Stretch Your RV Travel Budget: How To Find Cheap Gas
Sadly, the days of finding really cheap gas when RVing are behind us (at least for now). Gas prices are really hitting the stratosphere, and RVers are being hit hard these days. However, while there is no “cheap gas”, we can always find “cheaper gas”. We’ve put together a list of ways RVers can take advantage of to significantly reduce the amount they spend on gas.
Download the GasBuddy App
The GasBuddy app is a free phone app and website that allows you to search for all the gas prices in any geographical area you happen to be. Its ease of use makes it a must-have for anyone who wants to try to find cheap gas for their RV travels.
Join a club
With gas prices currently soaring, many RVers have been purchasing club memberships recently. It’s no surprise, considering that club members save an average of about 20 cents per gallon. Here are a few popular clubs that offer gas savings for their members.
Costco Executive Membership
Costco’s Executive Member program is $120. Costco members get gas about 20 cents per gallon cheaper than average local prices.
While there is a basic membership available for $60, the Executive membership is an even better deal for members because Costco sends each Executive Member a coupon for 2% cashback on annual purchases. This amount can be substantial and if you shop at Costco a lot, it will often pay for your membership. There are 558 Costco locations in the USA and 105 Costco locations across Canada.
Sam’s Club Plus Membership
Sam’s Club is a subsidiary of Walmart Stores. Their prices are between 10 and 20 cents per gallon cheaper than other fuel stations, depending on the location. Membership is $100 and offers 2% cash back on purchases. Sam’s Club has 48 more store locations in the US than Costco.
BJ’s Perks Rewards Membership
BJ’s is a smaller warehouse club in terms of the number of BJ’s Warehouse locations. There are only 241 BJ’s locations across the USA. BJ’s sells their gas for about 10 cents per gallon less than the local average prices. Their $110 Perks Rewards Membership gets you 2% cashback on all your purchases at the end of the year.
Good Sam Club Membership
Good Sam Club members get discounts on camping, as well as a 10 cent per gallon discount on gas at Pilot and Flying J gas stations. The annual fee for a Good Sam Club membership starts at just $29.
American Automobile Association
American Automobile Association offers RVers a host of roadside assistance and travel services if they purchase its $210 Premier RV membership package. New to their program is a discount of at least 5 cents per gallon on gas purchases at Shell stations.
Plan your trip ahead of time with RV LIFE Trip Wizard
Plan your route ahead of time with RV LIFE Trip Wizard to find gas stations, campgrounds, and more. This online planning tool makes it easy to plan an RV-safe route. The RV trip planner can also locate interesting sites along the way, all according to your travel preferences.
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We like Mudflap for diesel! We’ve got significant savings over the past 2 years. They are big rig friendly – you use the truck lanes to fuel. A bit more complicated but worth the effort. If a friend invites you, you each get fuel savings. I just got diesel for $3.02 USD a gallon in St Louis.
Ditto Travelgirl’s Comment. Over the past month or so, I have found the prices given on the GasBuddy app to be incorrect fully 100% of the time. In approximately 6 trips (either for my car or my coach), the price listed was inaccurate – and not just by a little bit. For example I was in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, just 2 days ago (07/18/2023) and the cheapest diesel price was just down the street, so off I went, only to find the price was actually $0.56 cents per gallon higher than listed. That’s a huge number when you’re filling a 100 gallon fuel tank. Unfortunately, incorrect prices are the norm these days. I’ve resorted to calling the station first.
Beware. I’ve used GasBuddy for years however lately their posted prices have been inaccurate. On at least 5 recent occasions I have found a recent posted price to be 10 cents higher when i pulled in to gas up.
We in British Columbia [Canada] with Costco stores can only save a few cents per litre on gas, as they don’t sell diesel. Also, many of our chain retailers of diesel are moving to bio diesel in efforts to be price-competitive, as it can be purchased a little cheaper from their refiners. Unfortunately, a lot of older diesel engines don’t like bio diesel, and research has shown some long term damage from a diet of bio diesel.
So, as helpful as the article is for many RV owners, it has limited value in Canada, where getting out on the road has definitely become more expensive, necessitating the finding of fuel bargains wherever possible.
And for diesel users, go to http://www.TSDLogistics.com and use the drop down menu under services to go to the “OpenRoads” page. Apply for the membership card (its free) and get great discounts on fuel at tons of major truck stops across the country. My experience is that I can drive around town in my 40 foot motorhome towing a car and probably find a tight in and out of fit in one of the areas cheaper station for about the same price that I can stay on the highway using major truck stops that are easy to get and out of. just by using the card. Look into it, I typically get up to 30 – 40 cents off the posted truckstops advertised prices. Another advantage is that if you use the card at stations that are not members, you always pay the cash price instead of the credit price, typically a savings of 10 cents per gallon. The open roads app for your phone provides a map to the surrounding area of partipicating diesel stations, similar to what GasBuddy does for gas stations…
THANKYOU FOR ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION, ALWAYS VERY HELPFUL
We have been Good Sam members for a few years and try to get gas at Pilot or Flying J. They only give a discount of .05 cents per gallon. We have been in several states and have never seen a .10 cent per gallon discount.
In our local markets, neither Costco, nor Sams Club offer Diesel for purchase. I shop two different markets and same result. No Diesel.