Petrol prices hiked over the holidays: fact or fiction?
There's an enduring myth that greedy petrol companies take advantage of long weekend drivers’ need to fill up.
But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says its analysis of prices for our five largest cities shows there’s no link between any increases and holidays. So the amount you’ll pay for petrol this Easter will have more to do with the existing price cycle than any holiday conspiracies.
But given these cycles have grown longer and more unpredictable, as sudden 35c a litre increases recently in Adelaide show, how is a driver meant to know the best time to fill up?
In short, how do we get some better intelligence about who is charging what, when and where, so we can buy at the bottom of the market?
New research shows that generally we’re actually spending less on petrol than we used to a few years ago. But what happens when predicted global pressures tip petrol prices higher yet again and the handy $50 a month we are currently enjoying in bowser savings starts to evaporate?
You can still save by using various websites and motoring organisations to find out the cheapest petrol in your area.
Also, be prepared for a wave of new smartphone apps to give you more helpful and up-to-date data about those pesky price changes.
Due to a deal between one of the key providers of this data to the industry and the ACCC, much of the price information will be available to consumers via a predicted 20-30 apps.
The managing director of Informed Choices, Alan Cadd, has said media companies, insurers and comparison sites all want to use the data to put out apps pointing to the lowest priced petrol.
And he estimates a diligent driver who uses the apps can save $200 a year compared with the average $100 a determined driver can pocket by trying to follow the price cycle without inside knowledge.
So in short be in long weekends or business as usual we consumers are going to be armed with more data than ever to chase down the cheapest petrol.
While those one-third of drivers who don’t bother themselves with chasing lower prices are unlikely to get too excited it’s going to be fascinating how the rest of us engage with these new opportunities to save.
