This was all over digg a day or so ago.. boo on recycled articles filled with junk SNOPES has debunked.

Debit card one is fine, you get it 10c cheaper a gallon and if your responisible then you need not to worry. Although, if you have a costco amex or rewards CC then they might be better...

That debit card thing is BS. I use my debit/credit card tied to my checking account to purchase gas all the time. I've never seen the pre-auth amount for any gas station to be anything other than $1.

Now hotels, on the other hand - DO NOT use your debit/credit card to pay for a hotel!

@dreamsneverend: What exactly has Snopes debunked?

@TheyCallMeStacey_GitEmSteveDave:yes, please elaborate.

@Hank Scorpio: Agreed, using a debit card at a hotel is a horrible idea. And I have also never been pre-authorized for more than $1. I always assumed they authorized $1 only to be sure that the credit/debit card is real and will work. Most banks will just put you into overdraft and the gas station will get their money.

I understand not wanting to use a debit card given the lack of protection that has been explored on this site, but how else do you pay for a hotel if not a credit card? In my experience many demand a credit card.

@Hank Scorpio: I use my debit/credit card exclusively at the pump as well. However, when the pump asks debit, or credit, I always answer credit. I think this is the difference.

Here in Canada my local Esso gas station allows me to choose the dollar amount first or authorize debit up to 100 bucks.. If I choose the 100 option it auths that amount but never holds what i don't spend..

Arco lets you use your debit card as a debit card. No hold, just immediate withdrawal of the funds.

@dreamsneverend: Not everyone digs through Digg.

@Hank Scorpio: When I used to work at a gas station, we pre-authed for $50, which was over 50 gallons of gas at the time. But it was just querying the card if it had available funds for such a purchase. It never "held" that money. I had more problems w/restaurants that added the tip automatically on a pre-auth, and held it for a few days than ALL the time I worked at a gas station.

@dreamsneverend: Well I don't know what Digg said but a couple of things jump out at me at a glance:

Point #1, "Good luck finding the best deal" contradicts point #6, "Looking for the cheapest gas in town? Try the Internet."

Also, point #6 begins "You can't actually buy gas online," gosh I never would have guessed.

@HiPwr: Yeah, I always do it as a credit, too. I don't know how it would be different if you did it as a debit/PIN based transaction. Doesn't that act like an ATM withdrawal and immediately deduct the amount from your account? Do they even do a pre-auth on PIN based transactions?

@HiPwr: Debit means that you are using a PIN to complete the transaction. Credit means that you are running the card through the VISA/MasterCard network as if it was a credit card. If a gas station charges more per gallon for Credit, try running the card through as Debit and you might save money.

They missed a big one -- that gas advertised as "premium" is merely higher octane, and paying extra for it won't help a car that doesn't specify using it.

@umbriago: That's pretty much all of the Digg comments in a nice summary and minus the trolling. Well done. Was that intentional?

@nytmare: THIS! My dad always fell for this one. I'll put this better gas in my car, he always thought. Not better, just different. I have actually gone to one grade below what my car calls for and there has been no pinging or decrease in gas milage.

@computerwiz3491: I would be surprised if I could get a rate by using debit instead of credit, but if I could and it was significant, I would just go in and pay cash.

@outlulz: But they also charge a fee ($0.45 last I checked).

I'd rather just use credit card for everything. Then you get fraud protection, chargeback protection, etc. I'd rather not find out my mortgage bounced because someone accidently put in the wrong amount on a debit or something like that.

@HiPwr: There's a chain of stations in the Seattle area called Arco that doesn't accept credit cards, only PIN transactions or cash. Debit will cost you a $0.45 fee, but they're usually about $0.15 cheaper per gallon than the other stations so you come out ahead if you're buying more than a few gallons.

1 -> Not true. I know of at least 4 local gas stations that consistently have prices within 1 penny of the cheapest gas in the city. Of course, none of them are owned by gas companies themselves, except maybe Sunoco. I also know of others in other cities that consistently have cheap prices.

3 -> False. I used cheap gas this winter and it froze my gas lines. Probably the gas didn't have enough ethanol, which, of course, they didn't advertise using. Being a cheap ass, I just buy cheap gas dry out now--$5 worth of it lasts all winter.

4 -> Probably only a US thing. AFAIK, it is not legal to put a hold on a debit card in Canada, although you could use it to pay a deposit. If they *can* do it, I can't imagine how it would work with Interac. Pumps that take debit here ask the maximum amount you will spend. When you hit that amount, the pump stops and if you need more gas you'll need to do another transaction. You are charged only for the gas you bought.

5 -> The only card that comes to mind (Canadian Tire Mastercard) offers a pretty good rebate program, although I pay cash and use the 6x - 12x CT money multiplier coupons.

7 -> Never seen this happen. I've filled my jerry can enough to notice it, too. But then again, this sort of thing is VERY tightly regulated here (Gas is dispensed corrected for temperature), and the errors would be ENORMOUS considering the temperature swings.

10 -> There's cars that can't run with some ethanol? Better not drive them up to Canada in the winter or they'll be cooked!

This is surprisingly accurate. However, the first "fact" is a bit misleading. While it is true that branded stations do charge more for the name, very few unbranded stations get to "shop around." Many unbranded stations are independently owned stations and the owners are bound by a contract with a jobber, the company that purchases the fuel from the refinery and sells it wholesale. In that case, the station gets whatever gas the jobber gives them -- it could be Shell, it could be Exxon, depending on the refinery. (And the only thing that makes gasoline Shell or Exxon gasoline is the additives that company adds to the fuel before it's loaded in the truck. discount gas and brand-name gas is exactly the same, except for "Techron" and the other gimmicky additives they throw in.)

