By Gregory Karp, Jae Bratton | NerdWallet

If you’re paying full price at the gas pump these days, you might be missing a way to fuel your household savings. That’s because many rewards credit cards offer bonus points when you use them at the gas station.

Used right, those rewards are like a discount on every gallon you buy. Few consumers would turn down these savings when the average price of a gallon of gas as of May 2024 was $3.61, according to AAA.

It’s fairly common now to get triple points — 3 points per dollar spent — for using a rewards card to pay for gas. Notably, some of the best cards for fill ups don’t feature the names of big oil companies or their service station brands. Instead, you’ll likely save the most with general rewards credit cards or cards associated with warehouse clubs and credit unions.

As you shop around for a card that will shrink your gas budget, keep these tips in mind.

Use 3% as a benchmark

The most lucrative cards for gas offer the equivalent of 3% or more in rewards. Better still, many cards with high rewards rates don’t charge an annual fee, so you’ll pay nothing to earn rewards that can be redeemed for cash back, gift cards, travel and more.

Credit score matters

More often than not, rewards rates of 3x and above are found in cards that require at least good credit, or a FICO score of at least 670, to qualify. If you have a low credit score, expect your credit card options to be limited. Nonetheless, there are a few cards for people with bad, limited or no credit that earn rewards, albeit modest ones.

Mind the caps

Some cards — especially those with 5% rates and no annual fee — limit how much gas spending will earn bonus rewards. For example, you might get 4% on gas purchases up to $7,000 in annual spending. After hitting the cap, gas purchases earn just 1% until the new year. Before applying for a card for gas purchases, check the rewards cap, if any, and decide if it’s generous enough to accommodate your spending.

Beware of ‘cents off’ rewards

Instead of a percentage of cash back or points per dollar spent, some cards — especially gas station-branded cards — give you a specific discount, such as 6 cents off per gallon. But when gas costs $3 per gallon, that 6 cents off is a mundane 2% discount. Plus, gas station cards typically earn rewards that can only be spent at that particular merchant.

Rewards at the gas station vs. pump

Many cards that offer outsized rewards on gas spending also reward purchases inside the service station such as snacks and wiper fluid. But some cards limit rewards to gas spending paid at the pump, and some gas cards earn elevated rewards only on in-store purchases, not fill ups.

Rewards credit cards have terms and conditions that govern their rewards programs; read through them to see what purchases earn rewards and if that list aligns with your expectations.

Warehouse cards have pros and cons

Warehouse clubs like Sam’s and Costco can be great places to get cheaper gas, savings that are compounded when combined with the stores’ co-branded credit cards that offer high rewards rates on gas. However, these same cards only earn those desirable cash-back rates up to a certain annual cap, and the reward redemption process can be cumbersome.

Remember, too, that you must be a member of those warehouse clubs, which means paying an annual membership fee.

Stack rewards with card-linked offers

Many rewards cards offer digital coupons in the form of card-linked offers through the issuer’s app. You “clip” the coupon by adding it to your card, and once you make a qualifying purchase, you’ll receive your savings, often in the form of a statement credit. It’s common to find card-linked offers for gas purchases, so before your next fill up, skim through your card’s digital coupon list for a station near you. You’ll save with the card-linked offer and earn rewards from that fresh tank, if your card earns rewards on gas.

Look beyond gas rewards

As you shop for a good gas credit card, consider whether the card offers rewards in other categories that align with your spending habits. That way, your gas credit card card transforms into an everyday card that you can use to pay for things like groceries, take out and streaming.

Plus, you might not spend as much on gas as you think. In 2023, U.S. households spent an average of $2,635 per year on gasoline, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even with a 3% rewards card, that’s $79.05 cash back per year, or about $6.50 per month.

Gregory Karp writes for NerdWallet. Email: articles@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @spendingsmart.

The article How to Use Credit Cards to Save Money on Gas originally appeared on NerdWallet.

By SARA CLINE (Associated Press)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Two abortion-inducing drugs could soon be reclassified as controlled and dangerous substances in Louisiana under a first-of-its-kind bill that received final legislative passage Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by the governor.

