The millions of people that own vehicles have one problem in common nowadays – the high prices of gasoline. Because of the rise of cost per gallon of fuel prices in the world market, vehicle owners seem to have started to think whether driving their own automobiles everyday to and from work is still a good idea or not.
With the above situation in mind, credit cards providers have come up with another specialty card that lessens the burden fuel prices have brought to the consumers. These are the gas-rebate cards that are rising in popularity as fast as the fuel costs.
But the debate is – are gas-rebate credit cards really good deals?
Well, they are, if we think about it. But the problem comes when we forget that advertisements are different from what is really being offered. It’s like fast food chains, you really do not expert that what they would serve you looks as good as the ones in the photo they have in the menu right? That is a lot like gas rebate credit cards, what you find on the informational pamphlets they distribute will be different from the fine print they will have on the contract.
Take for instance the Chase Perfect Card that offers you a 6% rebate on every gas purchase you make. Read on and you will find that this offer is only good until your first 3 months are over. After which, the rebates go down to 3%. Or Citibank’s Platinum Select that offers 5% cash back on all gas related purchases for the first six months, then goes down to 2% there on.
This is not to say that all advertisements and introductory offers try to swindle you into signing up. In fact, the two cards mentioned above are two of the better choices in the market. But as smart consumers, we should always take note that initial offers are there so you get to choose which credit card issuers seem to be worth looking into. This for all these credit card providers is a form of eliminating most of their competition and get you to listen to them fist. Why would they do that? Because in essence, all credit card issuers will offer you the same thing down the line. They need you to be their client.
Another key issue to remember is that you, as a consumer, do not really “own” that card you are using. Most credit card issuers have a clause in the contract that provides them allowance to change their policies with little or no notice. Some would offer a 5% rebate on all your gas purchases but once they realize it is the only thing you use it for, no convenience store buys and stuff like that, they are essentially not making profit and they will probably scale down the plan severely.
The trick here then is for us consumers not to get easily blinded by the glitter that is an introductory offer. It will be more beneficial to really look into the policies after the initial sign up period.