Fuel Card Payoff Calculator
Quick answer: A fuel card pays off when eligible gallon discounts exceed monthly fees, transaction fees, and any lost cashback. Compare a fuel card, a cashback credit card, and no card below.
Your inputs
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mi
mpg
$/gal
gal
Fuel card terms
¢/gal
%
$
$
%
gal
gal
%
Fuel card — monthly impact
Gross savings
$82.88
Net after fees
$49.66
Annual net savings
$596
Effective ¢/gal after fees
3.1¢
Scenario comparison
Monthly net savings for each path at your inputs. No card endorsement implied — model your own card's terms.
| Scenario | Monthly net | Annual net | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel card discount | $49.66 | $596 | — |
| Cashback credit card | $190.13 | $2,282 | Best |
| No card | $0.00 | $0 | — |
Break-even monthly gallons
Volume at which the card's discount and cashback cover its fees.
Current monthly gallons
1,625 gal
Eligible for discount
1,381 gal
Break-even gallons / mo
272 gal
Keep reading
Background and related resources.
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Frequently asked questions
- How many gallons do I need for a fuel card to pay off?
- Divide the monthly card fee by the per-gallon contribution (discount cents per gallon plus any cashback value, multiplied by eligibility percent, minus per-transaction fees spread across an average fill). The result is the monthly gallons at which the card breaks even on fees. Below that volume, the card costs more than it saves.
- Are fuel card discounts better than cashback?
- It depends on volume and where you fuel. Cents-per-gallon discounts win for high-volume fleets that fuel inside an accepted network. Flat percentage cashback on a credit card wins for low-volume drivers, lots of out-of-network fills, or when the fuel-card monthly fee swamps the discount.
- Do fuel card fees erase savings?
- Often, yes — for low-volume users. A $10 monthly fee plus $0.50 per transaction can eat the entire discount on a 5-vehicle operation that fills up rarely. Always model your real monthly gallons against the card's fee schedule before signing.