What pre-paid gas card is best?

June 30, 2005 10:27 PM

What pre-paid gas card is best?

My friends are driving across the US for thier honeymoon and I wanted to get them some pre-paid cards to include with the wedding gift. Their cash is tight, and they don't have a registry -- their relatives will take care of household things -- so I want to do something that will help lessen the costs of the honeymoon. What card is best, and is there a good place to buy them online? We're in Canada, I don't drive, and I have no clue what to look for in a gas card or where to buy them.

posted by Felicity Rilke to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

I don't know anything about gas cards, but in a pinch and for maximum versatility, you could get one of those Visa Gift Cards (available from banks and credit unions) and make a clever folder for it with (depending on how funky your friends are) puns on "paying at the pump" or "fueling their new life together" or whatnot.
posted by bradlands at 11:50 PM on June 30, 2005

Any pre-paid gas card will be valid only at specific gas stations. I'd just give them some US legal tender and say "this is gas money for your honeymoon."
posted by kindall at 11:59 PM on June 30, 2005

A prepaid visa would work, but you'd have to worry about where it might be accepted.

Cold, hard cash, real proper A-goddam-merican dollars with Presidents and trust in God and all that shit is better. Unless you're in social circles so refined they're crazy, cash money won't be tacky, just welcome. Slap it in an envelope or card. You want $20's, if you do that. Lots of gas stations won't accept $50's or $100's.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:44 AM on July 1, 2005

there are gas stations that don't take visa?

i don't know if i'd trust their gas.
posted by fishfucker at 9:58 AM on July 1, 2005

Pre-paid credit cards are a lot like gift certificates -- they start expiring after a certain date, which is a rip-off.

I'd stick with the greenbacks.
posted by catkins at 10:42 AM on July 1, 2005

there are gas stations that don't take visa?

More that there are prepaid visas that are only good in certain places.

Agreement with catkins -- you're going to end up paying $110 to get them 100 useful dollars, which don't make no sense nohow.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:01 PM on July 1, 2005

I also agree with the cashola option. You can be creative with the card, make something car related, put each $20 in an envelope, labled with "Tank #1", "Tank #2", etc. Those prepaid Visas do start debiting for "maintenance" after a certain period. Cash is just a victim of inflation.
posted by jonah at 2:18 PM on July 1, 2005