If gas prices go any higher, demand will tank as everyone will be driving less, buying hybrids and taking public transit. This company will go out of business soon enough, better bet investing in Sharper Image giftcards...

StormShadow said:If gas prices go any higher, demand will tank as everyone will be driving less, buying hybrids and taking public transit. This company will go out of business soon enough, better bet investing in Sharper Image giftcards...

<snicker> People said that when gas was $2 a gallon, too.

I do agree that people will drive less though. Mass Transit isn't going to work for anyone its not already working for -- if you live near a mass transit that goes where you need to go you probably moved there on purpose to use it anyway.

Thats actually the reason that Hybrids are selling so well right now -- most Americans are NOT willing to drive less. If they can convince themselves that they are getting twice the fuel economy then they will drive twice as much. For the most part Americans are moving the same way Europe did years ago when their gas prices moved into the $5/gal range. When they buy a new vehicle its a more efficient/smaller one.

Whats funny is that one of the big issues for the US Automakers was the fleet average economy - its why they overpriced SUVs and had the econoboxs discounted so heavily. Now they are pricing UP the econo-cars and fireselling the SUVs. Its a win-win for the US companies since they were getting hammered by the CAFE Fleet standard. NHTSA They were pushing the econo-cars in the past to lower their average. (since SUVs were so popular)

Q What if I really need gas now and the only station is charging really high prices?
A Most stations charge a fair and reasonable price for fuel. Some stations charge much more than the current average price in their area. We encourage you to avoid these high priced stations. If you must use one on occasion, MyGallons will adjust your account, in gallons, to reflect the higher priced fuel. This is no different than if you had to pay that station out of your pocket compared to going to another lower-priced station.

Then what's the point of this "service"? It seems to me that you're paying a hefty fee to get a very small discount. As tulsastorm said, the break even points are pretty high, plus their own FAQ shows numerous ways they can charge you more. I'll still with a 5% rewards credit card.

Airjrdn said:
They state:
FAQs said:This is no different than if you had to pay that station out of your pocket compared to going to another lower-priced station.

But I disagree. The whole reason for this is to protect yourself from rising gas prices. I know they need to protect themselves, but they should do that via the recurring fee, not when they deem it necessary without input or agreement from you.

This is fine. What they mean by that statement is "If you fill up at the most expensive station in your area, we're not paying for it." If you notice, they'll also charge you less if you fill up at a cheap station. You buy gallons and then any adjustments are made relative to the current price. Which means its important to know what the current price is.

For example:
You buy 10 gallons at a price for $4.50
A month later, you decide to use it, and the price on MyGallons is now $5.00
If you go to the station that charges you $5.25, they charge you 1.1 gallons for every 1 gallon you pump
If you go to the station that charges you $4.75, they charge you 0.9 gallons for every 1 gallon you pump
(These numbers are completely made up, but the illustrate the point as far as I understand)

Bycracky said:Although it's not exactly the same it seems it would be a lot safer and easier to just buy sufficient amounts of an oil ETF to hedge your gasoline purchases. It would avoid the risks and fees inherent in this company. Too bad they don't yet have a gasoline ETF

They do have a Gas ETF, I know some people that has invested in it, here is some info:
http://www.etftrends.com/2008/02/first-gas-etf-l.html

~K

this dumb -
What about when our congress forces Saudi to reduce oil prices and congress forces oil co execs to reduce prices and bush opens up coastline

Gas prices will go down.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

UP UP and AWAY.

Peak oil is HERE

Here's how I buy gasoline futures.

Gas isn't quite expensive enough yet to go through this whole hassle.

dblevitan said:Airjrdn said:
They state:
FAQs said:This is no different than if you had to pay that station out of your pocket compared to going to another lower-priced station.

But I disagree. The whole reason for this is to protect yourself from rising gas prices. I know they need to protect themselves, but they should do that via the recurring fee, not when they deem it necessary without input or agreement from you.

This is fine. What they mean by that statement is "If you fill up at the most expensive station in your area, we're not paying for it." If you notice, they'll also charge you less if you fill up at a cheap station. You buy gallons and then any adjustments are made relative to the current price. Which means its important to know what the current price is.

For example:
You buy 10 gallons at a price for $4.50
A month later, you decide to use it, and the price on MyGallons is now $5.00
If you go to the station that charges you $5.25, they charge you 1.1 gallons for every 1 gallon you pump
If you go to the station that charges you $4.75, they charge you 0.9 gallons for every 1 gallon you pump
(These numbers are completely made up, but the illustrate the point as far as I understand)

That's how I understood it too, it's just that they are in total control of how they determine the average, and that's a little too out of my hands for me to go along w/it. Like most everyone else here, I don't think I'll be participating in this "hot deal".

Sparhawk24 said:Not for nothing, but there's another way to hedge your gas prices: buy the ETF named UGA:

Works fine if you are expensing the gasoline in your business. Otherwise the gas you buy is a nondeductible expense and the gains on the hedge are taxable.