Business & Tech

A Tale Of Two Gas Prices At Local Pumps

Motorists faced with yet another cost increase at area service stations — this time, targeting credit card customers

Along with a consistent rise in gas prices over the past few months, Queens drivers are experiencing yet another kind of sticker shock at area service stations. 

From the Getty station in Douglaston to the Mobil on Northern Boulevard in Little Neck, more and more gas stations are adopting a "two-tiered" pricing system, with customers using credit cards charged an average of 10 cents more per gallon than those paying with a debit card or cash.

And with prices averaging $4.19 a gallon across the New York metro area — $1.12 more than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association's Fuel Gauge Report — the practice has motorists, as well as at least one elected official, taking notice.

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"Years ago one could make the argument that businesses had to charge a little bit more for people who charge on credit cards, since back then it was not as common to use cards," said state Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside. "Now it's more the rule than the exception."

Though Avella admitted that the driving force for much of the rise in gas prices lay elsewhere, he pledged to fight for cost savings wherever they could be found. That included proposing a reduction in the state's tax on gasoline, as well as looking into the practice of charging credit card customers an average of 2 to 2.5 percent more at the gas pump, according to Avella. 

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"Though I think it's the oil companies that are really taking advantage of people, I'm looking at other ways to help consumers save money," Avella said. "There are things we can do on the state and city level to address this issue."

Any kind of relief for motorists would be welcome news to Brian McCarthy, who commented on the "two-tiered" pricing system while filling up his car at the Gulf station on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Whitestone on Wednesday afternoon. 

"It's lousy, but they have been doing it for years," McCarthy said. "They figure they got you and if you don't like it, tough." 

Patrick Conti contributed reporting to this story.


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