Here's a truly horrifying article: a far too high percentage of Americans are
using credit cards to pay for gasoline. [Emphasis mine.]
Convenience stores, which sell about three-quarters of all gasoline sold in the nation, have seen the use of credit cards for motor fuel purchases rise to 70 percent of all gasoline purchases from about 54 percent last year, according to the industry group. [. . .]
There's more. . . .
According to travel club AAA, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline hit a record of $2.614 a gallon Monday, up from $1.881 of a year ago.
And with a credit card, that $2.60 plus a gallon can easily morph into $3 a gallon if the consumer doesn't pay off all charges immediately and finance and interest charges start to accrue.
Add in the change in credit card rules in a couple of months, and things are going to get even uglier.
I can understand why Hawaii set a cap on wholesale gas prices:
Hawaii's recently enacted gas cap law goes into effect on September 1, with the pre-tax wholesale cap in Honolulu set at $2.1578.
Hawaii, being isolated, pays higher costs than a lot of places; even here in Connecticut, where $2.56 is actually below average for the state, it's cheaper (and CT, like Hawaii, has some of the highest gas taxes in the nation).
In any case, the pain is real, and using credit cards isn't going to make things any better; on top of putting yourself further in debt (if you carry a balance), you're giving more money to the credit card companies, which cannot possibly be a good thing.