Reducing the cost of fuel

tom1ie

Hi all,

Is there a list of fuel retailers that offer loyalty/discount cards that you can sign up for to get cheaper diesel? I’m filling up about twice a week (sometimes only once depending on site visits etc) approx 65L per fill.

Not as a company but as an individual driver.

Im trying to reduce my fill up costs and have already:

reduced speed on motorway

checked tire pressure

lightened the car as much as possible by emptying the boot etc.

Anything else?

drunkmonkey

Have you checked out your insurance provider and phone company etc, they usually have affiiate offers, think AXA were doing 4cent off and 3 Mobile doing 3cent both via Circle K who's own card is 2 cent off, you don't need to be a company for those offers.

macvin

The margins on fuel are miniscule, but in recent years I would guess that "discounts" have been built into the model of some places especially Circle K.

DCI give 2c off, AA 4c but only circle K, circle k card 2c.

But it literally is a couple of cent here and there.

You can sort of forecast price rises & falls.

Oil price takes about 2 weeks to feed into pumps, but exchange rates and refinery margins take just a few days. Usually refinery margins never featured as costs was $7-$15 per barrel of 159litres, but this is now $50-$60 and has been fluctuating from mid $30's to mid $60's since the war started.

A huge amount of gas is used in the refinery process and that is partly to blame, but refinery profits have soared due to the demand outstripping supply.

Here is a site with refining margins showing (click 5D to see the recent 5 day trend)

https://www.neste.com/investors/market-data/oil-product-margins#b3e53dcc

and here's the current oil price https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BZ%3DF?p=BZ%3DF

exchange rate 1.07

duty/carbon - petrol 47c, diesel 41c

NORA levy 2c

distributor / retailer 18-20c combined

Vat 23% on all of above.

So current price should be €2 - €2.05 for diesel and €2.10-€2.15 for petrol

Up until 3 weeks ago petrol refining was way below diesel, but then it caught up and as there's more duty on petrol, it is now higher at the forecourt than diesel

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119164723#Comment_119164723

I think you need to be a business to avail of the circle k card:

https://www.circlek.ie/business/fuel-card/application-form

“We currently don’t offer personal fuel cards directly through Circle K. 

However we work closely with multiple companies and you may be eligible to avail of a fuel card through them.”

Ill check my insurance provider- I didn’t know that thanks.

tom1ie

So just checked on the circle k website and you can get a discount, if you are a personal user, via a few companies (details at this link and I don’t know how much the discount is either):

https://www.circlek.ie/business/personal-card

mikeecho

I have fuel cards from credit unions.

I've a circle k card that gives 4¢/l discount and a DCI card that also gives 4¢/l discount.

I then scan a QR code that I get from the AXA plus website to get another 4¢/l off. (Not valid in express stns)

So I get 8¢/l off the pump price.

Now if you are using the circle k app, don't scan that, as their till can only accept one QR code per transaction, what you can do is get a receipt, and add the points via the app at a later stage.

I've just filled up with circle k diesel, 42L , the pump price is 193.⁸ , but I'm paying 185.⁸

A saving of €3.36 , and this is one of the cheaper stations.

The next station is 199.⁹ , so if I had my fuel there with no discounts it would have been €5.92 more expensive, it pays to shop around and use discount cards and codes.

drunkmonkey

@mikeecho is that a business card you have from DCI, does the extra 4cent from AXA plus come off your invoice?

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165385#Comment_119165385

Brilliant thanks- well done!

So according to the circle k website if I have an explore account (my wife does) she can order a circle k fuel card which we are in the process of doing now.

I presume that gives the 4c off ?

Im with Allianz car insurance and I can’t see on their website any discount from them unfortunately.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165458#Comment_119165458

Probably 2¢ discount, if you have a credit union (preferably a work CU) check with them if they do fuel cards, you might get it up to 3 or 4¢

I think some unions have deals with fuel cards as well FORSA comes to mind.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165441#Comment_119165441

They are both cards from credit unions.

Here's what I do.

1, pump fuel.

2, scan the AXA QR code, and it knocks 4¢/l off.

3. Pay with fuel card.

4, get a receipt and add points to my circle k app.

5, the bill for fuel is debt'd from the CU budget acc.

So, if the pump price is 199.⁹, after I scan my qr code, it's 195.⁹.

