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The Marathon rewards program is not a bad gas program.
I have been reviewing gas programs this past year.
Honestly, I don’t spend as much as most people on gas.
I will probably hit the highway more with my travel blog, so maybe I will spend more on gas.
When I get back to flying (when the coronavirus improves), maybe I still won’t spend a lot on gas though.
In the past, I had wanted to experiment with gas programs but was in no rush for two reasons.
First, gas programs that I liked like Get Upside were not yet in my area.
Second, the prospect of saving only 3 cent per gallon was not something to put at the top of my to do list.
I had started watching people save more than that on gas, even almost getting free gas, so I decided to investigate.
Gas programs are not bad after all.
I will review most of the gas station reward programs later.
Since the Dosh app offered 3% off at Marathon, I decided to review it first.
What is the Marathon Rewards Program (Make It Count)?
Make It Count is the reward program of Marathon gas station.
Marathon has gas stations located in 20 U.S. states with 5,500 locations.
Where I live in Alabama, Marathon gas stations are everywhere.
There headquarters is in Ohio.
Honestly, I did not know anything about Marathon except sometimes I would confuse them with Mapco.
Get 10 Cent Off The First Month
This is what I really liked.
It did allow me to get more gas than usual.
This only is on the first 4 fill ups (up to 20 gallons).
I thought it was the whole month.
Again, this was my favorite part of the program.
As long as gas prices are comparable, this is some savings.
I think you should always strive to save 10-20 cent per gallon at the pump.
You can save as much as $1 per gallon at both Kroger and Shell if you spend at least $1000 a month.
That does take effort in buying things like 4x points gift cards at
Kroger or shopping through Shell’s partners.
Everything has a catch, right?
Since those two stations stand out, I will write a review later on both.
Again, that does take effort and a learning curve.
What rewards does Marathon offer?
Currently, you can get 3% back at Marathon gas stations through the Dosh app.
I will review the Dosh app later.
Honestly, except when they have gas or groceries, the Dosh app moves very slow for me.
I even got charged an inactivity fee last year.
They must have added more retailers because now I am using the app more.
Since Dosh only requires a linked card, I figure I will get to $20 (minimum to cash out) one day.
Since that was only a linked card required, it was zero effort.
After the initial ten cents off at Marathon, you can choose between the following rewards (choose one):
- 5 cents off
- Southwest points
- Wyndham points
- Target e-gift card
- Petco e-gift card
- Dominos e-gift card
The opportunity to earn airline and hotel points is different , so if you fly Southwest or stay at Wyndham hotels, you may like this.
You will only earn few points though.
I enjoyed the 10 cents off per gallon the first month.
Five cents off each month is not bad after that.
Comparable Shell starts a 5 cents then becomes 3 cents off.
Personally, with gas stations, you almost want to make sure you are first getting the cheapest gas.
On my last gas station trip, most other gas stations were $2.19 (like Marathon) , so getting 5-10 cent off this made sense.
If other gas stations were $2.10 and Marathon was $2.19 and you were only getting 5 cent off for $2.14, Marathon would not be the better deal.
Always, check an app like Gas Buddy because gas prices even change daily.
One week, I took Gas Buddy off my phone and the station prices at stations had been switched.
The Circle K I was using had went up and other stations had went down.
Check an app like Gas Buddy, to get the best price weekly.
While testing the Marathon program, I even used Gas Buddy to find a Marathon cheaper than all other gas stations that I passed.
How To Join Make It Count
There are three ways to join:
- Text
JOIN” to 40244 - Go to MakeItCount.com
- Get the Marathon app
Ways To Stack
The thing that makes gas programs good is instead of your measly 3-5 cents off per gallon there is the ability to stack other programs.
You can stack with the following:
- Gas reward credit cards, 1-3%
- Apps like Dosh when running promotion
- Gas gift cards (don’t know if you can save on Marathon gift cards though)
- Gas Buddy
- Get Upside (if Marathon is in your area on the app
- Trunow app
With Gas Buddy, you are only getting an extra 3-5 cents off unless you are using the Gas Back feature.
You cannot use Gas Buddy with a reward card, so it may be best to choose gas reward credit card over Gas Buddy.
With Get Upside, Marathon may not be participating in the Get Upside program in your area.
I like Get Upside because I can use with a gas reward credit card, but only Circle K in my area participates.
No other gas station in my area participates in Get Upside, so use the app when I get on the highway.
Currently, because the Dosh app offers 3% back at Marathon the best plan of attack is:
3% at Dosh
1-3% with gas reward credit card
Save 5-10 cents off per gallon as long as Marathon in your area is the same price or cheaper as other stations.
Personally, I am using Marathon while the Dosh app offers 3% off.
I think the Kroger program will work for me later when I learn how to spend $1000/month at Kroger to get $1 off per galloon.
With little time, I just try to get 10-20 cent off and stack with apps like Dosh.
The Shell program will get you $1 off too after you spend money with their partners.
Keep in mind, that some people do not like “cheap” gas.
This choice is up to you.
My last car would not run well without stations like Shell or Chevron.
My current car runs fine on any gas though, and my mechanic says that is ok.
If you require the “good stuff” instead of cheap gas, I think the Shell program is the best.
In any case, most gas rewards programs at your preferred chain or other stations are easy to use and will knock off some additional cents per gallon.
As long as you are using an app like Gas Buddy to get the best gas prices and not spending more, gas reward programs are easy and effortless and should be used when you don’t have to do anything but input your phone number.
Summary
Gas reward programs are a no brainer.
All you have to do is input your phone number on your way checking out after you have your preferred station.
I think the hardest part is choosing a preferred gas station.
Most people will just stop at whatever station that they pass.
I think once you see which station is consistently profitable for you, you should choose one and profit.
I am still choosing.
This month, because Marathon offered 3% on the Dosh app, I experimented with Marathon.
Dosh is offering 4% back at Circle K.
I will experiment with Circle K next.
I liked that I could get 10 cent off the first month with Marathon.
After the ten cent offer expires, they text you other 10 cent off offers.
Without the Dosh app offering cash back, I will just continue to switch and get 10-20 cents off at different stations.
Many stations offer this as a sign up although many only offer something like 20 cents off the first fill up.
I like the Get Upside app because you can usually save 20 cent or more, so I will continue to choose the gas station offered in that app too.
Long term, I will learn how to spend $1000/month at Kroger or Shell and get $1 off per galloon.
I think the best stack with gas reward programs are gas credit cards that also give you cash back on groceries like the Amex Blue Cash Preferred.
For those not willing to go to the extra effort of spending $1000 at Kroger or Shell, the Marathon reward program is not bad at 5 cents off per gallon with no effort.
You can also earn Southwest or Wyndham points or store gift cards.
The low effort equivalent at Shell would only get you 3 cents off.
Of course, I think Marathon is considered “cheap” gas and you may only prefer the high caliber stuff like Chevron or Shell.
That is a personal decision.
Whichever station you choose, I would suggest using a reward gas program though.
Do you use gas station reward programs like Marathon?