What you can do
A lightweight consumer web app that auto-builds the cheapest weekly fueling plan by cross-referencing live local gas prices, route patterns, and discount stackables from loyalty programs and credit cards, then alerts users when and where to fill up.
Why this is smart
Volatile oil, disrupted Hormuz shipping, and policy uncertainty are pushing retail gas prices up and swinging daily. Households are budget-sensitive and politically frustrated, heightening demand for immediate, practical savings. A solo-built planner that aggregates public gas price feeds, maps commute routes, and stacks loyalty and card rewards offers quick, tangible relief and spreads virally in affected regions without inventory or regulation risk.
How to start
- Validate demand with a simple landing page showing savings calculator for a user’s ZIP and commute; collect emails and card/loyalty programs used.
- Integrate a public gas price API and Google Maps routing to estimate weekly fuel needs based on commute and errands; surface cheapest nearby stations along actual drive times, not radius-only.
- Scrape and maintain a database of major fuel loyalty programs and rotating credit card category multipliers; build a rule engine to stack discounts and compute net price per gallon per station.
- Ship MVP as a mobile-friendly web app with email/SMS alerts when a cheaper fill-up appears on a user’s route or when a new stackable deal activates.
- Onboard users via Reddit, Facebook local groups, and Nextdoor in high-variance markets; partner with personal finance creators for affiliate trials to loyalty apps and gas cash-back extensions.