Most discount gas cards come as a part of a membership etc. For example, you can use your Costco card to get gas at the Costco pumps, and the cost is typically about five cents a gallon less than the average price. This means for a ten gallon tank you are saving fifty cents. This does not seem like a lot, but if you save fifty cents every time you fill up, that is about $25 a year. Now, to some this seems like a palsy sum. However, you have to consider the notion that you can add $25 to your cash reserve and do absolutely nothing for that. No extra work or effort is required. You are going to put gas in your car anyway, so by choosing to fill up at Costco while you do your shopping you save.

Some discount cards are for specific stations, and in many cases they are stations that already offer lower fuel prices than the average. For example, if you get a Maverick card, you can save a few cents per gallon, on already low fuel cost.

If you get a discount card that is attached to your grocery store of choice, your savings can be even higher. In many instances the way these work is that you get a certain amount off for how much you spend on groceries in the store. So, for example, if you spend $31 or more you get five cents off per gallon. If you spend $75 or more you get ten cents off per gallon. If you spend $125 or more you get fifteen cents off per gallon. Most people find that it is not that difficult to spend $125 at the grocery store. So, simply wait to shop until you have a few things that you need, then be sure to have the checker scan your gas card, and then fill up sometime in the next two weeks to get fifteen cents off per gallon. That is $1.50 for a ten gallon tank, or $75 a year in savings. That is nothing to sniff at.

In some cases the discount gas card is simply a special gas station credit card, where you get rewards points for spending, and when you spend on gas from their station, the rewards triple or quadruple. For example, maybe you get the Chevron Visa. With it you get points for every dollar you spend, when you get to $1000 points, you get a ten dollar gas gift card in the mail. So, every dollar is one point. But, every dollar spent at Chevron is worth four points. In other words, for every $250 you spend on gas at Chevron you will get a free $10 gas card. This is roughly equivalent to a $50 a year savings on your gas, just if you use the card for gas, but a much larger savings if you wisely use the card for other purchases as well, and pay it off every month.