7 Ways Florida Drivers Can Beat the Summer Gas Spike

Gas prices are doing that thing again. Up one week, down the next, never in your favor for long.

With uncertainty overseas pushing oil around, Florida drivers are watching the pump with one eye and the budget with the other.

Here’s how to keep more of your money in your tank and less of it at the register.

Price Hunt With Apps

The price of gas can swing 40 or 50 cents between two stations a mile apart.

A free app finds the cheap one before you waste a drop looking.

GasBuddy maps the lowest prices near you. Upside pays you back a little cash on each fill-up. Even Waze flags prices along your route.

In a sprawling state like Florida, where the next exit might be ten miles off, that’s worth knowing before you’re running on fumes.

Check one or all of these apps before you leave your house, not when the low-fuel light is already glaring at you.

A handful of these apps also let you set a price alert.

Tell it your target, and it pings you when a nearby station drops to it.

Cash In on Warehouse and Grocery Rewards

Warehouse clubs offer some of the cheapest gas in Florida, and they’re everywhere down here.

Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s all sell fuel to members at prices that routinely undercut the corner station by a wide margin.

If you already shop one for the bulk paper towels, the gas alone can pay back the membership over a year of driving.

Plenty of grocery chains pile on too, knocking cents off the gallon for every dollar you spend on groceries.

Stack a grocery run and a fill-up on the same trip, and you’re saving on both ends.

One more tip: The clubs often post their member price on the app or your receipt, so you can plan your fill-up around the cheapest day.

Top off before a road trip, and you carry that warehouse price with you up the interstate instead of paying highway rates along the way.

Mind the Cash Price and the Right Card

Look closely at a gas sign, and you’ll often spot two prices.

Cash and credit.

Paying cash can save you a dime or more per gallon at stations that post the split, so it’s worth carrying a few bills for the pump.

If you’d rather swipe, the right rewards card earns cash back on fuel, sometimes 3 to 5 percent.

Over a summer of driving, that adds up to a free tank or two.

Just make sure you pay your card off every month.

Carrying a balance at today’s interest rates wipes out any fuel reward in a hurry.

It’s also worth checking which cards rotate fuel into their bonus categories each quarter.

A card that pays extra on gas for a few months can cover a tank or two over the summer if you sign up in time and remember to use it at the pump.

Skip the Tourist-Trap Pumps

The priciest gas in Florida is often where the tourists are.

Stations near the theme parks, the airports, the beach exits, and the interstate ramps charge a premium because they can.

Tourists in a rental car rarely shop around.

You’re not a tourist. Drive a few blocks off the main drag, away from the Orlando attractions and the I-95 exits, and the price often drops a noticeable amount.

The station the locals use is almost always cheaper than the one with the giant sign visible from the highway.

The same goes for rest stops along the Turnpike.

Convenient, sure, but you pay for that convenience.

If you can hold out a few more miles to a regular neighborhood station off the highway, your wallet notices the difference by the end of a long drive.

Time Your Fill-Up Right

When you buy can matter as much as where.

Prices tend to creep up heading into the weekend and around holidays, when everyone hits the road.

Filling up early in the week, on a Monday or Tuesday morning, often catches a lower price before the weekend climb.

The stretches around the Fourth of July and Labor Day tend to bring the steepest prices of the season, so top off a day or two early if a big driving weekend is coming.

Try not to wait until your tank is bone dry, either.

Running on empty forces you to buy wherever you land, at whatever price they’re asking.

Keep yourself above a quarter tank, and you give yourself more freedom to drive past the overpriced station and reach the cheaper one.

Maintain Your Car

Half the gas price battle is the car itself. A vehicle in good shape sips fuel where a neglected one guzzles it.

Start with the tires.

Florida heat changes the pressure, and underinflated tires drag down your mileage.

So, check them when the engine’s cold.

Clear your trunk of extra weight you’ve been hauling around since spring. Every pound costs you a little fuel.

A clean air filter and on-time oil changes keep the engine humming efficiently, which shows up at the pump over time.

On the highway, air conditioning beats rolling the windows down, since open windows create drag at speed.

Around town, the reverse holds.

They’re small choices, but real savings across a hot Florida summer.

Drive Like You’ve Got an Egg Under the Pedal

How you drive might be the best way to lower your gas bill.

Hard starts and sudden stops burn fuel like nothing else.

Ease onto the gas and coast toward red lights instead of racing up and slamming the brakes. Smooth and steady stretches a tank further than you’d think.

Combine your errands into one loop rather than making three separate trips.

A warm engine runs more efficiently than a cold one, so chaining stops together saves gas.

Cut the idling, too.

Sitting in a running car for more than a minute burns fuel for nothing, though nobody expects you to bake in a parked car without the AC in July.

Cruise control is your friend on those flat Florida highways, holding a steady speed that uses less gas than your foot bouncing on and off the pedal.

And easing back to 65 instead of 75 on the interstate can stretch a gas tank by a noticeable margin.