Credit Card Confusion
By Morley Hunt
@Morleyhunt (21741)
Canada
January 8, 2017 7:50pm CST
When my husband and i travel in the United States we usually pay for our gasoline with a credit card.
Pay at the Pump or Pay before you pump seems to be the order of the day in the US. In Canada, we can pump our gasoline and then proceed to the kiosk to pay for our purchase.
Our credit cards are also equipped with a PIN for those times we wish to Pay at the Pump.
In the US they don't recognize our PIN and want up to enter our ZIP Code. Unfortunately we don"t have a ZIP Code, and our Postal Code is a combination of letters and numerals.
At a service station along the interstate highway, one of the gas pumps had a sticker, explaining how to create our "Canadian ZIP Code".
My memory tends to be short. I took a photograph of the sticker so i could use this method everywhere we travel.
For those Canadian who are skeptics.....it does work.
9 people like this
9 responses
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
9 Jan 17
here in my place, there are gasoline boys who put the gasoline in the car's tank. then we pay them while receipts are done by the cashier
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
At one time that was the norm here as well. Now most gas stations are self serve.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
10 Jan 17
@Morleyhunt if we have to pump our own gasoline, then maybe there will be more who have no jobs.
1 person likes this
@Morethanamom (1948)
• Canada
10 Jan 17
We hardly go over the river, but when we do, I generally pay cash for our gas. I should note this for future reference.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (117206)
• El Paso, Texas
9 Jan 17
I usually get gas at Costco so all I need to do is use the member card then the credit card, no zip needed.
I haven't pumped gas outside of the club in a long time so I was unaware that a zip code would be required.
Is it possible you could call the creditor and have them create a zip code to use when in the US?
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
We do have a "US Zip Code". We take the numbers from our Postal Code and add 00 to the end . The instructions are posted on some of the gas pumps that are on common routes near the Canadain border.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19701)
• India
9 Jan 17
@Morleyhunt As it works,there is no problem for you ,I suppose.From yesterday,the pumps here will not allow us to pay with Debit cards,they want only cash.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
If they let me pump my gas and then pay for it....I'm okay with that. But when I pay before I pump...I don't know how much the tank will hold. The begins the wait to pay.......pump....wait to get my change......there are not many full service stations around.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
9 Jan 17
That's an interesting way to be able to pay at the pump. Good to know it works.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
Once we found those instructions life became much simpler.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (148720)
• Roseburg, Oregon
9 Jan 17
We have to pay first because there are to many people that get the gas and drive away. I am glad that there is a way for Canadian to use a zip code to get gas.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
We knew there had to be a 'work around', it just took us a while to find it.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
9 Jan 17
What a great idea to take that photo. I had no idea Canadians had such problems traveling here.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
Many of the banks are now offering Visa/Debit cards to make them acceptable in the US. It makes it simpler. They can also be used for online transactions.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Jan 17
It's good you took a photo of the instructions. I would never have remembered that. And even better that the instructions actually work!
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
9 Jan 17
It's quite simple and usually I only need to look at the instructions once each time we vacation/travel in the US.
1 person likes this
