Subway hands AU$2,664 gift card to consumer fined by Australian airport security for chicken sub

Subway has stepped up to reimburse an Australian consumer who was fined AU$2,664 (SG$2,542) for bringing a half-eaten foot-long Subway sandwich into Australia, and failing to disclose it to the airport security. This was deemed a violation of Australia’s biosecurity regulations. According to a TikTok video posted by the consumer on 1 July 2022, she explained that she had brought in a half-eaten foot-long Subway sandwich with her on the plane from Singapore to Australia, but eventually forgot about her sandwich. As such when she arrived in Australia, which is known for its strict border inspections, she forgot to disclose two of its ingredients – chicken and lettuce.

Australian immigration officers discovered her meal after she and her companion were subjected to further searches. The consumer added that she did not think the declaration form included pre-purchased food that was not in her luggage. After her video was posted, it garnered over 138,000 likes and 1200 comments and led to a ‘wholesome’ interaction between cheeky pizza chain Domino’s Australia and Subway Australia in the consumer’s video comments section.

In fact, urging Subway to help her, Domino’s Australia tagged the brand, to which Subway Australia replied, “we’re on it.”

Rising to the challenge, Subway then decided to reimburse the consumer the exact amount. On 18 July, the same consumer posted a video update on her TikTok showing her unpacking a box of merchandise that contained a gift card worth AU$2,664. The box of merchandise she received also included a tumbler, hat, pens, shoelaces, scrunchie, stickers, bottle opener, socks, cardholder, cookie key chain, playing cards, and a note card. Subway wrote in the card: 

“To say thank you for eating fresh, we’ve uploaded a Sub card with A$2,664 just for you. We hope this covers all your chicken and lettuce needs. Love, from your Subway fans.”

Since then, many of the comments left under her video were of admiration for the subway brand with many complimenting the brand on the move. Domino’s also commented with clapping emojis under the video.