Here are several credit cards the provide the best rewards for drivers through rebates on gas purchases as well as a few other benefits. It’s difficult to find good credit cards as the companies are pulling back their offerings. If you’re interested in making the most out of your money, jump on these offers before they disappear.
But beware — if you are not in control of your spending, credit cards can be dangerous tools. Don’t spend more than you can afford.
Discover Open Road Card (apply here)
This card is offering 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. What makes the Discover Open Road card great for drivers is that it offers up to 2% cash back on gas purchases. Here’s how it works: You get 2% cash back on both gas and restaurant purchases for up to $250 in combined spending in those categories each billing cycle. All other purchases, as well as gas or restaurant purchases after that $250 threshold each month, earn 1% cash back once you’ve spent $3,000 that year on the card.
If you shop online through the Discover network, you can also receive up to 20% back. Watch out for cash advance and balance transfer fees. No annual fee applies.
CitiBank Drivers Edge for College Students
The Citi Drivers Edge card presents a 3% cash back rebate at gas stations, drugstores, and supermarkets. All other purchases generate 1% cash back.
The card also features a fairly high limit of $1,000 each year. That’s the amount of cash back that would be generated from almost $17,000 of gas station spending. What’s neat is you also receive $1 cash back for every mile you drive. Considering that, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to hit the maximum cash back limit.
Note: As mentioned in the comments below, the rewards gained from this card must be used for purchasing or leasing a vehicle or on service for your current vehicle.
Chase PerfectCard MasterCard
The Chase PerfectCard MasterCard has features similar to the Citi Drivers Edge card. Unfortunately, the 6% rebate is only available for 90 days and only gas station purchases are eligible. After the first 90 days, the gas station rebate is reduced to 3%, while all other purchases generate 1% cash back.
The difference with this card is that your rebates are automatically credited to your credit card to pay for future purchases. That’s good if you plan on continuing use of the card.
Chase BP Visa
I would recommend this card only if you visit BP stations for getting your gas. This card offers a whopping 10% rebate for the first 60 days for purchases at BP. Take into consideration that you can probably find gas stations close to BP that offer gas for less money. After the introductory period, you still get a 5% rebate when shopping at BP. The card also offers some other decent rebates as well.
In addition to receiving your rebates as $25 gift cards to BP or $25 checks, you can also directly donate your rebate to The Conservation Fund, an environmental charity.
Updated February 10, 2012 and originally published July 17, 2007. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have the driver’s edge card myself. You can only use the rebates for a vehicle purchase or maintenance.
The PerfectCard looks good, but then it says “Once enrolled, your rewards disclosure will be sent to you containing all program guidelines and benefits”…so basically you have no idea how you can actually use your rebates until you’ve already signed up. So much for full disclosure.
Re the Citi Driver’s Edge card…you should note that this is NOT a cash rebate, and use of the rebate money is limited as follows: