As
cak144 has said, the Citi Dividend Platinum card gives you a flat 5% cash-back on gas purchases, with no tiers. If you max your Discover 5% tier, use the Citi card.
ALSO, regarding the Discover card:
Originally Posted by scooper
Sadly, I just discovered (no pun intended) that the "Get More, Get Out There" has a limit of $400 of gas purchases that qualify for the full 5% rebate.
I should point out that the "Get More, Get Out There" 5% cash-back bonus is separate and ON TOP OF your regular 5% cash-back. That means you can get 10% cash-back on gas until the end of the promo.
(I have the Home Improvement Discover card, and during the Home Improvement promo 3 months ago, I was earning 10% at Home Depot. Unless they have "fixed" this, the bonuses should add as before.)
Originally Posted by Darren
Yes, but any savings is eaten up in the emergency room as you're treated for heat stroke...
Heh, quite right. But, you can still save gas by choosing your cooling method wisely. At city speeds, rolling the windows down is better than A/C. At highway speeds, A/C is actually more fuel-efficient. Of course, try to set the A/C as warm as is still comfortable, so the compressor operates for shorter periods (and therefore puts less strain on the motor and therefore burns less gas).
Originally Posted by party_boy
1. Make sure the tires are properly inflated (between the # on the car and the tire)
2. Get a full tune up
3. Change your oil to a lighter weight. (5w30 rather than 10w30)
[...]
9. Make your car go on a diet- remove bowling balls, spare books, extra floormats, etc)
For #1, slight overinflation will actually save gas since it reduces the contact patch and therefore reduces rolling resistance. However, it also reduces handling and makes for uneven wear on the tires, so this may not be your best option... but if used properly, this can reduce mileage without significant negative impact in the other areas.
Regarding #2 and #3, you may wish to consider that the cost of this service (even if you are not doing it yourself, since parts still cost money) will likely outweigh the few-percent savings in gas mileage (and hence gas costs). Also keep in mind that lighter-weight oil (e.g. 5w vs. 10w) isn't as protective at high temperatures as the more viscous stuff, so if you're doing a lot of high-temp driving (e.g. the desert), you should ask your mechanic before switching oils.
As for #9, it's
definitely a good idea. I don't think the extra floormats will make much of a difference, given that they weigh much less than 1% of the total curb weight of the car, but hey, why not. You could even remove the spare tire and the jack, but having those around is probably worth the extra weight.
A few additional items:
10. Diet WITH your car... not only is it healthy for you, but you'll save on gas!
11. Run fuel-injector/fuel-system cleaner through your engine (in one of those tanks of gas), to remove deposits.
12. Much more extreme, but: switch to lightweight rims and tires. Reducing weight on those items will save more gas, pound for pound, than reducing the same weight elsewhere, because it reduces the amount of torque required to turn the wheels, and therefore the amount of gas burned. Obviously, this option will be much more expensive than the gas savings, but you asked!