Gas has never been this cheap in the US. Americans were paying $0.21 for a gallon of fuel back in 1929. In today's money, that would amount to $3.75, which currently is the average gas price in South and North Dakota. This DoorDash delivery driver, however, saw a price of $0.01 at the pump. No, it's not an error. Here's what happened.
A DoorDash delivery driver from Pennsylvania made netizens envious by showing them how cheap a topping off their gas tank was at a particular fuel station. Most of those looking at the images started wondering what they could do to get gas this cheap, while others suspected a fuel pump error. A couple of people even said the photos were fake! But that was not the case.
According to the latest AAA data, the average price of gas in the Quaker State when writing is $3.9 per gallon. However, this person showed people on the popular Reddit forum two pictures. One displayed a cost of $0.37 for 19.3 gallons of gas. The other showed the prices for diesel and gas of different octanes – $0.57 for diesel, $0.01 for regular (87 RON), $0.31 for silver (89 RON), and $0.71 for ultimate (93 RON).
And, yes, this person did fill up their tank to the brim by paying one cent per gallon of regular gas.
Fortunately for everyone involved in this transaction, this was not a pump error that people could have taken advantage of or a one-time thing. The customer prepared in advance for this move.
Photo: AAA
This person spent money on promotional beverages to obtain this unbelievable fuel price. Each time they bought at least two drinks, a discount of $0.10 per gallon was applied. That was on top of the points they were already getting for shopping at that particular gas station chain.
The individual bought enough drinks to obtain a discount of $3.89 per gallon. In theory, that should have meant free fuel because a gallon of gas cost $3.89 at the time of the transaction. But when they redeemed it, the price was one cent for regular gas.
They said they spent $180 on beverages for this advantage. Normally, that might seem like a lot of money to give in exchange for a "sports performance drink." But the person said they liked it, and the promotion suited their preferences.
A very specific win-win
The marketing strategy allows customers buying those beverages to obtain the $0.10 per-gallon discount in 30 days tops—otherwise, the perk resets. Moreover, there's a limit of 20 gallons when someone wants to fill up with gas priced a lot lower than normal. After that limit, the cost goes back to typical values.
Given the name used to describe premium gas and the design of the pump, this was almost certainly a BP-owned Amoco fuel station. That's where two Coca-Cola-owned Body Armor drinks cost $5, and customers who buy them get $0.10 off per gallon of fuel.
Other netizens aware of similar promotions said they apply akin strategies. For example, someone said they use the discounts and the points awarded for a similar shopping behavior to obtain a hefty price reduction per gallon. Instead of putting discounted fuel in the family's more economical plug-in hybrid vehicle, they fill up a diesel-powered truck with a larger gas tank. Thus, the discounts can become genuinely relevant for bringing down monthly fuel spending.
Sometimes it pays off to do the math on a promotion like this one, and it's even better when you like the advertised product!
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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