Best gas rewards credit cards of July 2024

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A credit card that gives you bonus rewards on gas station spending is a smart way to save money every time you fill up. And many of the top credit cards for gas rewards also have other benefits or even earn travel rewards. So you can get a card to use at the pump and be rewarded in many ways.

Below are CNBC Select's top picks for credit cards with bonus points on gas station spending. (See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best gas cards.)

Who's this for? The PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card is a top choice for gas rewards if you prefer banking with a credit union. It earns a whopping 5X points on gas purchased at the pump and EV charging stations.

Standout benefits: As a new card member, you'll receive a 0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers made in the first 90 days of account opening. After that, the APR is a non-variable rate of 17.99%. There is a 3% balance transfer fee.

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Who's this for? You should consider the Citi Custom Cash® Card if gas is usually your biggest monthly expense (but not always). You can earn 5% cash back on gas (on up to $500), but if you spend less on gas in one month, its bonus category will automatically adjust to your biggest spending category.

Standout benefits: The Citi Custom Cash Card offers an introductory 0% APR for the first 15 months from the date of account opening on purchases and from the date of first transfer for balance transfers (after that, 19.24% to 29.24% variable APR applies). All transfers must be completed in the first four months of account opening, and there is a balance transfer fee of 5% of the amount of each transfer with a $5 minimum. 

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Who's this for? If you want to stack up cash-back rewards on common expenses, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is for you. It offers a competitive cash back on everything from groceries to transit.

Standout benefits: With this card, you'll get a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening (see rates and fees). After that, a variable APR of 19.24% to 29.99% applies. The balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount of each transfer or $5, whichever is greater. Balance transfers must be requested within 60 days of account opening to qualify for the intro APR.

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Who's this for? The PNC Cash Rewards® Visa® is a solid no-annual-fee cash-back credit card, especially for restaurant and gas purchases.

Standout benefits: When you open a new account, you can take advantage of this card's intro APR for balance transfers. You'll receive an intro 0% APR for 12 months on balance transfers completed within the first 90 days. After the intro APR ends, a variable 19.24% to 30.24% APR applies. There's a 3% ($5 minimum) balance transfer fee for the first 90 days following account opening. After that, it is either $5 or 4% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater.

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Who's this for? The Citi Strata Premier^℠ Card is worth considering if you're saving up to book your next vacation. It earns valuable travel rewards on all sorts of spending, including gas, hotels, air travel, dining and much more.

Standout benefits: The Citi Strata Premier Card allows you to transfer Citi ThankYou® points to all of Citi's partner travel programs. This is an amazing benefit that unlocks access to programs such as Emirates Skywards, Flying Blue (Air France and KLM), EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and more.

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Who's this for? The U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card is a good option for frequent travelers, especially those who enjoy road trips.

Standout benefits: With the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Card, you'll get a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit once every four years. You'll also get four free visits to Priority Pass airport lounges every year.

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The PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card is a rewarding credit union credit card for more than just gas purchases.

Rewards

• 5X points on gas purchases at the pump and electrical vehicle charging stations
• 3X points on supermarket purchases (including most Target and Walmart locations)
• 3X points at restaurants
• 3X points on TV, radio, cable and streaming services
• 1X points on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 15,000 points when you spend $1,500 in the first 90 days.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

As a new cardholder, you'll have access to an intro 0% APR for 12 months on balance transfers made in the first 90 days of account opening. After that, a non-variable 17.99% APR applies. The balance transfer fee is 3%.

You can also take advantage of no foreign transaction fees, cell phone protection and member discounts on a variety of products and services.

You need to be a member of PenFed to be able to qualify for the PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature® Card. The good news is, PenFed membership is open to everyone. To join, you only need to open a savings account with a $5 deposit.

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The Citi Custom Cash® Card is a no-annual-fee card with bonus spending categories that automatically adjust to match where you spend the most each month.

