Driving is expensive. No one will really argue with that, especially in most parts of Europe. Filling up our cars with gas or fuel is often one of the biggest costs that we face in a year. All of those trips to the gas station really do add up, as frustrating as it can be.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty much a necessity for most people. From commuting to work to taking the kids to extracurricular activities and more, driving is an integral part of our lives. That’s especially true in places that don’t have a lot of public transportation options, or if those options just aren’t very safe in comparison to driving on your own.
With all of this said, it probably won’t come as a surprise that people have been coming up with ways to minimize these expenses for themselves. Carpooling is a classic, of course, but it often isn’t a long-term solution because everyone involved will still be paying a lot for fuel. So, what are the other options?
One that’s been steadily gaining popularity over the past few years is the fuel card or gas card. They’re a type of credit card intended for this specific purpose. To learn more about them, stick around!
What are they?
Thankfully, they really aren’t that complicated. If you’re already familiar with normal credit cards, then you’ve pretty much got a handle on how the gas ones work. That being said, to define it in a simple way, we can look at it like this: they are a type of credit card that offers rewards or incentives for purchasing fuel with them.
Now, this can manifest in a few different ways. For example, you might end up getting cash back on each of your fuel purchases, or the card will allow you to have a discount from a specific gas station every time that you visit. That sort of information will be available to you when you go to apply, though, so you’ll be able to decide what you would prefer.
In that way, finding the beste drivstoffkort is a personal affair for each person looking to get one – after all, it’ll really depend on what your goals are by getting a fuel card. At the end of the day, no matter which type you go for, you’ll be saving money on your gas purchases. That’s the most important part of this.
Are They Worth it?
Obviously, anyone who offers one of them is going to talk them up and say how great they are. From the perspective of a consumer, though, are they really worth your while? Well, that’ll really depend on how often you drive and how much you purchase gas.
If you stay at home all the time and take a trip in the car once a week (or less, for some of us), then you might not really find one of these worth your time. However, that doesn’t really describe most of us out there. Anyone who frequently purchases fuel will likely get a ton of use out of one of these credit cards.
As long as they’re used responsibly and you aren’t overspending with them, then there’s also a good chance that they’ll end up helping you to save money on your gas each year. By their very nature, that is what they’re intended to do, so really the question is whether or not they deliver on that. For the most part, the answer to that is “yes” – it’ll just depend on the lender that you work with.
What to Look for Out of One
So, what qualities set a fuel card above the rest? Most importantly, you’ll want to pay attention to the interest rate that’s being charged. The lower it is, the better the card. That’s pretty much universal for any credit agreement, though, so it’s likely not anything revolutionary for you. Still, it’s worth mentioning considering how big of a deal that interest rates can be. No one wants to end up stuck paying a ton of extra money on their transactions thanks to high rate.
What else is there, then? Depending on where you are and what providers you’re looking at, this could change of course, but the amount of the discount on fuel is a big one. Cash back rewards being high is another good sign, of course, so long as there’s not a huge fee or interest rate tacked onto it. The more money you can earn back just from buying the necessary gas, the better.
Just keep in mind that some of them will be restricted to certain gas stations, so that may not be something that you want to deal with. Often, the specific ones for chains will give some better rewards, with the tradeoff being that they aren’t useable at every petrol station you go to. It’ll be up to you to decide whether or not that’s worth it in your eyes.
Really, though, in order to get the best deal on a credit card for buying gas, use your instincts that you would for any other type of credit agreement. They still are in that category, after all, even if they fill a targeted niche within it. Ideally, you’ll be able to find one that offers a low interest rate and high rewards, but sometimes that won’t be entirely possible.
Regarding specific providers, it never hurts to look them up online to see what other customers have to say about them. You can also check out some of the professional reviews of them, too. There are even sites out there that let you directly compare a few different card options, if that sounds like it would be helpful as you search.
While fuel cards may not help everyone, frequent travelers will likely get a lot of use out of them. Being able to save any money on these necessary costs can be really nice, especially in today’s day and age.
