Frustrated buying gas in US

[Tombsy]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

Interesting. When we traveled from Ohio to Alaska a couple years ago, we found getting gas in Canada to be a challenge. We are spoiled in the US with our interstate and large truck stop franchises every few miles. These seemed like they were non-existent in Canada...

When in the US, we generally stay clear of normal car gas stations and look for Flying J as most have an RV island. I suspect the car gas station have no need to up the purchase limit, but the truck stop type stations, I've never had a problem going over $100.


Thats an interesting observation about ZIP code... I wonder if a call to the CC customer service has any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Someone finally told us how to enter the zip for Canadian cc’s, enter just the numbers from your postal code and two zeros. It worked for us Calgary to Vegas in October.

[Bshevel]

Originally Posted by Tombsy

Someone finally told us how to enter the zip for Canadian cc’s, enter just the numbers from your postal code and two zeros. It worked for us Calgary to Vegas in October.

We usually fill up at either Pilot or Flying J because they have dedicated RV lanes. Never have trouble with the credit card nor are asked for a Zip Code.

However we had to use a Chevron at Chiriaco Summit on I-10. Only fuel for 60 miles on an Easter Sunday. It was really lined up. When my turn came I didn't want to make the trip inside to prepay at the cashier. I tried the using 3 numbers in our postal code plus 2 zeros. It worked.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[jbikes1]

This is an old post to comment on but here it is.......'


FIRST and foremost, Welcome to American. Please come often and ignore the current political climate.



Contrary to the "in your face, it's America, get over it or go home" attitude, I say..... Welcome to American.



I do experience the same situations of poor Pump placement, dramatic drive approaches, and running in an out of the station to prepay for too much fuel then going back in to get the corrected receipt. I wish it were different....true of so many things here.


again, Welcome to American.... Come often if you can.

[Gordon Dewald]

Now days it is very easy to get a credit card in US dollars at many Canadian Banks. RBC, TD, CIBC (and likely more) offer US credit cards. Doesn't help the zip number issue but makes it convenient for most other transactions.

We have registered our cards with a US address so we have a zip number but the primary address is Canada. If you have friends in the US who will let you use their address you should be golden.

[Artsy]

Pilot or flying j gas stations, cater to truckers and rv's.

[Superslif]

We also had issues while traveling thru Canada into Alaska. At the time both our CC's didn't have chips. Had to stand in line and hand the credit card to the clerk. They "held" it till I got done fueling. Then stand in line again to finish the transaction. I really didn't like the fact my CC was behind the counter. I then just had my wife stand inside the store as I fueled up.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by Superslif

We also had issues while traveling thru Canada into Alaska. At the time both our CC's didn't have chips. Had to stand in line and hand the credit card to the clerk. They "held" it till I got done fueling. Then stand in line again to finish the transaction. I really didn't like the fact my CC was behind the counter. I then just had my wife stand inside the store as I fueled up.

Started with the number of gas and dash customers so either had to pay cash or insert credit card. Then banks wanted pin number used with chip for security. Then a couple times the clerk ran out to stop the person leaving and got run over. Clerk was killed near here about a year ago.

Used to be you could trust people to fuel up and pay for the fuel. At one time the only register was on the pump itself you just told the clerk.

[UFO Pilot]

It may not help everyone but I buy as much of my gas as possible at Costco with their Citi Bank card. Lowest price, 4% cash back and $150 limit at the pump.

[Gigattime]

Ran into same issue at Love's in the Carolina's when using truck lanes. Had to go inside, put a pre-approved amount on card and then go back inside to get final transaction/receipt. I try not to stress about it too much and to remind myself the journey is part of the fun for RVing. I guess it's a chance to stretch our legs a bit.[emoji4]

[fleetwood ex]

We use pilot/flying J rv plus card.better exchange rates than the bank and can use in canada as well.

[SoonToBeFT]

Personally when we have to prepay to the Cashier in the USA, we don't have any issue. For one when we are RVing we should be taking time to smell the roses here and there, and we also look at fuel stops during travel days as an opportunity for a break, meal/snack break, and to stretch our legs.

As for how much to prepay: We have a 75 gallon tank. We don't find it hard to work out if we have a third of a tank remaining and allowing that it seems there's less in the last third than a true third, then we need approximately 55gals of fuel. So 55 x $4/gal means we need to prepay $220.

We also find we are able to add two zeros to our Postcode to use CC at the pump now we have new postcodes the past two years. When our old postcode was all zeros though it never worked = the only advantage to Canada Post/Government changing our mailing addresses without us moving LOL.

PS: Thanks for the kind welcome to America and appreciation of our spending dollars there JBIkes1

[Joseph08]

The feeling is mutual...