Rewards

• 5% cash back on purchases in the top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent (then 1% cash back)
• 4% additional cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2025
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

Once you've opened a new account, you'll receive an intro 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months (after that, a variable 19.24% to 29.24% APR applies). The balance transfer fee is 5% of each transfer with a $5 minimum.

This is a cash-back card, but you earn the rewards as Citi ThankYou® points and these points have many uses. You can redeem ThankYou® points for gift cards, statement credits or to book travel through the ThankYou® travel center. With the Custom Cash, you even have the option to transfer ThankYou® points to JetBlue TrueBlue, Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.

You can boost the value of your rewards if you also have a Citi credit card that enables transfers to all of Citi's travel partners, such as the Citi Strata Premier. This gives you the option to transfer points to additional programs, such as Emirates Skywards, Avianca LifeMiles, Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) and more.

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The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express earns a healthy amount of cash back on lots of common purchases.

Rewards

• 6% back on up to $6,000 per year in purchases at U.S. supermarkets (then 1%)
• 6% back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
• 3% back on transit
• 3% back at U.S. gas stations
• 1% back on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn $250 back after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of account opening.

Annual fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 (see rates and fees)

Notable perks

With a new Amex Blue Cash Preferred account, you can save a lot on interest with a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date you open the account. Once the intro APR expires, a variable 19.24% to 29.99% APR applies (see rates and fees). There is a balance transfer fee of 3% of the amount of each transfer ($5 minimum).

You'll also have access to statement credit offers that can provide over $200 in value each year. With an eligible Disney bundle subscription, you can earn up to $84 back per year ($7 statement credit a month after spending $9.99+ on an auto-renewing Disney Bundle subscription, enrollment required. Valid only at Disney Plus.com, Hulu.com or Plus.espn.com in the U.S.).

This card has secondary *rental car collision coverage, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage and return protection.

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The PNC Cash Rewards® Visa® is a good fit for anyone who wants a card that earns cash back and has no annual fee.

Rewards

• 4% cash back at gas stations*
• 3% cash back on dining*
• 2% cash back at grocery stores*
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

*For the first $8,000 in combined purchases in these categories annually

Welcome bonus

Earn a $200 bonus after you make $1,000 or more in purchases during the first three billing cycles following account opening.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

Beyond rewards, this card comes with cell phone protection. You'll also get a year of no interest on balance transfers made within the first 90 days from account opening (after, 19.24% to 30.24% variable APR applies). There's an intro balance transfer fee of 3% ($5 minimum) for the first 90 days following account opening. After that, the balance transfer fee increases to 4% of the amount of each balance transfer with a $5 minimum.

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The Citi Strata Premier^℠ Card unlocks access to all of the Citi ThankYou® transfer partners, which boosts the value of your points.

Rewards

• 10X points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com
• 3X points on air travel and other hotel purchases
• 3X points at restaurants
• 3X points at supermarkets
• 3X points at gas and EV charging stations
• 1X points on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 70,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.

Annual fee

$95

Notable perks

The Citi Strata Premier offers various travel protections, including trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay protection, lost or damaged luggage and car rental coverage. It also has no foreign transaction fees.

This card can also help you save on lodging. You can get $100 off a hotel booking of $500 or more that you make through CitiTravel.com. This discount is available once per calendar year.

On top of these benefits, you can also take advantage of all the ways you can use ThankYou® Points. You can redeem them through Citi's travel portal at a rate of one cent per point, but you can often get much better value by transferring them to one of Citi's airline or hotel partners. With the Strata Premier card, you can transfer ThankYou® to travel programs such as Turkish Miles & Smiles, Etihad Guest, Choice Privileges and many more.

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The U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card is a low annual fee card with benefits you typically only find attached to premium credit cards.

Rewards

• 5X points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center
• 4X points on travel, gas stations, and EV charging stations through September 8, 2024, after that 4X on your first $1,000 each quarter (wholesale clubs and discount stores/supercenters excluded)
• 2X on dining, streaming services and at grocery stores (discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs excluded effective September 9, 2024)
• 1X points on all other eligible purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 120 days of account opening.

