Futher to my Gas Points post, I have been taking a more detailed look at the savings comparing the Esso Extra and Canadian Tire programs which I use regularly. Unsurprisingly I found that the Canadian Tire program was better than Esso Extra, but I was surprised to the degree of how much better.
On every 60 Litre fillup at Canadian tire I get between 2 and 4 dollars in Canadian tire money, which means that I get between a 3.3% and 6.6% value for refuelling at Canadian Tire, which I use at a later date for oil changes.
Because there are fewer Canadian Tire Gas stations then there are Esso ones I also use Esso points.
However, On a 60 Litre fillup at Esso extra I get 60 Esso Extra points. I would need 1800 points to get a coupon for $10 worth of gas. This means that each point is worth .05%. I typically trade these points in for a car wash which costs 599 points. This means that I can spend 600 dollars at Esso to get a free car wash. Or spend the same 600 dollars at Canadian Tire to get an average of $30 back in Canadian Tire money- worth much more than a car wash.
While I was doing these calculations I also remembered that I had just joined the CAA- and that they have some kind of program to save money on gas also. I checked it out and sure enough they have a deal where you get a 2% back in CAA-Quebec Dollars on everything you buy. If I can use my CAAÂ card at a Canadian Tire gas station I should be able to get an total of CAA-Quebec dollars and Canadian Tire Money worth up to 8.6% of what I spend.
Over a one year period this represents around $250. The $250 doesn’t come directly as cash but they can save money on useful things. I already get all of my oil changes for free at Canadian Tire- but if I can get these CAA dollars to get my next CAA membership discounted- why not do it?
As such, I think that I will be using Esso a lot less in the future.
By the way, if you want to find the cheapest gas prices in your area (in North America), check out Gas Buddy.
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