Gas...Canadian Tire? Petro Canada? Shell?

[ninna]

There's a few reserves near here (about 20 mins west), so if I happen to be going that direction (which is rare), then I will fill up there. But I never drive in the opposite direction to save a few bucks on gas. By the time I factor in my own time and what I spend driving there, it's usually not worth it.

For day to day, I go to the Shell station near my house. There's two gas stations in my town. The Shell has been part of this community for many, many years. The owner knows everyone by name and is very kind. So when the new gas station opened up across the street in a plaza that also has a new Tim Horton's in it and attracted a tonne of business, I still kept going to the Shell station even though Shell was more expensive and couldn't compete price wise with the new station at first. Why? Because the Shell owner has been part of our community and he's been good to us. There have been times when DH was in a rush, filled up and realized he forgot his wallet at home and the owner was like, "that's ok. Just come back and square up when you can." I like supporting my local guy.

If I happen to be elsewhere and I'm out of gas, I go to where ever its the cheapest and most convenient. I try to make it a RCSS or Loblaws when possible because they offer the discount savings coupons. But again, I wouldn't drive out of my way for that either.

[Sunshyne1]

I go to Husky ( i haven't seen that mentioned yet)
They are generally the cheapest around here in Hamilton, plus you get points towards your CAA card.
I basically get my CAA renewed for free every year just from gassing up!!!
http://www.myhusky.ca/you/cards/earn_caa_dollars.html
Here's the break down...I haven't had to pay for a new CAA Membership in the last 3 years.

[wolfwoman]

I go to Co-op. It's the cheapest in town. Plus having a Co-op membership, I get a member's share cheque every year. So between buying groceries and and having a truck that takes $100.00 to fill, I get a fairly nice cheque every year.

[Poirot]

I don't know if you have Domo a station in Edmonton had a sign that said Monday and Thursday you get 4 cents off a litre from the posted price.

[Dumitru Gheorghiu]

I was with Petro Canada, but I switched to Esso.
Here is the detailed comparison of Petro Canada vs Esso's bonus points accumulation: canadlife.blogspot.ca/2014/02/petro-canada-vs-esso-reward-bonus.html
You'll be surprised that with Esso you'll accumulate points x2 to x3 times faster, especially for the car washes.

[ClearlyFan]

Here's the thing with bonus points/reward systems - the customer pays for the right to earn rewards!! You pay upfront and/or embedded in the program.
If you are simply looking for cheapest price I like Ultramar. No rewards program - just cheap pricing. Would be nice if more stores took that approach, but as the information age has dawned upon us, we know that isn't going to change anytime soon.

[CanadianCouponCollector]

... Where I am I have 3 choices for gas, and the cheapest is always Canadian Tire. I make sure to tear out the bonus CT money wub gas coupon in the flyer each week and get about $2 a week back in CT money. I hang onto it until Christmas and make gift baskets using stuff I bought from CT using CT money.

[lindseyc]

I use Petro Canada for a few reasons, there is a country station on my way to work that is generally not crazy busy, it is always lower by a few cents than any other place in the city I live in (exception of Costco) and I can collect points.

I do have a Costco card I got for free, but I rarely shop there and the gas bar is usually insanely busy.

[ancarett]

DH's CC got compromised at our nearest Esso and I had the same problem at the gas station run by the crosstown Independent, so we've given up on those places. That leaves me with Shell or Petro pretty much as the only convenient options: CT's gas bar is really tough to get into as the lot includes a bunch of other stores including an always crazy Tim's.

I don't go far out of my way to gas up as we're a one-car family and time-starved. If DH or I can't do it on my way to/from work, it's not going to happen!

[KDivers]

There is actually an app you can use that tells you when gas goes up and where the lowest gas price is