Annual fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, $95 thereafter

Notable perks

This card gives you access to insurance perks such as trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay reimbursement, travel and emergency assistance, roadside dispatch and travel accident coverage.

You can breeze through airport security and/or U.S. customs with this card's Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit. In addition, you can enroll to receive four free visits to Priority Pass airport lounges every year. If you run out of lounge visits, you may be able to get free access thanks to this card's SmartDelay perk. You can register your flight and if it's delayed more than two hours, SmartDelay provides you and up to three people on the same itinerary, airport lounge access.

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Picking the right gas credit card can be tricky. There are often restrictions on what qualifies as a gas station. For example, most cards exclude gas purchased from superstores, supermarkets and wholesale clubs, such as Costco and BJ's. Additionally, some cards might cap the bonus rewards you can earn on gas in a year.

Before signing up for a gas rewards card, take the time to consider how to maximize the points you earn. If you have to go out of the way to buy gas from a qualifying station, or you can fill up for significantly less using your Costco membership, you might be better off going with a different rewards card.

None of the cards on our best-of list are connected with a specific gas station brand and most of them also offer strong rewards in other categories, including supermarkets and restaurants. We recognize that most people don't spend exclusively in one category and consider that when recommending cards.

Having a credit card that's rewarding for gas purchases makes sense because it's such a common (and often unavoidable) expense. These cards can also provide perks and benefits that go beyond the pump. Some even earn travel rewards, which tend to have higher values than cash back or other types of credit card rewards.

Gas credit cards are still credit cards and typically have higher interest rates compared to other types of consumer debt. You may also find that some of the credit cards with the highest rate of return for gas purchases, also have caps on the bonus rewards you can earn on fuel.

Pros of gas credit cards

• Many of the top gas credit cards also offer intro bonuses, which are a great way to earn rewards quickly
• With a gas credit card, you're getting extra rewards for an extremely common expense
• Gas credit cards can offer a range of benefits that apply to much more than just fuel purchases, some even earn travel rewards

Cons of credit cards

• Like most credit cards, gas credit cards can have high interest rates, so they aren't the best option if you are carrying a balance
• Sometimes, the bonus rewards you earn for gas may have an annual cap or certain types of fuel purchases may not qualify, such as purchases a wholesale clubs

The biggest reason to consider getting a gas credit card is to save money when you fill up your car. But these credit cards are more versatile than that. In some cases, electric vehicle charging stations earn the same bonus rewards as gas stations. They can also offer bonus rewards on all sorts of other spending, including dining, grocery stores and more.

These cards also earn a variety of rewards. You can cut your gas costs with straight cash back or start working toward your next vacation by earning loads of travel rewards. So regardless of what your reason is for wanting a gas credit card, there are rewards programs and benefits that can suit your needs.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best gas credit cards.

To determine which cards offer the best value for gas spending, CNBC Select analyzed over 250 major credit cards issued through FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions that are widely available in the U.S.  

We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards (e.g., cash back, points and miles), annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. We also considered additional perks (e.g., ongoing travel or merchant statement credits), cardholder protections (e.g., purchase protection, $0 liability protection and travel insurance), the application process when available (e.g., is there a credit pull or required credit score) and how easy it is to redeem points (e.g., are rewards are tied to a specific brand; if transferable, to how many/which partners, can you redeem for straight cash back). 
 
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.  

For the cards that offered a rewards program, we considered consumer spending data forecasts from location intelligence firm Esri to determine where U.S. consumers are spending the most money, like on dining and travel. We used this to help determine what bonus categories are most useful for consumers. Since the value of a point or mile varies based on what they can be redeemed for, we also considered things like transferability and the ability to redeem for cash-back. 

When choosing the best gas credit cards, we focused on cards that offer additional rewards for gas purchases or transactions at gas stations. Given the growing popularity of electric vehicles, we also more heavily valued cards that also provide bonus rewards for EV charging as well.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, please click here.

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.