A Group Of College Kids Bought The Cheapest Plane Ticket They Could Find Just So They Could Buy $227 Worth Of Chick-Fil-A At An Airport

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When I was growing up in New England, I was constantly bombarded by a variety of Sonic commercials where two guys in a car engage in some delightful banter with each other while chowing down on the chain’s newest menu items. However, I never actually had a chance to try any of them because the company had neglected to open any restaurants in the Northeast despite paying for ample amounts of ad time in the region.

It took me a couple of decades, but last year, I finally got to try their offerings for the first time and was lucky enough to talk to someone familiar with their marketing strategy, who informed me it’s A) cheaper to pay for commercials on a national scale and B) that they generate so much interest that the police are called on to ensure everything goes smoothly whenever a new location opens in an underserved area.

There are plenty of fast food chains that are largely located in certain geographic areas, and if you’re like me, the first thing you do when you land at LAX is have whoever picks you up stop at the In-N-Out next to the airport so you can grab a Double-Double and some Animal-Style fries.

It’s been almost 75 years since the first Chick-fil-A opened in Georgia, and while the majority of their 2,363 stores are concentrated in the southeastern United States, they’ve slowly and steadily been expanding their empire.

However, there’s currently a severe lack of stores in upstate New York, and as a result, a group of students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was forced to improvise when they got a craving for some fried goodness only to discover the closest location was a 90-minute drive away from campus.

However, there is a Chick-fil-A located inside Albany International Airport, and according to ABC7, they looked at all of their options and decided the best course of action would be to purchase a plane ticket with the sole intention of getting past security to get their hands on the prize.

After securing the cheapest ticket they could find—a $98 flight to Fort Lauderdale—RPI cross country captain Vincent Putrino made it to the promised land and dropped a total of $227 on the following order:

  • 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches
  • 15 large fries
  • 156 Chick-fil-A nuggets
  • One bag of cookies
  • One lemonade

I have never respected any hustle more than this one.

Connor Toole avatar and headshot for BroBible
Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.