Supporters of the reclassification of mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as “abortion pills,” say it would protect expectant mothers from coerced abortions. Numerous doctors, meanwhile, have said it will make it harder for them to prescribe the medicines that they use for other important reproductive health care needs, and could delay treatment.

Louisiana currently has a near-total abortion ban in place, applying both to surgical and medical abortions. The GOP-dominated Legislature’s push to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol could possibly open the door for other Republican states with abortion bans that are seeking tighter restrictions on the drugs.

Current Louisiana law already requires a prescription for both drugs and makes it a crime to use them to induce an abortion in most cases. The bill would make it harder to obtain the pills by placing it on the list of Schedule IV drugs under the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.

The classification would require doctors to have a specific license to prescribe the drugs, which would be stored in certain facilities that in some cases could end up being located far from rural clinics. Knowingly possessing the drugs without a valid prescription would carry a punishment including hefty fines and jail time.

Supporters say people would be prevented from unlawfully using the pills, though language in the bill appears to carve out protections for pregnant woman who obtain the drug without a prescription for their own consumption.

More than 200 doctors in the state signed a letter to lawmakers warning that it could produce a “barrier to physicians’ ease of prescribing appropriate treatment” and cause unnecessary fear and confusion among both patients and doctors. The physicians warn that any delay to obtaining the drugs could lead to worsening outcomes in a state that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.

In addition to inducing abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol have other common uses, such as treating miscarriages, inducing labor and stopping hemorrhaging.

Mifepristone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000 after federal regulators deemed it safe and effective for ending early pregnancies. It’s used in combination with misoprostol, which the FDA has separately approved to treat stomach ulcers.

The drugs are not classified as controlled substances by the federal government because regulators do not view them as carrying a significant risk of misuse. The federal Controlled Substances Act restricts the use and distribution of prescription medications such as opioids, amphetamines, sleeping aids and other drugs that carry the risk of addiction and overdose.

Abortion opponents and conservative Republicans both inside and outside the state have applauded the Louisiana bill. Conversely, the move has been strongly criticized by Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who in a social media post described it as “absolutely unconscionable.”

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in March on behalf of doctors who oppose abortion and want to restrict access to mifepristone. The justices did not appear ready to limit access to the drug, however.

The Louisiana legislation now heads to the desk of conservative Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. The governor, who was backed by former President Donald Trump during last year’s gubernatorial election, has indicated his support for the measure, remarking in a recent post on X, “You know you’re doing something right when @KamalaHarris criticizes you.”

Landry’s office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

A recent survey found that thousands of women in states with abortion bans or restrictions are receiving abortion pills in the mail from states that have laws protecting prescribers. The survey did not specify how many of those cases were in Louisiana.

Louisiana has a near-total abortion ban in place, which applies both to medical and surgical abortions. The only exceptions to the ban are if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the mother if she continues the pregnancy or in the case of “medically futile” pregnancies, when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.

Currently, 14 states are enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.

By DAVID KOENIG (AP Airlines Writer)

You didn’t think summer travel would be easy, did you?

Highways and airports are likely to be jammed the next few days as Americans head out for Memorial Day weekend getaways and then return home.

AAA predicts this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday. The Transportation Security Administration says up to 3 million might pass through airport checkpoints on Friday alone.

And that is just a sample of what is to come. U.S. airlines expect to carry a record number of passengers this summer. Their trade group estimates that 271 million travelers will fly between June 1 and August 31, breaking the record of 255 million set – you guessed it – last summer.

The annual expression of wanderlust is happening at a time when Americans tell pollsters they are worried about the economy and the direction of the country.

A slowdown, and in some cases a retreat, from the big price increases of the last two years may be helping.

Airfares are down 6% and hotel rates have dipped 0.4%, compared with a year ago, according to government figures released last week. Prices for renting a car or truck are down 10%. The nationwide price of gas is around $3.60 a gallon, about 6 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA.

Johannes Thomas, CEO of the hotel and travel search company Trivago, said he thinks more customers are feeling the pinch of prices that have plateaued but at much higher levels than before the pandemic. He said they are booking farther in advance, staying closer to home, taking shorter trips, and compromising on accommodations — staying in three-star hotels instead of five-star ones.

Many travelers have their own cost-saving strategies, including combining work and pleasure on the same trip.

“I have largely been able to adapt by traveling at strange hours. I’ll fly out late at night, come in early in the morning, stay longer than I intended, and work remotely,” said Lauren Hartle of Boston, an investor for a clean-energy venture firm.

Hartle, who flew from Boston to Dallas on Wednesday for a work conference, plans to attend a summer family gathering in North Carolina but is otherwise considering trips closer to home — and maybe by train instead of plane.

Catey Schast, a nanny and piano teacher in Maine, said her Boston-Dallas flight cost $386 round trip. “It wasn’t terrible,” but it was higher than the $200 to $300 she paid in the past to visit family in Texas, she said.

Schast plans a beach vacation in Florida in July. High prices could discourage her from taking other trips, but “if I really want to go somewhere, I’m more of a how-can-I-make-this-happen type of person, as long as I have the time off work.”

As in past years, most holiday travelers are expected to travel by car – more than 38 million of them, according to AAA. The organization advises motorists hoping to avoid the worst traffic to leave metropolitan areas early Thursday and Friday and to stay off the roads between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday.

“We haven’t seen any pullback in travel since the pandemic. Year after year, we have seen these numbers continue to grow,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. “We don’t know when it’s going to stop. There’s no sign of it yet.”

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There’s certainly no slowdown at airports. The number of people going through security checkpoints is up 3.2% this year. The TSA said it screened 2.85 million people last Friday and nearly as many on Sunday — the two busiest days of the year so far.

TSA predicts it will screen more than 18 million travelers and airline crew members during the seven-day stretch that begins Thursday, up 6.4% from last year. Friday is expected to be the busiest day for air travel, with nearly 3 million people passing through checkpoints. The TSA record is 2.91 million, set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.

“We’re going to break those records this summer,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said.

The agency, which was created after the 9/11 terror attacks, has struggled at times with peak loads. Pekoske told The Associated Press that pay raises for front-line screeners have helped improve staffing by reducing attrition from more than 20% to less than 10%.

Airlines say they also have staffed up since being caught short when travel began to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring and summer of 2022.

With any luck from the weather, travelers could see fewer canceled flights than in recent summers. So far this year, U.S. airlines have canceled 1.2% of their flights, according to FlightAware data, compared with 1.4% at this point last year and 2.8% in 2022 — a performance so poor it triggered complaints and increased scrutiny from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Even before the holiday weekend started, however, storms caused widespread cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the biggest hub for American Airlines. The carrier dropped more than 200 flights, or 5% of its schedule, by late afternoon.

Stranded travelers were not happy.

“Our flight got canceled right before the check-in. And now there’s no flights here until Friday because (open seats on other flights) went really quickly. We might wind up driving. Isn’t that terrible?” said Rosie Gutierrez of Allen, Texas, who was trying to get to Florida along with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

American’s chief operating officer, David Seymour, said the airline has beefed up its staffing and technology in preparation for the seasonal rush.

“It’s a long summer, but we’re ready for it. We have the right resources,” he said.

American is offering its most ambitious summer schedule ever — 690,000 flights between May 17 and Sept. 3.

United Airlines forecasts its biggest Memorial Day weekend, with nearly 10% more passengers than last year. Delta Air Lines expects to carry 5% more passengers this weekend, kicking off its heaviest summer schedule ever of international flights.

According to AAA, the top domestic and international destinations are familiar ones. They include Orlando, Las Vegas, London, Paris and Rome.

So what about nervousness over the economy?

It’s important to note that people often say their own finances are better than average. In an AP survey from February, 54% said their personal situation was good — but only 30% felt the same about the nation’s economy.

That could explain why they can afford to splurge on travel.

Rebecca Santana and Rick Gentilo in Washington contributed to this report.