On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:05:23 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:

>In article >,
> Robert Klute > wrote:
>
>
>> Yes, the gas station does put a hold on the card for an agreed upon
>> amount. I should have been explicit about that, sorry. The agreed upon
>> amount will depend upon the station, as will the amount you can pump.
>> Large chains will sometimes take on some additional risk and allow the
>> customer to pump more than the automatic hold amount.
>
>I'm going to guess that if you own a big rig that customarily takes 100
>gallons at a time, and you go to a fueling station that caters to
>trucks, with the extra wide and extra tall spaces for fueling, that the
>limit isn't US$70 or anything close to that.

Nope, I drive a hybrid. My wife drives a Lexus with a 16 gallon tank
that requires premium. During the last summer's price escalation,
whenever I refilled her tank, it was quite easy for me to hit the $50
limit my local independent had forced on him.

It was the result of talking to the owner of the independent station
that a found out about most of this. The solution, of course, was to
break the transaction up into two purchases; however, it was amazing how
many people got angry over this inconvenience.