One of the things we always do when visiting New Braunfels, TX, is stop by the Buc-ee’s. The gas station/restaurant/clothing store/camping store/supermarket location is convenient to where we usually stay, and we’re more likely to visit in the morning to pick up a brisket breakfast taco than to spend hours shopping like we used to (but my wife Sharon is most definitely NOT obsessed with Buc-ee’s. She still says that, can ya believe it???)
What is Buc-ee’s?
Back in the day, Buc-ee’s was, more than anything, a gas station. A really, really big gas station with cheap prices.
One of my favorite points hacks was to take advantage of the fact that with some banks, all purchases at Buc-ees were coded as a gas station. So our basket of t-shirts, jerky, Beaver Nuggets, BBQ sauce, and our pulled pork sandwiches would all earn the same points multiplier as buying fuel at the pump.
As Buc-ee’s has grown from a Texas chain to a regional phenomenon, both the banks and Buc-ee’s have become better at classifying purchases. But what is Buc-ee’s anyway, according to the credit card companies? I made purchases with different cards from several banks to try and find out what’s the best way to maximize the points earned for your Buc-ee’s visit.
It’s a supermarket!
For every bank, Buc-ee’s purchases inside the store are coded as supermarket purchases. This is good news since several cards can be used to earn points at grocery stores. (Here’s a list of the best cards to earn points at grocery stores.)
My first try was with our Wyndham Earner Business card. I figured it was worth it if we’d get 8X points for gas stations. But we only earned 1X for other purchases.
I wanted to use a Chase card, so I made purchases with the Sapphire Preferred and Southwest Priority cards, which also showed Buc-ee’s as a grocery store.
I wasn’t looking for bonus points with my Venture X card because it earns 2X points on all purchases. But for reference, Capital One also coded Buc-ee’s as a grocery store.
The final card we used was our Hilton Honors Surpass AMEX. It also said that this was a grocery store purchase, but you have to click on additional information.
But here’s the strange thing. The Hilton Surpass AMEX earns 6X points on grocery store purchases, but we only earned 3X points. So is this a grocery store, or isn’t it?
What’s The Plan?
Now that I have this information, I have a list of things to try on our next Buc-ee’s visit, which is coming soon. The first card I’m going to try is the Citi Strata Premier. It earns 3X Thank You points at supermarkets. I’ll also try the Hawaiian Airlines card from Barclays to see if I earn the 2X multiplier for grocery stores. Discover also has grocery stores as a 5% back category this quarter, so I can see if Buc-ee’s qualifies with them.
I’d be curious to hear from anyone with the Capital One Savor to see if Buc-ee’s purchases earn 3% back.
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