Subway is reviving a reputation many purchasers haven’t heard in additional than 20 years.
The sandwich chain simply relaunched Sub Membership, a well known and in style fast-food loyalty program from the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. Sub Membership resulted in 2005.
The unique idea was easy: Purchase three footlong sandwiches and get one free. Sadly, the paper playing cards have been straightforward to counterfeit, which is one motive the corporate shut down this system.
This time there are not any punch playing cards; the brand new program was designed for the digital period.
The restaurant chain is searching for methods to lure again longtime prospects after a tumultuous couple of years, and enjoying on the nostalgia of the Sub Membership is one tactic.
In 2024 alone, Subway shuttered 631 U.S. places, marking the eighth straight 12 months of internet closures, based on an April 2025 report in QSR.
The brand new program launched on December 1, 2025, and it’s just about equivalent to the outdated program. Prospects who be a part of Subway’s new Sub Membership will get a free footlong sandwich after buying three footlongs (or six 6-inch subs).
The model describes the provide in a information launch as its most beneficiant loyalty incentive ever, because it successfully quantities to a 25% reward fee for normal prospects.
Subway is bringing again a well-liked loyalty program.
Subway
Subway relying on nostalgia to entice longtime prospects
The relaunch is a part of a broader technique to strengthen buyer retention and win again value-driven diners utilizing the model’s in style loyalty program.
“Our top priority as we rebuilt Sub Club was to reduce the number of visits needed to earn something of real value,” Subway’s Chief Advertising Officer for North America Dave Skena informed Restaurant Dive.
The corporate additionally confirmed that present Subway loyalty membership members who’re a part of its MVP Rewards program might be robotically transitioned into the revived Sub Membership.
To get free sandwiches, prospects join by way of the Subway app, web site, or in-store, and their purchases are tracked robotically — no extra misplaced playing cards or stamp sheets falling aside in wallets. From the corporate’s perspective, counterfeiting is subsequent to unimaginable.
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Members additionally earn factors on each buy that may be transformed into “Subway Cash” for future reductions. The corporate is layering normal loyalty perks on high of the brand new footlong reward construction, together with a free birthday cookie and unique promotional entry.
The relaunch comes throughout a turbulent time within the funds lunch section. Quick-food prospects are more and more worth delicate. A number of main restaurant chains have leaned closely into loyalty programs and offers — together with McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell — as customers commerce down or shift between manufacturers based mostly on perceived worth.
Quick-food menu costs have outpaced nationwide inflation yearly since 2014. That is based on analysis from Crews Financial institution & Belief, whose Quick Meals Inflation Chart tags the McDonald’s McChicken sandwich for its notably fast-growing worth, which has elevated round 200% over 10 years.
Subway’s place is extra difficult. It has greater than 20,000 U.S. places, however its visitors patterns have been inconsistent lately because the chain tried a menu overhaul, retailer remodels, and a rebranding effort.
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A four-visit freebie is unusually aggressive for a nationwide chain, a reality not misplaced on franchisees. Some Subway operators have raised issues that the reward construction might minimize into already tight margins, particularly in high-cost markets, based on Restaurant Enterprise.
Actually, practically 100% of feedback on this system on the corporate’s inside web site expressed frustration with the advantages of this system, arguing that as designed, this system is financially unstable, based on the report.
“Buy 3 get 1 free is financial suicide,” one franchisee wrote.
That stress highlights Subway’s problem: providing compelling worth with out eroding unit-level economics.
What the Subway Sub Membership may imply for the model over the subsequent 12-18 months
Sub Membership’s return could also be nostalgic, however it’s additionally a strategic guess. Analysts count on it to have an effect on Subway’s efficiency within the coming 12 months and a half.
Free loyalty packages like Sub Membership can improve spending, based on a 2023 report on loyalty packages revealed by consulting firm McKinsey. McKinsey discovered that visit-based packages can elevate buy frequency by as much as 40% amongst “value-sensitive” prospects.
A free-every-fourth-footlong reward is richer than most competitor packages, and the deal construction encourages prospects to return rapidly. Subway may see a elevate in lunch visitors within the first three months as prospects check the brand new system.
Subway hopes prospects will order extra usually
The mechanics of this system encourage behavior formation. Prospects who would possibly usually go to twice a month might improve frequency to achieve the free-footlong threshold. Different QSRs that adopted comparable visit-based buildings have seen upticks in repeat frequency — precisely what Subway must drive sustained progress.
Maybe crucial metric received’t be sandwich redemptions — it will likely be app downloads and utilization.
Subway’s 20,000-plus U.S. places imply that even a small shift towards digital ordering may have a big affect.
Introducing a loyalty program can result in an 18%-30% improve in spend and go to frequency amongst program members, based on QSR.
Subway’s struggles: a timeline
- 2015: Subway peaks at roughly 27,000 U.S. places.
Supply: QSR Journal - 2015–2024: Subway loses round 7,600 U.S. shops, a drop of practically 28% from the height.
Supply: QSR Journal - 2024: Subway closes 631 U.S. places, leaving 19,502 shops. It’s the primary time in years that the shop rely is lower than 20,000.
Supply: CNN - 2024: Common unit quantity rises 1% to $490,000, whereas menu costs improve round 4%, signaling declining visitors.
Supply: Restaurant Enterprise On-line - 2024: U.S. systemwide gross sales fall 3.8%; rising prices make many franchisees unprofitable.
Supply: Deep Analysis International - December 2025: Subway relaunches Sub Membership — free footlong after three purchases — aiming to spice up loyalty and repeat visits.
Supply: Subway
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