In buying $600 worth of Subway Cards (12 x $50 each) I earned 12 free premium foot long subs on my journey. The power of spending should always be investigated for what rewards may come.

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On my year-long road trip I vowed not to spend much money on the food at the Ballparks.  I ended up only spending around $250 for 224 Games on the road.  So where did I eat?

If I wasn’t at a home base somewhere, or at a free breakfast from a hotel, it was usually Subway, Wendy’s, Walmart (yep, they have food too), McDonalds, Burger King or Little Caesars Pizza.

Since I didn’t want to enter the USA with a wad of cash the several times I took entrance at the borders, my wallet was stacked with Gift cards from these establishments.

I also downloaded all of their apps on my mobile phone to look for deals.

Subway was the clubhouse leader for meals eaten.  I bought 12 – $50 gift cards from this restaurant for this journey.  Check with your local chain, but every time I did this I was able to secure a free foot long premium sandwich.

My food bill was saved a great deal by eating 12 meals on Subway just for buying $50 gift card on a dozen different occasions.

I am fortunate that buying gift cards in Canada also translates into the Gift Card network working at all of these establishment in the USA.  I tried to use a Walmart gift card in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that I purchased in Washington State, and was out of luck.

For several of the places like Wendy’s, Taco Bell and McDonalds, you can buy these gift cards at most Walmart’s and Safeway’s in both Canada and the USA.

I was able to make some free airmiles off these in Canada.

Downloading the apps was a no-brainer.  McDonalds offers you a free sandwich just to do this, but it also puts you in line for great other deals.  If you are in Washington, and the Nats score 6 runs in any game, that app is good for 6 chicken nugget the next day.

Burger King was strong with deals under  $5 as well.  My favorite deal used was 2 original chicken sandwiches and 2 small fries just for $4.99.

Taco Bell routinely gave a $2 off purchases over $10 or more on their Gift Cards, and you could convert the cards into your profile.  This enables you to place an order and pick up without waiting. I used this at the Taco Bell at Wrigley Field – and averted a brutal 30 minute wait.

Walmart cards are good to have in any town.  Particularly if you stay at a hotel that has a kitchenette.  No I did not have any free offers from them, but isn’t carrying cards a lot easier than cash always?  It is also easier to monitor category spending on the trip then too.

Little Caesars Pizza gift cards were not operational for chains nationwide, but by buying the card early, it gave me a buffer in the state of Washington, to return with some money towards my food.

To round out my trip, I also bought gasoline cards from ARCO.  These were limited to just Washington, Oregon and California, but also saved time, and again from carrying excess cash.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

I am happy to be back at the helm of the MLB Reports, after completing my record 224 Games in the MLB Trip in 2015.  It was the 4th time I have seen all 30 MLB Parks since 2008. 

During that time away I was fortunate to do 100 Media Interviews and be named the Baseball Blogger Alliance President.

Interview on CSN Philly during the month of July.

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