Gasoline pump. (Credit: Miguel Gutierrez/Getty Images)
Reporting Dorothy Tucker
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CHICAGO (CBS) — Gas prices area taking a bite out of your wallet, but what if you could actually make money every time you filled up?
CBS 2′S Dorothy Tucker takes a look at the best credit cards that offer you cash back on gas.
For many of us, paying for gas is more painful than the dentist, more aggravating than road construction, but as necessary as filing taxes.
But what if every time you pumped you got paid like Patrick DeHaan?
“In the last few years, I’ve easily gotten hundreds of dollars back,” DeHaan says.
DeHaan uses the Lake Michigan Credit Union Card, which gives him 3 percent back on every dollar he spends for gas.
“Just basically by buying some gas — something you need to do — you might as well get something for it,” he says.
There are lots of gas reward credit cards to choose from. But a top pick by credit card experts is the Discover More Card.
“This one has one of the strongest cash-back components — at 5 percent cash back for gasoline and 1 percent on all other purchases,” Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research for Creditcards.com, says.
Also on the list with similar rewards is the Chase Freedom credit card and the PenFed Visa Platinum. With any of them, you can buy any brand of gas and still earn rewards.
For every $50 a week you spend, you’re earning $2.50, or $130 a year.
That’s enough to make some consumers switch.
Experts also like some branded cards like the Marathon Credit Card, which offers a 5-cent to 25-cent rebate per gallon, and the Exxon Mobil Credit Card, which provides a 15-cent rebate. But these come with a caveat.
“If you do get one of those cards, that’s the only place you can earn that cash back on gas purchases is when you go to that particular station,” Woolsey says.
In just four months, DeHaan earned $100 using his card for gas, groceries and other items. He can turn them into gift cards or other merchandise — or just request the cash.
Keep in mind that rewards cards also have higher interest rates than regular credit cards. So make sure you pay your balance in full each month, or you’ll eat away at any money you’ve earned.
