Speedway Gas Discount In Michigan
Dec 29th, 2007 by Shaun Carter
I stopped by Speedway the other day to hit the convenience store and struck up a conversation with the girl at the counter and she happened to bring up that the gas discounts they offer customers are being outlawed by Michigan.
There are a couple other states out there that forbid discounting gas prices through a membership program and I am now hearing that Michigan is soon to become one of them. So, when I got home I hit Google and began searching for any record of this upcoming atrocity and couldn’t find anything relevant so I am somewhat relieved.
When you take a look at the Speedway “Speedy Rewards” program, you see how easy they make it to get some big discounts on your gas purchases. I happen to also have the Speedway Credit Card which (until the law supposedly changes) gives me an instant 5 cents off per gallon right at the pump and also significant bonus points for every dollar spent, including a 10,000 point signup bonus.
My only question is, “Why does a state government care about a company giving gas discounts?” The only possibility I can think of is if the state tax on gas is based on a percentage of the price charged, well as it turns out Michigan not only taxes a flat 19 cents per gallon for Gasoline purchases, the state’s 6% sales tax is also part of the posted price at the station.
So let’s say in Speedway’s case, they are discounting an average of 10 cents per gallon, this results in a loss to the state of .6 cents per gallon. I can’t find any statistics as to how many gallons of gas Speedway sells in Michigan, but for every million gallons sold at a discount the State of Michigan is “losing” a pathetic $6,000. But when you consider how many tens or hundreds of millions of dollars The State is generating in tax revenue from the $3.10/gallon prices of today versus the $2.20/gallon price of a year ago, why should they care about a retailer offering a discount and keeping gas just A LITTLE more affordable for Michigan consumers.
So I am awaiting a notice in the mail from Speedway to announce the change for 2008, in the meantime I need to decide what to do with my 29,369 points… I think I’ll save up for the $100 Speedway Gift Card which is like getting a month’s worth of free gas!
Technorati Tags: speedway, speedy rewards, credit card, points, rebate, discount, gasoline, car, shaun carter, gift card, google, membership
yea i actually enjoyed having a sppedway michigan card
Click for Nick
I actually work at a Speedway here in MI, and a lady came in today and mentioned something about it (and, as you suggested, said it had something to do with the state not getting their full tax amount from discounted fuel). I hadn’t heard anything about it, but I haven’t seen my manager since last week. I asked one of my co-workers when she came in later and said that they were getting rid of the fuel discount, starting Jan. 1. She also said there were two other things (I assume related to the Rewards program) that they were getting rid of, but she could not remember them. I have to stop in and talk to my manager tomorrow anyway; I am going to ask her about this.
Like you, I Googled it, and searched Michigan’s website – couldn’t find a thing.
I hope it’s bogus – our government (not necessarily state gov’t.) is part of the reason we’re paying so much for gas in the first place – what’s wrong with a little discount here and there?
I was also thinking about getting a Speedway Chase credit card, because of the fuel discount and bonus points…but if this turns out to be true I’ll forget about that.
I’ll make another comment if I find anything out from my manager tomorrow.
Thanks for the info Jason. I love my Speedway Credit Card because of the discount and bonus points… my first month I earned about 13,000 points with the sign up bonus. But now it might not be as great.
I look forward to hearing back from you about what you find out from your manager.
My manager left early yesterday unfortunately; however, the assistant manager said that the decision was a “federal” decision. He didn’t seem to know much about it, though. We got our January signage kit up today, though, and they are running a promotion for a 5 cent/gallon gas discount (and some bonus point thing) tied to the credit card, through June 08. We will honor current fuel discount coupons until the 7th, and the gas discount coupons that are printed using points have already been removed, as of today, as options for rewards you can print out.
This is confusing to me, because it doesn’t make sense (from my point of view, anyway) for certain discounts to be illegal and others (such as the credit card offer) to work. I sent an email to Speedway and asked for more information about this; it is not only important for consumers to understand what is going on, but as a CSR it is important for me to be able to answer any questions they have, or at the very least tell them where to direct their questions – whether it be the governor, the Dept. of Energy, etc.
I’ll let you know what I find out when they email me back, presumably tomorrow.
Happy new year!
Well, after talking to my manager and calling Speedway, I think I finally have an answer to this. It is a state law, not national (as I had heard from my ass’t. mgr.), and it makes fuel discount COUPONS illegal. So, reductions at the pump are still allowed, i.e. with the Chase credit card. The lady on the phone said that the law “makes it illegal to get gas coupons with the rewards card”, so I assume that the Summertime Gas Rollback will not be affected, since it is a price reduction, not a coupon.
Hopefully that clears things up – I am surprised I haven’t heard/read anything on the news about this.
[...] had discussed in an earlier post the rumor I heard from a Speedway clerk here in Holland about the fuel discounts being discontinued [...]
Shaun -
If you’re truly interested in a meaningful discount at Speedway, then you need to check out http://www.poptechnology.net. The company has a 4% discount card (not a credit card) that works just like a gift card except you get a 4% discount on gas (about 11-12 cents per gallon discount). The card works at all Speedway stores in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. It also works with any other discounts you get at Speedway, thereby increasing the amount of discount.
It really is a great deal……Check it out…