4 ms·

I imagine it's quite a bit more than $15 a month. They probably bake some healthy margins into the price of gas.

michaelmior 10y ago
They claim their prices for members are designed to be competitive with lower-priced gas stations in the area.
rconti 10y ago
I had never heard of this kind of service until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a Booster fuels truck. The advertised prices on the truck were a good 20 cents/gallon lower than the Chevron across the street from where it was parked. OTOH, I don't know if they use top tier fuels with whatever detergent packages or if it's Arco-quality gas, or what.
- shostack 10y ago
  Having seen but never used Arco--is there a significant difference in gasoline quality? I had always been under the impression that it was largely a commodity product with the various additives largely being used to help differentiate from a branding standpoint and not actually doing much.
  - ams6110 10y ago
    There is basically no difference in gasoline brands. They all buy from the same area wholesalers. Some may vary on ethanol percentage and other additives but generally it's nothing significant.
    - rconti 10y ago
      Back when I lived in WA, Arco was the "cheap gas" because they used the winter 10% ethanol blend (== less power and less fuel economy) year-round, whereas 'good' gas stations switched to ethanol-free in the summer. Now that I live in CA, everyone does 10% ethanol anyway. More and more it's hard to find non-ethanol gas anywhere. Supposedly the top tier brands use 'better' detergents, but I'd say the differences in brands are smaller than ever.
  - walrus01 10y ago
    In many major areas there are only one or two refineries anyways - it all comes from the same place and is rebranded. Sometimes with a tiny percentage of some special fuel additive poured in when they fill the gas station's tanks. For example in western WA there is Cherry Point or Anacortes. ARCO gas comes from the same place that refines petrol and diesel for 5 other major brands in the area.
- syedkarim 10y ago
  There's no such thing as top tier fuel. Gas is bought off the spot market, just like orange juice. The quality of Arco's product on any given day could be identical to that of Chevron/Shell/more-expensive-name-brand.
  - danieltillett 10y ago
    There is such a thing as old gas which you don’t want in your car’s engine.
    - onion2k 10y ago
      You probably don't want to use fuel that's been sitting in a jerry can for years, but is that concern really applicable to gas stations? Surely even the worst of them would turn over their entire stock in a matter of days, so you'll never be buying particularly old fuel.
      - danieltillett 10y ago
        Yes you are right - I was just making the point that gas is not all equivalent.

They claim their prices for members are designed to be competitive with lower-priced gas stations in the area.

I had never heard of this kind of service until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a Booster fuels truck. The advertised prices on the truck were a good 20 cents/gallon lower than the Chevron across the street from where it was parked. OTOH, I don't know if they use top tier fuels with whatever detergent packages or if it's Arco-quality gas, or what.

shostack 10y ago
Having seen but never used Arco--is there a significant difference in gasoline quality? I had always been under the impression that it was largely a commodity product with the various additives largely being used to help differentiate from a branding standpoint and not actually doing much.
- ams6110 10y ago
  There is basically no difference in gasoline brands. They all buy from the same area wholesalers. Some may vary on ethanol percentage and other additives but generally it's nothing significant.
  - rconti 10y ago
    Back when I lived in WA, Arco was the "cheap gas" because they used the winter 10% ethanol blend (== less power and less fuel economy) year-round, whereas 'good' gas stations switched to ethanol-free in the summer. Now that I live in CA, everyone does 10% ethanol anyway. More and more it's hard to find non-ethanol gas anywhere. Supposedly the top tier brands use 'better' detergents, but I'd say the differences in brands are smaller than ever.
- walrus01 10y ago
  In many major areas there are only one or two refineries anyways - it all comes from the same place and is rebranded. Sometimes with a tiny percentage of some special fuel additive poured in when they fill the gas station's tanks. For example in western WA there is Cherry Point or Anacortes. ARCO gas comes from the same place that refines petrol and diesel for 5 other major brands in the area.
syedkarim 10y ago
There's no such thing as top tier fuel. Gas is bought off the spot market, just like orange juice. The quality of Arco's product on any given day could be identical to that of Chevron/Shell/more-expensive-name-brand.
- danieltillett 10y ago
  There is such a thing as old gas which you don’t want in your car’s engine.
  - onion2k 10y ago
    You probably don't want to use fuel that's been sitting in a jerry can for years, but is that concern really applicable to gas stations? Surely even the worst of them would turn over their entire stock in a matter of days, so you'll never be buying particularly old fuel.
    - danieltillett 10y ago
      Yes you are right - I was just making the point that gas is not all equivalent.