12 ways to find cheaper gas

The Hess Visa Platinum Card extends its 10% rebate for 90 days for purchases made at Hess or Wilco stations, while the Speedway SuperAmerica Platinum MasterCard has an 8% rebate for the first 60 days; as with the Marathon card, the rebates drop by half after the initial period. Another option: The Shell MasterCard from Citi Cards, with its 5% rebate. All of the cards offer a 1% rebate on other purchases. For more, see "Are gas rebate credit cards a good deal?"

Or a general-purpose rebate card

If you want more flexibility to seek out the best deals, regardless of the station brand -- and get rebates on grocery and drugstore purchases, as well -- then consider a general-purpose cash-back card that rewards gas purchases.

These cards typically offer 5% cash back on gas, grocery store and pharmacy purchases, said CardRatings.com's Curtis Arnold, and 1% rebates on all other purchases. Some of the options include Citi Dividend Platinum Select, Chase Rewards Plus Card, Chase Perfect Card (with a 6% initial cashback rate for gas that drops to 3% after 90 days), Discover Platinum Card with Cashback Bonus Plus, and Blue Cash from American Express.

Some caveats: Many of these cards cap the rewards you can earn in a month or a year, which could limit the savings of big spenders. The Citi card limits your annual rebate to $300, for example, while the Chase Perfect card has a $15 monthly cap. Also, some -- like American Express' Blue or the Discover card -- have a tiered system, which means you won't earn the top rewards until your spending reaches certain levels (making them a less-than-optimal choice for light spenders).

Finally, many cards offer their highest rebates to stand-alone stations only, Arnold said. Gas purchases at wholesale clubs and discount retailers may not qualify.

That's because the card issuers tend to earn lower transaction fees at the discounters than at the stand-alone stations, and that makes them less willing to offer the biggest rebates. It's hard to know in advance when these restrictions might apply, Arnold said. Often, neither the card's phone reps nor the station's employees will know for sure. "You just have to make the charge," Arnold said, "and check your next statement to see what kind of rebate you got."

Keep cash handy

Some of the cheapest stations accept only cash or debit cards. (The stations save by not having to pay transaction fees to credit card companies. You may have to pick up the fee for using a debit card.)

Be careful about using an ATM or debit card at an unfamiliar station, however. Fraud experts consider gas stations one of the riskier places to use these cards, because employee turnover is high and it's pretty easy for a dishonest worker to steal customers' bank-account information. When in doubt, use cash.

Use legitimate coupons

Gas stations with carwashes may offer discount coupons; you can also check those coupon packets you get in the mail or the back of grocery-store receipts.

What you don't want to do is fall for one of those telemarketing scams that offers $200 or so in gas vouchers for a small handling fee, usually $4 to $5.

Once you've given up your bank account or credit card number, you'll find unauthorized charges cropping up like weeds. Regulators in states from Oregon to Maryland have warned consumers not to fall for these scams and to never give out financial information to solicitors, regardless of how great the deal seems.

Use less gas

If you're planning to buy a car soon, you can, of course, save on gas by driving a car that uses less of it. MSN Autos lists the most fuel-efficient vehicles in 12 categories, including trucks and SUVs, as well as the 12 greenest cars of 2008.

Or you could stop paying for gas altogether. More than five dozen cities have a car-sharing program, where you pay by the hour for a car parked in your neighborhood -- and they pay for gas, insurance and maintenance. If you need a car mostly for quick trips and not for commuting, see if your city has car sharing.

Liz Pulliam Weston's new book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

Updated Aug. 5, 2008

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