on the open road....

Coming across Minnesota and S Dakota, you won't find any large chain type stations( Costco).  You will be better off with a credit card that gives cash back or similar.  We drive frequently to the DC area on I-90, I-80, and I-70.  You have some Love's, Flying J etc, but they charge more for using credit cards and I never carry that much cash.

  My experience is exactly the same as Kjansen?s. I travel across I-90 thru SD a lot. I mostly look for ease of access in and out more than anything. I already know I?m gonna spend a lot in fuel.

I can't speak for I-90 specifically, but as far as gas station discount clubs, Shell seems to be the best one.  5 cents/gallon off just for swiping the rewards card before paying.  The last several months, they have offered an additional 5 cents/off on Tuesdays during NCAA sports season.  So my wife and I fill up our daily drivers on Tuesday and get 10 cents off per gallon!  I'm bummed that March Madness is almost over because that extra 5 cent discount is going to end. 

Other than the discount, Shell is top tier fuel and stations are easily found.  BP and Marathon are my next two choices for top tier, and BP has a rewards program too but the per-gallon discounts don't add up nearly as fast as Shell.

When we travel, we put everything on a Southwest airline card. You get a mile for every dollar spent. By the end of the summer, we'll have a few thousand extra points racked up.

We use the card as often as possible, including day to day activities and bills. We pay it off every month and usually end up with enough points each year to take our family of four anywhere for free. We'll be taking a cruise in a few months and used the points for airfare. Saved us about $1,800.

lone_star_dsl said:

When we travel, we put everything on a Southwest airline card. You get a mile for every dollar spent. By the end of the summer, we'll have a few thousand extra points racked up.

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Delta Blue American Express gives you 2 miles for every dollar in many shopping categories.  ;D  So yeah, there are "rewards" credit cards for everything.  Although decades of consumer spending research also shows that people statistically spend more when swiping a credit card, versus paying cash (as you watch the bills disappear from your hand) or even swiping a debit card (where you intuitively realize the money is instantly disappearing from your checking account).  Paying a credit card off every month obviously avoids interest charges, but not the impulse buying or extra percentage that is spent without even realizing it.

That doesn't necessarily apply to filling up a gas tank, which is gonna cost what it's gonna cost!

not an abundant supply of gas stations on I-90 thru SD and most are not open late at night

Its only about 400 miles from Sioux Falls to Sturgis so you won't need to buy fuel but possibly once in this long stretch. I drove from the south side of Atlanta to the Black Hills and came back thru Nebraska after the eclipse and only bought fuel 15 times and most were short legs as my fuel gauge has gone wacko and so I will run no more than 300 miles at a time but usually tried to refuel by the 200 mile mark just to be safe.

Look ahead using one of the already mentioned apps or Google Maps or whatever you happen to like and just use a major credit card. I use Discover for all of my fuel all the time, and have a Visa as a backup. Don't forget and call the credit card company and give them info on where you will be going on your trip and the dates, so they don't lock the card.

In 2012 I drove to Fargo and when I stopped in St Joe Missouri, the card would not work. I had failed to call (I always did in the past) and Discover locked it out. Took a phone call and several hours to get it working again. Moral of the story is to have at least two different cards and always call the card company before leaving home.

Charles

I was not on I-90, I was on I-75. 

I un-hitched a couple of times to save ~.40 a gallon and filled up at Sams club.  I was filling a diesel F350, with a 48.5-gallon tank and a 39' fifth wheel.  I typically put 30+ gallons in.

If your buying Diesel only you can get a commercial card such as a Pacific Pride or CFN card.

Here was an article about it. The company is based in Oregon but you can get the card in any state.

https://www.staroilco.net/why-does-a-rv-owner-need-a-pacific-pride-or-cfn-card/

The benefits are easy access to the pumps as these stations are built for Big Trucks.

There is a lot of Sinclair across South Dakota,  Wyoming, some in Minnesota, not sure of Montana but Sinclair has a station finder on their web page. You can get a Sinclair credit card and get 10 cents off right at the pump!

We use a Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa Cash Rewards Card  that rebates 5% on all pay at the pump fuel purchases, credited to our account monthly. Combined with the 5 cent/gallon discount we get at Pilot/Flying J stations with our Good Sam Swipe & Save membership card, it really adds up. PenFed CU membership is open to everyone...

nibroc said:

not an abundant supply of gas stations on I-90 thru SD and most are not open late at night

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Only time I got close to running out of gas was going through there.  Start looking when you get under a half tank.


For what it's worth...I've learned to not care a hoot about how much the gasoline costs.  I'm having fun and spending the kids inheritance.  I never go in the major truck stops nor discount gas stations. 

When one of those dimwits on their cellphones hit the side of your coach every penny you've saved on gas is gone. Not to mention how they park in the fuel isle, go inside and eat lunch. 

When we are on the road for a month or two the average daily cost  is $100. That includes everything...gas. RV park, food, tours, etc.