While at the FMCA rally I spoke with one of the Flying J reps. He is responsible for the credit card programs. Effective Sept. 1 you will no longer be able to use ANY credit card IN THE TRUCK LANES and get the cash price. This does not apply to the RV lanes. The only exception is that if you use a Flying J credit card ( not your RV card) the discount will still apply. Apparently this change is due to the high rates charged by the CC companies.

Moisheh
2008 Monaco Dynasty 42'
1988 Bluebird FC35

This message has been edited. Last edited by: moisheh,

I am not totally disagreeing with you but if Flying J has to pay a % of the bill and the bill is now twice as much for the same fuel you can see the reason. In this case its not the CC co fault.

This makes no sense. How is it more expensive for them to take a credit card in the truck lane than it is in the RV Lane?

Barb

How much fuel can the average RV hold? 50, maybe 80 gallons?.. A commercial truck is usually well over 200 or 300 gallons with dual tanks. Figure in the limits most credit card companies are putting on fuel island purchases and you have nothing but problems for the fuel desk to deal with.

From firsthand experience, rver's are known for taking their sweet time while at the pumps, the truck pumps are for working fleets who are more often than not on time constraints. If you were/are not involved in the trucking industry, you may not understand the volume commercial trucks will run through the pumps on a given day with preset accounts. This is where Flying J is earning direct billing profits from, credit cards are and will be a nuisance for them, both in fees and the charge cap limits they have on them.

Guess we will not be using Flying J anymore.

We do not fit through the RV lanes, plus they take too long to pump. And I do not usually carry $1000+ with me in cash.

So, will Flying J accept a debit card? Just a few months ago, Flying J wouldn't accept Visa. Presently, they do accept Visa. Guess that will be gone again, as of 9/1.

We agree with Jack. If Flying J doesn't accept credit cards, we will no longer be doing business with them. We fill from both sides (slave pump) and the RV island is not convenient for us.

Dobie Lover

quote:

Effective Sept. 1 you will no longer be able to use ANY credit card IN THE TRUCK LANES.

quote:

If Flying J doesn't accept credit cards, we will no longer be doing business with them.

They'll probably continue to take CC's at the fuel desk. I agree, not as convenient, but still do-able.
Mark

quote:

They'll probably continue to take CC's at the fuel desk. I agree, not as convenient, but still do-able.

Explain to me how that would make sense. Pay at the pump - walk in & take your slip off the carousal, sign, take your copies and leave = almost zero work for their staff. Move all that pay at the pump traffic to their lines inside and have their staff swipe your frequent fueler card and your CC = more work for staff and more congestion inside. Assuming FJ pays something like 1% of CC charge volume to either VISA or MC, moving the swiping operation from the pump to the inside desk, won't reduce the total fee paid to the CC companies one iota. IMO, it doesn't reduce the problem of drive offs either.

I'm sure it's strictly a financial move. The truck pumps must represent a huge portion of FJ's total fuel volume. Reducing cost there without implementing the same changes at the auto and RV pumps would bring them the most bank for their buck. A 200 gal sale last year at $2.50 per gal and a 1% fee meant FJ was paying $5.00 for the CC transaction. For the same volume of fuel today, @$4.69/gal, the 1% fee equals a $9.38 fee paid to the CC company. If it is a pickup towing a 5ver filling up at the RV pump with 25 gal, that CC trans. would only be a $1.17 fee at 1%. Hence, no big deal to allow CC transactions at those pumps.

At least, if one uses the FJ issued CC, FJ receives a part of that 1% fee back as the card issuer. Would guess at current prices and as they escalate even more, other truck stops will follow suit. Not a good time, maybe, to hold stock in VISA & MC?

So what would be their rationale, on truck island sales, for accepting the CC inside but not at the pump?

Wow: Did I ever confuse every one with a post full of errors!!! What I meant to say was you will no longer be able to use a CC in the truck lanes and get the 9 or 10 cent cash discount. A Flying J credit card will get the cash price. I am so sorry for being half asleep. My posts are never that bad!!!!!!

Moisheh

Way to complicated. No more FJ for me.

For the record, credit card fees run from 2.5% to almost 4% for big volume users like Flying J. It is even higher for small users.

The cash discount is around 2%. That would put the Flying J cash discount + credit card fee around 4.5% to 6%. That is a big overhead to cover.

It is not like Flying J is so much higher priced and the convenience of using the truck lanes is too good to drop them from the places to stop.

We filled up in a Pilot the other day and I went thru the truck lanes since I do not know Pilot's that well. We were told to use the RV lanes next time as we would get the cash price with a CC. Seemed like a decent deal to me.
Phil

Last Sunday at the Frazier Park, CA FJ, I had to pay at the inside cashier using a Visa card/FJ Member cards.

Beats using the RV lanes and waiting for inconsiderate folks who leave their rigs parked at the pump while they go shopping and having a meal inside.

Due to these inconveniences and delays, I'm a reluctant FJ customer. I am always looking, and sometimes finding, better fuel deals at nearby competitors.

we run a small metal detecting business out of our home. We are also Visa merchants. We pay 1.69% of the sale to Visa. And this is discounted to this figure because we belong to the Chamber of Commerce. I'm sure all banks are differt with their fees. Lots of people ask us to take mastercard and Amer ex. just cannot do, thats too many percentages and fees associated with the merchant acct and our business checking. Sorry, had to throw in my loonies worth! have a good day. Dona

Just called Flying J at Casper, Wy. They said they take VISA at the truck pumps. Get cash price using Debit card plus one cent using RV card.
Jerry