Monday, May 12, 2008

Sticker Shock

I just put some gas in the tank-- $3.90/gallon! Egads. I don't drive in the city, so I don't fill the tank frequently; I just happened to kill some time while moving alternate side parking this morning. So I'm pumping gas and staring in panic at the numbers by the dollar sign flipping in rapid succession, and my eyes drift down to a receptacle for BP/Amoco gas card applications. 10% rebate first 60 days, 5% thereafter. Is it time to apply for another card?

This summer M and I will be driving to the northern reaches of Maine for a couple weeks, then down to Cape Cod for a week, and back to NYC. Plus there's a round trip NYC-Boston trip, maybe a jaunt down the Jersey Shore- it's a busy summer for our little car. With absolutely killer prices prices at the pump, I think I'll look into credit reward cards that are good for road trips. I'll post my findings, and any suggestions in the meantime would be great.

4 comments:

frugal zeitgeist said...

Ouch! No suggestions, unfortunately, but lots of empathy. If it makes you feel any better, our friends across the pond are paying 4 pounds sterling a liter. That's eight bucks.

PiggyBankBlues said...

i know! and i've always thought that u.s. drivers have paid absurdly low prices to fill our tanks. i still think that, but i still have sticker shock. i wonder why theirs is so much more, is it taxes or reasons of economy? hmm, something to look into...

mysticdomestica said...

Check out this chart from Wired magazine--it's from 2007, but it really illustrates the disparities of gas prices from all over the world. 33 cents/gallon in Tehran!

PiggyBankBlues said...

cool chart mfa! thanks :)
(and wow on tehran's price...)