So it's not really the station that shops around, but the company from which they buy their gasoline wholesale.

This also doesn't always result in a lower price. The wholesaler will often mark up the fuel more than their fair share because of the location of the station (in an upscale neighborhood? that'll cost ya), or based off of the amount of fuel sold at the station (if they sell more, they may raise the costs because they'll make more). And those aren't the only reasons -- the wholesaler can raise costs to the station however they want as long as they can make it look good on paper.

Unfortunately, while there are laws against the percentage a wholesaler can mark up the fuel costs (as well as the amount the station can raise the cost), they are rarely enforced due to political reasons and a lack of care from law enforcement.

For instance, Louisiana law prohibits the mark up of fuel by a gas station to exceed 4% above the wholesale cost.

@Hank Scorpio: I live in the northeast and gas stations all over place holds on your debit card, normally $50, but only if you use the card at the pump. If you go inside and pay at the counter there's no hold placed.

@nytmare: Not to mention, the fact that mid-grade gasoline is usually a blend of the "premium" and regular gas.

@Geoff: Right. But so what?

@Hank Scorpio: I call BS on you! Exxon has definitely put through a $150 pre-authorization on my card, which I called my bank about thinking it was fraud. The service rep told me they routinely do this.

I use a debit card at the pump all the time. It's the only thing I use. Never a hold, never a problem. Also buy the lowest octane (cheapest gas) available. Vehicle runs perfectly fine.

A little OT, but always get a receipt when you pay at the pump. My husband pulled away from a gas station once, got a couple miles down the road and a cop pulled him over. The gas station attendant had reported him for stealing gas. Luckily he had a receipt to prove that he had in fact paid for it.

So what if your cash is in limbo when you use a debit card? It's not a "cost," unless you live down to the penny anyway.

I @balthisar: And congratulations you must not live paycheck to paycheck like most people no matter how much they make. So disregard that one and call it "9 secrets" instead.

@saya: I guess things being different where you live warrants a personal attack against me?

@wchamilton: I wonder if it varies depending on state laws?

It's kind of annoying how people will shop around for gas and use up a half a gallon of fuel to get to a place that sells gas for $0.10/gallon. A half a gallon of fuel is about $1.50. A gas tank is about 15 gallons.

Try extending that frugality to other areas instead of being anal about gas. OR be frugal in both areas but gas is not the one to focus on.

@BZMedia:

Lowest octane rule is okay but read your owners manual first. Some engines require higher octane fuel (e.g., supercharged models) and may be damaged if you run them on regular gasoline.

@saya:
That's a bit harsh. Has it dawned on you that your experience may be different from others? Jeez.

I use my debit card for gas at Costco, and I've never had more than $1 pre-authorized.

I only put Top Tier gasoline in my car. It sounds like an industry gimmick, but GM, Toyota and other auto makers back it. The owners manual to my 09 Malibu encourages Top Tier products. Fortunately, QuikTrip is on the list and they are typically one of the cheaper vendors in my area.

@gafpromise:
If he hadn't had the receipt, he could have proved he paid for it via his credit card or bank statement, correct?

@cuchanu:
I wish my tank were only 15 gallons!

@tbax929: Eventually, sure. But the receipt probably kept him from being arrested in the first place.

@cuchanu: I think in some cases, "shopping around" means paying attention to the stations you see while driving around (doing other things). Or using the internet before you leave home. I looked on GasBuddy after moving to a new area to get an idea of where the stations were and the price differences between them. I was very happy to note the closest one to our apartment was the cheapest one.
In our previous city, there were two stations right across from each other that competed with each other, and this made them much cheaper than the station down the block from them. I just checked GasBuddy every so often to make sure they remained the cheapest stations around.

@shepd: I'm not a car expert or anything, but are you sure your facts are right? My understanding is that ethanol reduces your ability to start on a cold day, not enhances it.

As for number 10, you've definitely misunderstood. A significant percentage of gas in the US has some amount of ethanol in it (about 10%), and virtually all cars can use it. The difference is that some cars are designed specifically for E85, a fuel that is 85% ethanol.

@gafpromise: Where I live, you can't get the pump to dispense gas unless you either pay the clerk or use a credit/debit card. Makes it kinda hard to steal gas, unless you're siphoning it out of the hole in the ground or something.

There was actually a case last year I believe where this guy actually did that. He would park an RV or some other such large vehicle in a gas station on top of the tank lid, and siphon hundreds of gallons. He got caught :)

@Jesse: As long as your owner's manual says to use it, you're doing the right thing. But if you've got a Corolla and you're putting Premium gas in it, you're wasting money and possibly damaging your engine.

@gafpromise: I used to print out my gas receipts, but I don't do it as much anymore. It's a waste of paper. (I keep all my CC receipts, but gsa is something I can never return.)

I vaguely understand the 1 dollar prebilling companies will do (still strikes me as dumb unless it's solely to validate the sale).

Why when you are paying for an already made purchase, would they need to allocate more funds?

The first part of the article where it discusses finding the best deal is load of crap. Here in Washington state, I can go a few miles south and find a better deal on gas than if I were to stay in my hometown which is usually 10 to 15 cents higher. Those who live on the eastside know exactly what I am talking about.

@balthisar: Depends on how much/little you have in that account and certainly if you were keeping track of purchases and the held 30 bucks extra, it could put you into overcharge turf

@Hank Scorpio: Wow, if you think that was a personal attack you need to get a thicker skin. I was simply calling you wrong (in the spirit of how you called "this debit card thing BS"), not calling you names or insulting your character.