️ Earn on groceries, save on gas

Happy road-tripping Wednesday, my friends.

Unfortunately, the only road trip I’m taking this week is to the grocery store to get more Kleenex, since I'm suffering through the cold of all colds. 🤧 

 So with that in mind, we’re a little short and sweet this week.

• 🛒  6 months of 5x back on groceries (and tissues)

• ⛽️ Save 20 cents per gallon on Fridays

• 🚗 Where do the Roadtrippers want to go?

• 🛑 Pit Stop Poll: Best time of year to drive

I know I promised more route content, so I did sneak a few aspirational road trips into the Dashboard just for y’all, so head down there to take a look! 👇

🛒 6 months of 5x back on groceries (and tissues)

You guys thought I was kidding about the grocery store road trip, huh? Joke's on you; we have one of the best grocery store chains in the country in my part of Texas.

Good ol’ H-E-B.

They’re the first to help local communities during natural disasters, carry high-quality made-in-Texas products, and their store-brand stuff is truly pretty good.

But I’m trying to hold off on my Kleenex run until tomorrow… because as soon as the calendar hits October, my fave no-annual-fee card will earn 5x back at grocery stores through the end of the year on the first $1,500 spent.

Plus, in the latest card revamp, they’ve announced the rotating categories for Q1 2027 (January-March), which also includes grocery stores. 

That’s 6 months of 5x cash back at my favorite grocery store. 5x back on Creamy Creations ice cream, my favorite tomatillo salsa, and all these dang tissues. 🤧 

If I max out the rewards category – and I usually do when it includes dining or groceries – that’s $75 back for each of the next two quarters. Or $150 total.

The point twist

Buuuut when paired with a card that earns UR points, you can turn that cash back into UR points. So I can earn 15,000 UR points over the next six months just for buying what I was already going to buy. 

Plus, the limited-time offer on this card includes a $250 bonus after you spend $500 in the first three months – which can also be turned into points. And spending $500 on groceries in this economy takes no time at all, y’all. 

That’s 40,000 UR points earned on groceries, thanks to one little no-annual-fee card.

Weekly groceries, holiday meal ingredients, road trip snacks, a year’s worth of Kleenex – get it all at the grocery store to earn 5x UR points starting tomorrow. 

⛽️ Save 20 cents per gallon on Fridays

If you’re an Amazon Prime member, listen up.

Prime partners with Earnify, a rewards app that offers discounts on gas station purchases at select locations and mobile pay at the pump. It actually functions just like the 7/11 Rewards app we talked about earlier this summer.

Earnify replaced the old BPme rewards program, so it only works at BP, Amoco, or participating AMPM or Thorntons gas stations.

Starting October 2nd, Amazon Prime members can save 20 cents a gallon every Friday at select locations through January 29, 2027, during what they’re calling Fuel Up Fridays.

Here’s how to take advantage of this offer:

• Download the Earnify app and create an account

• Link your Amazon Prime account

• Find a participating gas station near you in the app

• Enter your phone number at the pump

• Pump and save 20 cents per gallon Fridays

The good news is, this offer works on all fuel grades, and you aren’t required to spend a certain amount.

The bad news is, the participating locations can be hard to find, IMO. There aren’t any in the app near me, but I could find plenty on the East Coast and up near the Great Lakes. So YMMV with this one.

Pay with the right card

Don’t forget to pay with a card that earns elevated rates on gas purchases to double-dip on this offer. This travel card earns 3x points on gas purchases, as do some of the hotel co-branded cards, like this Marriott card or this IHG card that earns 5x back. Or you can earn 3% cashback with a card like this one.

Bottom line

If you have one of these participating locations near you and are an Amazon Prime member, you could save 20 cents per gallon on Fridays through the end of January 2027. Stack that with a card that earns rewards on gas, and that gas bill suddenly becomes a little less painful.

🚗 Where do the Roadtrippers want to go?

Last week y’all voted on your preferred road-tripping region as inspo for upcoming Roadtrippers, and I’m here to share the results. And because some of y’all are newer, I’ve linked back to regional road trips we’ve covered, just in case you missed them.

Here’s the map we used for reference:

Northwest and Southwest were neck and neck, and, coincidentally, they're also home to some of the most popular national parks.

• For a Colorado itinerary with a touch of Utah, check out this previous newsletter.

• For a trip down the Pacific Coast Highway — don’t miss Roadtripper No. 1

• This fall itinerary hits the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, among other states

• We went all in on this high-intensity drive along the Road to Hana

The Southeast took 3rd:

• This Roadtripper visits Pigeon Forge and Great Smoky Mountains NP

• For some Southeastern beach towns, check out this edition

As for the rest:

• Head here for a coastal Maine road trip

• We recently oohed and ahhed over these fall drives in Michigan 

• Discover these ice cream trails and waterfalls in eastern U.S. states

• These baseball-centric routes span CA, New England, and the Great Lakes

There are a handful more newsletters, but I’ll confess it’s been light on the Midwest and South. A few of you requested the Dakotas, though, so we may have to do a Midwest Roadtripper just for y’all.

As for the South… it needs to cool down a little more here before anyone should consider road-tripping for anything other than necessity. 😂 

🛑 The Pit Stop Poll: Best time of year to drive

🚘 The Dashboard 🚘

Main takeaway from today: H-E-B is awesome; being sick is not.

More road trips, less Kleenex mentions, next week, I promise.

On that note, gotta sneeze again… 🤧 

Aaaahh, ahhhh… Adios!

Katie Begnoche
Writer, Daily Drop
29.7604° N , 95.3698° W

with contributions by .