195.⁹ appears on my biweekly invoice, and then they reduce that by another 4¢, and that's what taken from my CU budget acc. (191.⁹/l)

mikeecho

So, on this particular day, diesel was 191.⁸/l at the pump.

I paid 183.⁸/l.

The amount saved was actually €4.82

macvin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165661#Comment_119165661

So you are cheating 😁😁

Nice cheat 😀

masterboy123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165661#Comment_119165661

Thanks.

What is CU budget account?

What I do is:

1. Pump the petrol.

2. Use the AA app - 3 cents off

3. Then use Circle K card to pay - 2 cents off.

4. Get receipt to scan points on Circle K app.

So basically getting 5 cents off petrol.

Any other way to increase this saving? My car insurance Aviva don't have any fuel saving QR codes.

Thanks

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165948#Comment_119165948

You need to find a card with a better discount, and use someone's AXA details to get that 4c off.

Credit union budget account, is an account that regular bills are paid from, electric, gas, phone, fuel card, etc.

generally you add X amount to it each week, and those utility bills are taken from it.

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165661#Comment_119165661

Nicely laid out there Mike! Out of interest what is the benefit of Circle K points?

On the Axa QR code id the 100L limit per month enforced per their T&C's.

• Codes can only be used to purchase up to a maximum of 100 Litres of fuel per month.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119183250#Comment_119183250

Circlek points: for every 200 points you have, you can enter a monthly draw to win a holiday, or free fuel for a year, or something else.

If you enter the draw, you'll get a free gift the following month, usually a pepsi& Mars bar, or water& a granola bar.

AXA QR code, it generates a new code each time, they don't enforce the monthly 100L limit., Perhaps the do with a single transaction, but not monthly.

Anyway, most pumps stop when you get to 100L , except for truck pumps

Cape Clear

Thanks I always wondered if it was even possible for the system to keep a track of the QR codes given it is generated by a third party website.

Thanks for the info on Circle K points. Free fuel for s year eh! What's the limit I wonder.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119183597#Comment_119183597

€3k of fuel for 2 ppl. So €6k in total

antodeco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119165948#Comment_119165948

I've had both for years and never did it. I tried it once and it didn't work, but can only assume cause it was an express!

I have 4 cars, so would've been a nice bit of saving!

is_that_so

Much the same as others in terms of fuel economy but I tie it into an overall weekly budget for everything. I try to top up with less per forecourt visit but ideally with enough to see out the week, because with fuel costs rising almost daily now it really is beginning to have an impact on the rest of your budgeting.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119190841#Comment_119190841

"I try to top up with less per forecourt visit"...surely you'd be doing this if the price was falling?

zg3409

In terms of saving my full electric is about 80% less to fill than petrol. I don't want to start an EV Vs non EV debate, but serious savings and half price tolls.

In terms of driving style only start engine when ready to leave, accelerate slowly, try keep your distance and never brake. Keep top speed down, ideally around 80km/h for fuel savings but can be dangerous on busy roads where you will be constantly overtaken.

If you use a sat nav to decide route try pick a route that's direct but low speed, but try avoid lots of traffic lights.

Diesels can be cheaper on longer trips, and sometimes larger engines can cruise more efficiently at higher speeds in lower gears. Try to drive in the highest gear you can, it will limit acceleration and tends to be more efficient at cruising. I tend to use the cruise control feature and adaptive cruise control so you don't manually need to accelerate and brake.

Overinflating tyre by say 4psi is a way to save fuel, but reduces grip. Check pressure for actual mostly empty car.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119201596#Comment_119201596

All good points.

The only thing I’d say on the EV statement is that any fuel savings would be wiped out by servicing the loan used to buy the EV.

In my case I’d be worse off financially if I went for an EV (although I would need at least an ID4/model3/EV6 which are not the cheapest EV’s.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119201596#Comment_119201596

I'll agree with all that except for the tyres.

A heavy rwd eats tyres unless at correct psi. (I've learned the expensive way)

The convince and ease of diesel on long journeys is great., But next yoke will probably be an EV or hybrid :(

I'll miss the exceptional expected range.

The convince of a 70L tank brimmed giving 1.2k is great, knowing I can go from the Cork to Belfast & back without having to fill up.