My brand of choice is Shell. For any readers here who are not Canadian, my other choices are Petro-Canada, Esso, Mobil, Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, and Costco. Some places in Canada also have Texaco, Chevron, Ultramar, and Sinclair, but not in Alberta. I didn't mention any brands that aren't considered top-tier.
Why Shell? I like the logo. No, but seriously, I guess I drank the koolaid that suggested Shell made better gas. Their commercials always went on and on about how their gasoline was formulated with the best detergents and based on racing fuel. It's nitrogen enriched! I'm sure they aren't the only ones, but they said it first. V-Power! Shell was also the first brand to suggest that they are getting oil in the most ethical way possible. So, free-range gas, if you will. By the way, if you want a good laugh, search YouTube for old Shell commercials. But seriously - free range gas...... isn't that hilarious? [tap.. tap] Is this thing on?
But the most influential thing that kept me with Shell is the Air Miles rewards program. Shell gives Air Miles for purchases. I collect them. There's a reason the Air Miles parent company is called Loyalty Inc. What made buying Shell gas even better, for a while anyway, was the tag you could get. If you registered with them and gave them your credit card info, they sent you a chip-embedded RFID key tag that you used to pay for your gas. Tap, fill, done. Then they took the tag away. That was very disappointing. So, did I leave Shell?
Nope. Now I insert the credit card, tell it how much gas I plan to buy (for pre-authorization), plug in a PIN number, wait for authorization, remove the credit card, insert my Air Miles card, and only then can I start pumping gas. First world problems.
I still buy Shell whenever I can and fly a few free flights from time to time. Trivia: Jiffy Lube is owned by Shell. So is Pennzoil.
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