Now that gas prices have surged back to sky high levels, everyone is looking for ways to save. Will the Quik Trip gas card truly help you do that?

There are actually 2 different QT credit cards and 1 debit card. Here are reviews for each…

Quik Trip Gas Card For Individuals

Type: This is your typical store card; the only place you can use it is at QT gas stations. It’s issued/managed by UMB Financial out of Kansas City.

Annual Fee: none

Interest Rate: 18.00% as of the time of this review.

Rewards: With the way they have this card currently setup, it’s basically worthless after the first few billing cycles. Why? Because it gives a 5 cent discount per gallon during the first 5 billing cycles (on up to 400 gallons during that time) and after that, you get absolutely nothing.

To put into perspective how pitiful this offer is, even if you maxed out the gas rewards and bought 400 gallons during that period, 5 cents off each only equals $20. And for the typical driver that uses less than that amount, the value of the intro promotion is even less!

Verdict: If you are looking a good way to save money on gas, this is not for you. The only people I would recommend the Quik Trip credit card to is those with horrible credit that can’t get anything better. If that’s the case, then it could be used for rebuilding credit but besides that I see no reason to apply for this gas card.

Quik Trip Gas Card For Businesses

Business have a couple different options. These credit cards are geared towards companies that have fleets of vehicles and need customized reporting for purchases (i.e. who made the purchase, their odometer reading, their miles per gallon, etc).

• Fleetmaster Basic: This version can only be used at QT gas stations but the benefit is that there are no fees.
• Fleetmaster Plus: This is for use at Quik Trip and other participating stations, which according to them, is “90% of all retail fuel locations.” Unfortunately this program will cost you a $40 setup fee, plus a monthly fee of $2 per credit card.

Although the regular Quik Trip credit card application isn’t available online, the business version is. I studied it closely and could not find any mention of a rewards program, so their cards are not for businesses seeking gas rewards. I also didn’t see any mention of the interest rate on the application, but according to the phone rep I spoke to it is also 18.00%.

Verdict: Worth considering for larger businesses that have fleets. Smaller businesses would be better off with something like the AmEx Business Gold Rewards Card.

QT Rewards Discover Debit Card

Type: As the name implies this is a Discover card, however it’s actually issued and managed by First Bank & Trust (which is part of Fishback Financial Corporation). Although it’s a debit card you don’t have to open up a new checking account for it, because it works by linking to your existing checking.

Annual Fee: None

Rewards: The promotional offer is somewhat similar to the QT credit card – 5 cent discount per gallon for the first 90 days. After that it’s only 2 cents per gallon. For debit purchases made elsewhere (wherever Discover is accepted) the card gives a 0.25% rebate.

Verdict: If you do the math on the QT gas discount it’s really pitiful. After the promotional period here’s an example:

$4.00/gallon with 2 cent discount = 0.5% cash back
$5.00/gallon with 2 cent discount = 0.4% cash back

This is pathetic when you consider that most bank credit cards give you at least 1% in rewards. The only benefit I see with the Quik Trip debit card is the 0.25% rebate on purchases elsewhere, but even that is about 1/4 the rewards you would be getting with a typical credit card. If you would like to compare alternatives, here are my reviews of gas credit cards with up to 5% in rewards.

Written April 2011