How to save on gas prices in Canada

If you spend a lot of money on gas each month, the first thing you should do is find a credit card that offers you more rewards in the Gas category.

Here are 5 excellent cards for your gas purchases:

• 4% cash back per dollar with the CIBC Dividend^® Visa Infinite* Card
• 5 points per dollar (i.e. about 3.35%) with the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card
• 3% cash back per dollar with the BMO CashBack^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*
• 3% cash back per dollar with the CIBC Dividend Platinum^® Visa* Card
• 2% cash back per dollar with The Scotia Momentum^® Visa Infinite* Card

For example, with the American Express Cobalt^MD Card, you get:

• 5 points for grocery purchases ;
• 2 points for gas station purchases.

So you can buy Esso or Petro-Canada gift cards at the grocery store Metro or Super C, then use them to pay for a full tank of gas. You will then have earned 5 points per dollar instead of 2.

For example, for a weekly purchase of $100 worth of gasoline and other items (milk, bread, lottery tickets, gum, etc.) at an Esso store:

After one year, you will have:

The difference is enormous! These 26,000 Membership Rewards points can be converted into :

• 26,000 Aeroplan points for a round trip to Florida
• 31,200 Marriott Bonvoy points for a free night at the hotel
• $ 260 cash back to pay for 2.6 weeks of gas!

The same principle applies to the National Bank World Elite Mastercard^®, with 5 points per dollar spent.

The same principle applies to the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card, with which you get 4% cash back on groceries and 2% on gas.

With the BMO AIR MILES^® World Elite^®* Mastercard, you earn basic AIR MILES miles on gas purchases AND 3 AIR MILES miles for every $12 spent at Shell.

The base AIR MILES earning at Shell is:

• 1 Mile FOR EVERY 10 L Shell V-Power premium fuels
• 1 Mile for every 20 L Shell Bronze, Silver and Diesel

Let’s take, for example, a 40-litre fill-up of Regular (Bronze or Silver) gasoline at Shell, at a cost of $1.60 per litre. The cost will be $64.

Here’s how the miles and rebates earn :

To get even more, we also recommend signing up for Shell Go+. There are many monthly promotions, and you get an extra 2X AIR MILES.

Shell gift cards are available at IGA. In addition, many IGA grocery stores accept American Express cards.

Combining a Shell gift card purchased at IGA with an American Express Cobalt^® Card (5% cash back) to pay for gas is another very profitable option.

With CIBC’s CIBC Dividend Card^® Visa Infinite* or CIBC Platinum Dividend Card^® Visa*, you get discounts on gas at Ultramar (as well as Pioneer, Marché Express, On the Run, Fas Gas and Chevron) with the Journie program:

• 3 cents per litre every time you fill up
• 7 cents per liter each time you accumulate 300 Journie points

In addition, Journie Rewards is associated with the Aeroplan program. By linking your Journie and Aeroplan accounts, you will receive 300 Aeroplan points at the end of each cycle of 300 Journie Rewards points.

Then, you can exchange these Aeroplan points for a discount or vouchers to treat yourself:

• 300 Aeroplan points versus a voucher entitling you to a discount of $0.07 per litre of fuel for a single fill-up (up to 50 litres). Combine up to 5 coupons for a maximum rebate of $0.35 per liter
• 500 Aeroplan points for a $5 convenience store voucher
• 600 Aeroplan points for a $5 discount at M&M Food Market
• 1,100 Aeroplan points for a La Totale car wash voucher (value of $15.99)

Furthermore, these credit cards offer the highest cash back rates in Canada for gasoline:

• 4% cash back with the CIBC Dividend^® Visa Infinite* Card.
• 3% cash back with the CIBC^® Platinum Dividend Visa Card*

This is handy if the gift card trick is too complicated for you! Especially since there are no Ultramar gift cards in grocery stores.

On the PC Optimum side, you earn PC Optimum points on gas at Esso:

• 10 points per liter ($0.01 value)
• 30 points per liter with a PC Finance credit card (value of $0.03)

In addition, PC Optimum points can be redeemed for purchases at Esso :

• 10 cents off per liter (up to 40 liters) when you redeem 4,000 PC Optimum points

Let’s go back to the example of a 40-litre tank of gas, at $1.60/litre = $64. You will earn:

In comparison, this $64 purchase made on a credit card not linked to PC Finance yields:

From RBC, any credit card will save you up to 7 cents per liter in value, like the :

• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card,
• RBC^® British Airways Visa Infinite Card
• or the WestJet RBC^® World Elite Mastercard,

This way, you get discounts on gas at Petro Canada:

• 3 cents per liter every time you fill up;
• 20% more Petro-Points (worth about 1.2 cents per liter)
• 20% more points Avion Rewards with an RBC credit card that earns RBC Rewards points like the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card (worth approximately 2.8 cents per liter)

To obtain them, you must first link your RBC credit card and your Petro-Points account.

In the Petro-Points program, the basic earning is:

• 10 points per 1 liter of gas
• 10 points for every $1 spent in-store and at car washes

Every 1,000 Petro-Points gives you a $1 discount on items or free gas.

Let’s go back to the example of a 40-litre tank of gas, at $1.60/litre = $64. It will cost you at Petro-Canada:

Here are some alternative payment methods and their benefits for the same $64 purchase: