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Price of Regular vs Premium in Your Area ?
- Thread starter HTSS_TR
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Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
In South and Central Orange County, California most stations price the Premium (91 Octane, we don't have 93 Octane in California) at 20 cents a gallon more than Regular 87 Octane.
The difference of 20 cents a gallon seems forever the last 20-30 years, when 87 octane was less than $1/gal in mid 80's to mid 90's, that 20 cents representing more than 20% extra for premium grade. Now, the regular price is about $3.50-3.70 so the difference of 20 cents is around only 5-6%. Few stations charge 16 cents more for premium (8 cents more for mid-grade).
The difference between regular and premium is so little now, I started to use premium again in my cars, all of them recommend/require 91 octane. Even I could not detect any performance different between regular and premium.
HTSS_TR,
Over here in the west L.A. area as it stands currently every grade is under $4 bucks per gallon except for the local Shell station which sells his regular grade for $4.83 per gallon!
Anyway I have only one car that requires premium gas and the other regular which I prefer to use mid-grade.
Durango
In South and Central Orange County, California most stations price the Premium (91 Octane, we don't have 93 Octane in California) at 20 cents a gallon more than Regular 87 Octane.
The difference of 20 cents a gallon seems forever the last 20-30 years, when 87 octane was less than $1/gal in mid 80's to mid 90's, that 20 cents representing more than 20% extra for premium grade. Now, the regular price is about $3.50-3.70 so the difference of 20 cents is around only 5-6%. Few stations charge 16 cents more for premium (8 cents more for mid-grade).
The difference between regular and premium is so little now, I started to use premium again in my cars, all of them recommend/require 91 octane. Even I could not detect any performance different between regular and premium.
HTSS_TR,
Over here in the west L.A. area as it stands currently every grade is under $4 bucks per gallon except for the local Shell station which sells his regular grade for $4.83 per gallon!
Anyway I have only one car that requires premium gas and the other regular which I prefer to use mid-grade.
Durango
87 without ethanol - $3.14
87 with ethanol - $2.99
91 $3.49
We can no longer get 89, just regular 87 or 85 with 10% to make it 89.
87 with ethanol - $2.99
91 $3.49
We can no longer get 89, just regular 87 or 85 with 10% to make it 89.
It's about a 50-cent difference between 87 and 93 around here.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted By: badtlc
$0.26 is the most common here in KC. A few stations are $0.30 and the BP's charge $0.40-45 more than 87 octane for their 93 octane premium.
A couple of days ago the 93 octane BP/Amoco was 42¢ higher than 87 with ethanol. But it is good gasoline. The Beemer runs better on it, than anything else that is commonly available.
$0.26 is the most common here in KC. A few stations are $0.30 and the BP's charge $0.40-45 more than 87 octane for their 93 octane premium.
A couple of days ago the 93 octane BP/Amoco was 42¢ higher than 87 with ethanol. But it is good gasoline. The Beemer runs better on it, than anything else that is commonly available.
I just realized that I could use my debit card at Costco. $3.619/gallon for 91 octane premium, and exactly 20 cents less per gallon for 87 octane regular. This is pretty cheap for California.
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Remember about twenty years ago when it was ten cents from 87 to 89 and ten more from 89 to "super?"
What happened?
That's still the rule of thumb in my part of the country. Of course we don't see anything street legal that's higher than 91 octane unless it involves 100 octane racing fuel.
Of course a rule of thumb doesn't mean every retailer follows it exactly. Some places the spread is less than 20 cents and some places it's more. The pricing if often more about the wholesale price that the branded retailer is obligated to pay than anything else.
I just looked on GasBuddy and found stations on the way home with a spread from regular to premium of anywhere from 12 cents to 22 cents. However, exactly 20 cents seems to be the most common.
The one thing I don't get is one particular gas station near where I live. The prices are consistently about $1 higher across the board than any other gas station in the area. I rarely see people filling up there, while it's around the block elsewhere. I thought that maybe the city and corporate customers (taxis?) have contracts to fill up at that gas station at special rates, and the high prices might be to discourage regular users to fill up there.
http://www.oaklandgasprices.com/Valero_Gas_Stations/Berkeley/24418/index.aspx
http://www.yelp.com/biz/valero-berkeley
Remember about twenty years ago when it was ten cents from 87 to 89 and ten more from 89 to "super?"
What happened?
That's still the rule of thumb in my part of the country. Of course we don't see anything street legal that's higher than 91 octane unless it involves 100 octane racing fuel.
Of course a rule of thumb doesn't mean every retailer follows it exactly. Some places the spread is less than 20 cents and some places it's more. The pricing if often more about the wholesale price that the branded retailer is obligated to pay than anything else.
I just looked on GasBuddy and found stations on the way home with a spread from regular to premium of anywhere from 12 cents to 22 cents. However, exactly 20 cents seems to be the most common.
The one thing I don't get is one particular gas station near where I live. The prices are consistently about $1 higher across the board than any other gas station in the area. I rarely see people filling up there, while it's around the block elsewhere. I thought that maybe the city and corporate customers (taxis?) have contracts to fill up at that gas station at special rates, and the high prices might be to discourage regular users to fill up there.
http://www.oaklandgasprices.com/Valero_Gas_Stations/Berkeley/24418/index.aspx
http://www.yelp.com/biz/valero-berkeley
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I just realized that I could use my debit card at Costco. $3.619/gallon for 91 octane premium, and exactly 20 cents less per gallon for 87 octane regular. This is pretty cheap for California.
Hummm I was told my Costco that I go to only the American Express works. That was about a half year ago. Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
I just realized that I could use my debit card at Costco. $3.619/gallon for 91 octane premium, and exactly 20 cents less per gallon for 87 octane regular. This is pretty cheap for California.
Hummm I was told my Costco that I go to only the American Express works. That was about a half year ago. Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
Originally Posted By: Errtt
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I just realized that I could use my debit card at Costco. $3.619/gallon for 91 octane premium, and exactly 20 cents less per gallon for 87 octane regular. This is pretty cheap for California.
Hummm I was told my Costco that I go to only the American Express works. That was about a half year ago. Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
My folks get their gas pretty much only at Costco when they're at home. They've got the Costco AmEx card, and I thought that was the only credit card they took. I was sort of thinking about it and looked up their payment policy. It was always AmEx since they arranged some deal for a lower merchant fee. They also take Costco gift cards, although I'm not sure how that works if you've got several cards that won't cover the amount; I think you might need to restart the pump for each gift card used. Then I found that they will take pin based debit card transactions. Also there's no membership needed if you've got the gift card. You could give that as a present to someone who isn't a member, and they can take it inside Costco to buy something, or use it to buy gas.
Quote:
http://www.costco.com/gasoline-q-and-a.html
Q: Can anyone buy gas at the Costco Gas Station?
A: The Gas Station is open to Costco members only. There is an exception: Costco Cash Card customers do not need to be Costco members.
Q: How do I pay for my gasoline?
A: The Gas Station is entirely self-serve, with pay-at-the-pump technology. We accept: American Express, most PIN Debit Cards, Costco Credit, and Costco Cash Cards. (Exceptions: Oregon and New Jersey are full-service per law).
Q: How does the pump know the customer is a member?
A: When a customer inserts a membership card or a co-branded Costco Amex card, the system reads the membership number on the card and confirms the membership is active.
Costco Cash Cards can only be purchased or recharged by members. Anyone can use a Costco Cash Card at the gas station, as it also serves as membership authorization for the pump.
I started going the pin-based debit card route at Safeway gas stations. They stopped giving the 3 cents/gallon discount for their rewards card and shifted to a cash/debit price instead. And they don't have a surcharge like Arco does for debit cards.
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I just realized that I could use my debit card at Costco. $3.619/gallon for 91 octane premium, and exactly 20 cents less per gallon for 87 octane regular. This is pretty cheap for California.
Hummm I was told my Costco that I go to only the American Express works. That was about a half year ago. Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
My folks get their gas pretty much only at Costco when they're at home. They've got the Costco AmEx card, and I thought that was the only credit card they took. I was sort of thinking about it and looked up their payment policy. It was always AmEx since they arranged some deal for a lower merchant fee. They also take Costco gift cards, although I'm not sure how that works if you've got several cards that won't cover the amount; I think you might need to restart the pump for each gift card used. Then I found that they will take pin based debit card transactions. Also there's no membership needed if you've got the gift card. You could give that as a present to someone who isn't a member, and they can take it inside Costco to buy something, or use it to buy gas.
Quote:
http://www.costco.com/gasoline-q-and-a.html
Q: Can anyone buy gas at the Costco Gas Station?
A: The Gas Station is open to Costco members only. There is an exception: Costco Cash Card customers do not need to be Costco members.
Q: How do I pay for my gasoline?
A: The Gas Station is entirely self-serve, with pay-at-the-pump technology. We accept: American Express, most PIN Debit Cards, Costco Credit, and Costco Cash Cards. (Exceptions: Oregon and New Jersey are full-service per law).
Q: How does the pump know the customer is a member?
A: When a customer inserts a membership card or a co-branded Costco Amex card, the system reads the membership number on the card and confirms the membership is active.
Costco Cash Cards can only be purchased or recharged by members. Anyone can use a Costco Cash Card at the gas station, as it also serves as membership authorization for the pump.
I started going the pin-based debit card route at Safeway gas stations. They stopped giving the 3 cents/gallon discount for their rewards card and shifted to a cash/debit price instead. And they don't have a surcharge like Arco does for debit cards.
Originally Posted By: Errtt
Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
I noticed that, too. I am currently not a Costco member but I refuse to wait in line for gas. There are far too many huge stations around here for that. Also, my old car had the filler on the driver's side. They have attendants at the pumps that prevent you from driving in the wrong direction so there would frequently be no line for the pumps that allowed filling on the passenger side, but lines for the pumps that allowed driver side filling.
The manager of the store told me that the hoses were long enough to allow filling on both sides, but I was not about to mess with getting the hose across the car without dragging it across the trunk and scratching the paint.
If you want to deal with that, more power to you!
Seem like always a line of cars at the pumps though.
I noticed that, too. I am currently not a Costco member but I refuse to wait in line for gas. There are far too many huge stations around here for that. Also, my old car had the filler on the driver's side. They have attendants at the pumps that prevent you from driving in the wrong direction so there would frequently be no line for the pumps that allowed filling on the passenger side, but lines for the pumps that allowed driver side filling.
The manager of the store told me that the hoses were long enough to allow filling on both sides, but I was not about to mess with getting the hose across the car without dragging it across the trunk and scratching the paint.
If you want to deal with that, more power to you!
Gas in western Maryland is sitting @ $3.35 for 87 right now bout 10 cents more for 89 bout 20 cents more for the good stuff, however I use lucas's green bottle stuff with 87 octane some may debate this method but it works good for me I get about 317 a tank out of my 05 trailblazer by doing this w/o it bout 295 is it worth it to me it is to some might not be?
Gas just jumped $.32 overnight.
For a couple of years now, every grade upgrade is $.20 or more. The last station that kept it at $.10 moved about a year ago.
So today it was $3.45/$3.65/$3.85
For a couple of years now, every grade upgrade is $.20 or more. The last station that kept it at $.10 moved about a year ago.
So today it was $3.45/$3.65/$3.85
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
Gas just jumped $.32 overnight.
Well of course - people are getting ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving. Gas prices always jump around major holidays. Gas mfgs know that you've already made your plans to travel, so you'll buy the gas even if it gets more expensive.
Gas just jumped $.32 overnight.
Well of course - people are getting ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving. Gas prices always jump around major holidays. Gas mfgs know that you've already made your plans to travel, so you'll buy the gas even if it gets more expensive.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
Gas just jumped $.32 overnight.
Well of course - people are getting ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving. Gas prices always jump around major holidays. Gas mfgs know that you've already made your plans to travel, so you'll buy the gas even if it gets more expensive.
That's an interesting point. California's and Minnesota haven't changed over the last 4 days and fell for a month before that. I guess we can conclude people in California and Minnesota aren't traveling for Thanksgiving then.
Originally Posted By: SevenBizzos
Gas just jumped $.32 overnight.
Well of course - people are getting ready to hit the road for Thanksgiving. Gas prices always jump around major holidays. Gas mfgs know that you've already made your plans to travel, so you'll buy the gas even if it gets more expensive.
That's an interesting point. California's and Minnesota haven't changed over the last 4 days and fell for a month before that. I guess we can conclude people in California and Minnesota aren't traveling for Thanksgiving then.
Give it a few more days.
Dropped between $.02 and $.06 overnight. I even saw one place (that's usually low) drop $.16. I'm out and about for work so I probably see 50 stations.
I'm not trying to conclude anything here, just observe.
I'm not trying to conclude anything here, just observe.
I hear ya. I guess it varies from place to place. The national average for regular gasoline went up by about 5 cents per gallon during the past week.
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