OK, so the recent thread about Esso and AP where some people are buying gas in $3 increments to maximize their mileage got me thinking......how many of us have tried to maximize our rewards by eliminating rounding errors? I'll confess to the following:

1) The Canadian Tire Options Mastercard claims that "you will receive a reward of 1% of all non-CT purchases as CT 'Money on the Card'". In reality, they give you $0.10 for every $10 you spend. To make matters worse, this rule is applied on a per transaction basis. So if I make two $15 purchases, I get $0.10 from each purchase, for a grand total of $0.20, which works out to 0.67% in this case. In response to significant loss due to round-off error, I will only use my CT options MC for non-CT purchases only when the purchase amount is a multiple of $10.

2) Petro points are awarded as 1 petro point for every $0.10 of gas purchased. I have been known to round my purchases up to the next $0.10 increment, even if it meant buying an extra $0.09 of gas.

3) When purchasing gas at Canadian Tire Gas Bars, I usually purchase gas in multiples of 10 liters to maximize the amount of Canadian Tire money that I receive.

4) When purchasing gas at Pioneer, I usually purchase gas in multiples of 10 liters to maximize the number of Bonus Bucks that I receive.

5) Purchasing gas in $3 increments at Esso, so as to maximize the number of AP that I receive.

I know this is fairly insignificant (except for #1), but I just can't help myself sometimes. My name is notam, and I'm a mileage whore.

Say it loud, say it proud. ^

I just picked up $14.50 worth of diesel for my tractor at Esso today and only got 4 Aeroplan points. If only I could have squeezed another 1/2 litre into the container!!!!!

I love it when I hit x.51 but get really peeved when I hit x.49 on the monthly statement of any credit card bill, like my Diners...

Boy was I pi**ed when the gas jockey at Esso took the nozzle out of my car @ $32.30 without trying to round up to $33.

I am a "points whore" myself and not ashamed to use my Aerogold Visa card for anything. I pay my car insurance, Hydro, Water, telephone, long distance, groceries, gas etc etc. I get the shakes when I have to use cash !!!

I only do 4 or five trips generally short haul trips a year for business travel so my Visa card is my main points collector.

I have lots and lots of under $5 purchases my record low being 39 cents for an eraser at Zellers. My high is $24,000 for a car.

Some tips #1 - When I bought my car I had to pay 1.8% above $10,000 to use the card. I wrote to Visa after to see if it was legal to pay "extra" to use the card. They really waffled on the answer being neither yes or no. However two weeks later I received a refund cheque from the dealer out of the blue.

Some tips #2 - I get Visa cheques quite regularly with my statement - both in August and September recently. The August ones were good for 3,000 points and the September ones for 5,000 points. They are treated as cash advance and interest is payable as soon as they hit visa just like a cash advance. At 19.6% (about 1.5%/month) interest the points are no bargain unless you prepay your visa so you do not have to pay interest.

BTW - I am learning a lot from the forum and wish I could contribute more but you guys are the true experts - Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You just did ^ We all contribute in different ways here so don't feel bad about if some now more than you. Heck, most here know more than me and that still doesn't stop me

Glad you're here Yukonprince

When I bought my little VW on a CC, the dealer tried to do the same and charge me the merchant fee. That is until I told him that I always understood that to be against the law. Not sure if it actually is on the books as such, but in my TA life always understood it as a no-no.

From my experience with the cut-throat, discount computer shops in YVR, it's illegal to charge more to use the credit card but perfectly acceptable to give a cash discount.

It like that over here in YHM too. Although its not against the law, I'm pretty sure that Visa / Mastercard have a rule that regardless of payment method, the price must be the same.

You know, sometimes I feel guilty using a credit card on items I know have a very low profit margin....like groceries. You just know that the increasing use of CCs will drive the price up, and bite us all in the end.

I make that "round up" game a little more fun by trying to get my gas tank as close to empty as possible so I can get the maximum litres at CT which I do round off to the nearset 10 ltre mark.
And then I make it even more fun by trying to guess which day gas prices will be lower when my tank is screaming for gas.

You gotta love those stores that have the minimum $10 purchase to use a CC or debit.

Don't get me started on those...

If I'm not mistaken, Visa/MC takes a % of the transaction, not a flat rate, no? If this is the case, then why would businesses put a "minimum charge before we accept your credit card" rule? Or does Visa/MC charge a minimum fee as well?