Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

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ingramleedy
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Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by ingramleedy »

Just put an order in for a DA 40 NG .. woohoo. I cant wait. One of the reasons I chose the DA 40 NG was because it uses Jet fuel. I think this one idea is very innovative. I never realized why lead and lead fuel is such a problem. I mean I knew it was bad, but I thought you had to eat it from paint, not inhale it or get it one your skin until I watch this Veritasium video The Man Who Accidentally Killed The Most People In History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV3dnLzthDA..

Anyway -- I assumed paying with my Amex would be best until I read about some fuel cards offer bulk savings even for solo pilots. Is there a recommended card?

Thanks
-Ingram
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michael.g.miller
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by michael.g.miller »

Congrats on your upcoming new bird! JetA is amazing, it lets you go anywhere. I’m taking my DA42NG around the world this summer. Fueling up in Saharan Africa is no issue!

The best discounts are with CAA (can sometimes be half off retail), but you’ll need to pay $500 a year to be a member. So only worth it if you fly enough - I do 300h a year, so a no brainer for me. With C.A.A., you just tell the FBO you’re a member and pay with your normal credit card.

Runner up for me is Everest Fuel. No charge to join, and they arrange payment debiting your bank via ACH. Just send Everest an email before your flight, they’ll fax or email a release to the FBO. When you land, all you have to do is fuel up, and sign a form. No need to wait for the CSR. And the discounts are nice!

Beyond this, World Fuel is my only other account, their discounts aren’t anything to write home about, but they are worldwide, and handle payment just like Everest.

Enjoy the plane, you’re going to have a blast.
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Donkadillapig
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by Donkadillapig »

Congrats on your DA40 NG, its a cracking plane.
Ditto for C.A.A, I also got an Avfuel card as my homebase runs AvFuel but tbh it doesn't do much for me, the "negotiated rate" for our volume is nada and it's a pain to pay off the balance.
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photoSteveZ
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by photoSteveZ »

Put me down as another CAA advocate. I fly about 300hr/yr, so it’s worth every penny of the $500 annual membership. Their partnership with Go Rentals at many major FBOs is also a useful feature.
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Colin
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by Colin »

I hadn't seen the Go Rental connection. Does it make their prices reasonable?

CAA was a big revelation for me.
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Boatguy
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by Boatguy »

I also use CAA. It's a bit of a weird game as the bigger FBOs jack up the Jet-A price, but "nobody pays retail" since all the jet guys have fuel cards. Retail Jet-A at smaller airports can be lower than the CAA price at a larger airport. But at KTUS the last couple of days I got the CAA price on 26g and no ramp fee while the plane was there for two nights.

At KELP I saved $1.50 on fuel, then got a hangar for just $55 and no "security" fee, about half the cost of a hangar at KTRM.
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haykinson
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by haykinson »

As I’m days/weeks away from taking on my new DA40NG as well, does anyone also spend the extra $100 per year to upgrade Foreflight so that it shows the card-discounted prices? Or is that overkill?
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by photoSteveZ »

Seeing fuel card prices on Foreflight’s Map page and in FBO detail data is only one of several reasons to spend the extra $100/yr.
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Colin
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by Colin »

I spent a couple years buying paper charts and getting all the updates for the little brown books so that I could fly across the country and have an awareness of an airport in the middle of Kansas. If you've done that for a few years *before* ForeFlight, then FF seems like a huge bargain even at the most expensive levels.
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Re: Jet Fuel Cards or Amex? Recommendations?

Post by CFIDave »

The CAA app for iPhone/iPad has a convenient map that you can use to quickly zoom to your geographical area of interest -- and show all the JetA prices at airports in the vicinity with CAA pricing. BTW, CAA offers the first 3 months membership for free to try it out.

I finally joined CAA after JetA prices went up 50% this year.
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