Gas Stations Reserving Credit Funds Experiment - Lukoil
I went to a Lukoil gas station this afternoon as my next target on the gas station experiment. Since Wawa reserved $75 for my last fill up, I figured that I would need to only use a few dollars at a time if I wanted to get more than two gas stations in my experiment.
This time, I took the other unused $100 AMEX gas card and charged $5 at a Lukoil up the street from my house. I came home and checked the balance on the gift card. $25.
So, Lukoil also reserves $75 at the pump, despite the transaction amount, just like Wawa.
For those of you who use your bank card at the pump, remember this. Even if you only get $5 in gas, the gas station can still reserve $75 and cause you some heartache should be low on funds.
From the Liz Pulliam Weston “Hosed at the Pump” article, Shell and Chevron claim to only reserve $1 to ensure the card is valid. BP, Amoco, Arco and Hess reserve $75 just like Wawa and Lukoil.
If I assume those numbers are still correct, I think I’ll make my next target Exxon once my $70 is put back on my AMEX card.
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