LOWERING FUEL COST

While traveling in a big RV, it's not always  practical to search for the lowest fuel prices in a particular area.   Yea, you can find the local retailers that sell fuel at the lowest price with Internet sites like Gas Buddy, but when you're unfamiliar with an area, the last thing you want to do is go exploring for that Circle K, or other gas station that might save you a couple of cents a gallon.  Often, those places are next to impossible to access with almost 60 feet of motor home and towed vehicle.

For years, long before the merger of Pilot and Flying J, we often used Flying J for a variety of reasons.  Their locations are convenient, mostly next to major highways.  Not all, but most have dedicated RV fuel islands, with access to propane, water, and a dump station.   When we were pulling a 35' merchandise trailer during our drag racing days, with an overall length of 73', convenience and access was even more important than it is today.  With the Flying J RV rewards card, available through the Family Motor Coach Ass'n, we received, and still do, a 3 cents a gallon discount off the cash diesel price.  That discount isn't exactly huge, but when you combine all of the other ingredients, stopping at Flying J's has always made pretty good sense for us.

Since the merger of Pilot and Flying J, the gradual changes are starting to appear, and one of those changes was brought to my attention just a few days ago.  While visiting with our friends Len & Ellie Meachum in Quartzsite, Len mentioned that Pilot now has their own, fairly new RV credit card.   When combined with Good Sam membership, the Pilot credit card gives a bigger discount than the old 3 cents a gallon rewards card.   With normal membersip, using the new Pilot credit card gives you a 6 cents a gallon discount off the cash diesel price, and 4 cents a gallon off the cash gas price.  Eligibility for this credit card is limited to Good Sam members, and a few other rules apply, like the card must be linked to a bank account for full monthly payment (no carry over balances), and you must have an email address.   If you're a Good Sam life member, the discounts increase to 8 cents a gallon for diesel, and 6 cents a gallon off the cash gas price.

I'll say right up front, I'm not a big fan of the Good Sam Club.  I guess the RV park discounts are worth something, but they seem to be relentless in trying to sell you everything from insurance to identity protection.  The volume of advertising mail that they send to their members is the biggest reason I've not been a member for a number of years.  Just before we took off for Alaska, I accepted a free one year membership, with the stipulation that I not receive all of their junk mail.  So far, they've honored that request.

When Len told me about the Pilot credit card, I looked into upgrading our Good Sam membership to life status.  It's not well advertised, but if you are a military veteran, $149 will get you a Good Sam Life membership, and the upgraded discounts from the Pilot credit card.  Based on our annual average fuel costs, when I crunched the numbers, the $149 investment for Good Sam life membership  should pay for itself in about a year.  From then on, the increased savings from life membership will be free and clear.  When you factor in no more annual Good Sam membership fees, this formula works even better.  I know, we're not talking about saving a huge amount of money, but every little bit helps.  When you combine all of the above with the opening of a new Pilot at exit 268 on I10, not too many miles from our house, it all kind of works for us.