The Real Reason Chick-Fil-A Will Never Have Discounts, According To Reddit

There's a lot of things you never see at Chick-fil-A. You've probably never seen big, flashy menu items that seem to be carbon copies of other restaurant's items. Unlike the famous McDonald's Monopoly marketing stunts, there's never been any board game-themed promotions to lure in customers like a Chick-fil-A Yahtzee or a Chick-fil-A Pictionary. In fact, as far as you know, you've never seen anything with value meals, bundle boxes or other discounts that are so commonplace in the world of fast food. 

If Chick-fil-A is so popular, wouldn't they get more customers with some kind of rewards system? It would seem like a surefire way to boost their popularity and have those eager chicken fans buying like crazy. One could easily note McDonald's own reward system as a base model for how it could work. Launched in July of 2021 (via CNBC), the gist of the McDonalds Loyalty Program is that for every item purchased at McDonald's, the customer will earn a set amount of points which can be cashed in later for free items or discounts. With over 21 million customers already signed up to the digital loyalty program (via QSR Magazine), it's certainly a viable option to draw in customers. But according to some Reddit users, the idea of Chick-fil-A giving away free sandwiches and waffle fries is nothing but a beautiful fool's dream. 

But what exactly keeps Chick-fil-A away from discounts or reward programs — and us away from Buy One, Get One Free sandwich options?

"Chick fil A needs to take notes from MCDs for having discounts through their app not just points." said Redditor MvCSpiderman on the Reddit forum r/ChickFilA. Noting the rise in prices over the last few months due to the supply chain shortage and the general slightly higher cost of Chick-fil-A compared to other chains, MvCSpiderman questioned why the chicken chain wouldn't consider adding discount programs, such as "two free waffle fries with 15-piece nugget purchase" and other combo values.

Other users, while no doubt agreeing that an idea would be wonderful, argued that it was a matter of pride more than it is about offering free food. "I'm in sales and our management always uses Chick-fil-A as an example of why we don't discount," stated user tkdeano. "They'd rather give something away for free, than lower the cost because a discount lowers a person's perception of the value of the product," they continued. Another user, a former employee of Chick-fil-A, explained that the company doesn't give discounts as they believe their product to be both high-quality and sensibly priced. 

While Chick-fil-A's "Chick-fil-A One" loyalty program does give rewards in theory for purchasing Chick-fil-A, Redditors have noticed that the rewards seem to be lacking, either due to supply chain issues or perhaps being not as extravagant as other reward programs out on the market. So for now, unless something changes, the idea of free Chick-fil-A remains out of our grasp.