The rapid gas increases has affected everyone, from the average motorists to businessmen and salesmen. For salesmen, the high gas prices would entail lesser trips-house and business establishment visits. For salesmen, we all know that lesser trips will mean lesser probability of sales. If you are a salesman, then there is no need to worry. You can still go to your usual sales trips by using gas cards, since, using gas cards will allow you to save money on gas.
The savings from gas cards are from the rebates that are earned every time the card is used to pay for gas purchases. Typically, gas cards come in two types- prepaid and credit. A prepaid card is a card that have been preloaded with a chosen specific amount. The good thing to using this type of card is that you usually get a discount when buying load for the card. Moreover, prepaid cards helps you control gas money spending since there is a limit to the amount of the card. The downside however, is the irrecoverable balance on the card once the card is lost or misplaced.
Gas credit cards on the other hand, works just like typical credit cards. Only that in using gas credit cards, you earn more for gas purchases. Every time you pump gas, you earn rebates which are currently somewhere between 3% to 5%. The rebates are accumulated in the form of rewards points and depending on the type of card, can be redeemed into a cash back reward. There are some card companies however that offer other non-cash rewards such as airline tickets, merchandise and gift certificates.
Redeeming rewards may also vary from card to card. Those that offer only cash back rewards usually automatically credits the existing gas credit card or issue a check or gas gift card in the amount equal to the rewards points. There are some card companies however, that requires a request for redeeming rewards points. These card companies are usually those that offer varied forms of rewards. Thus, the request for redeeming rewards points also contains the type of reward preferred.
As a salesman, you generally spend more miles on your car than the average motorist. In choosing gas cards, to really save money on gas, keep this in mind since there are cards that have rebate caps. You may want to avoid cards that will limit your savings.
The two most important things to consider in choosing gas cards are the percentage rebate and the annual percentage rate or APR. The percentage rebate of the card should be the average to allow you to save big on gas money. The APR on the other hand, should be the lowest percentage if you plan to maintain a balance on the card. Remember that fees and interests can easily negate your gas money savings.