Guam Day 46 - Shell Station Fill up + How To

3/30/2022 - I overheard a funny conversation today at the local shell station, a couple of newbie Guam visitors pondered inside the station, "How do I fill up with gas?" The shell stations on the island are not self service at the pump, unlike the other stations on the island like the mobile, or super k. The only way to get gas at the Shell is to have an attendant pump the gas for you, and to do that you have to pay inside prior to having them pump the gas. In my mind this is a throwback type of experience, something not seen on the mainland for decades. Interestingly though, there is no way to know that this is how the station works without fumbling through it and having to go in and ask the attendant. Not great UX, but it is good service once you figure it out. 

The other perk Joan and I have found for using Shell on the island are these discount cards. The grocery store chain Cost U Less, like a Costco, provides a stack of these cards to you every time you check out. Something like every 30 or 40 dollars you spend gets you a discount. The catch is you have to buy 30 dollars in gas to get the five dollar savings, for our Mazda 3 this is about half a tank of fuel, so we end up filling up way more often than we would normally using a full tank. With the fuel economy we are getting, this results in about a dollar less per gallon, pretty good deal for something that is basically a free give away. The more you know, if you were ever to visit Guam!