Raffle-Tickets.us Blog

I had the opportunity to attend another Chick-Fil-A Grand Opening on Wednesday and walked away with 52 combo meal coupons!  I love this restaurant.  They are marketing geniuses because they have effectively created hundreds and thousands of Chick-Fil-A fanatics.  I am one of them.

Dan Cathy - CEO of Chick-Fil-A, Son of Founder Truett Cathy

I went to my first opening almost 3 years ago now.  It was in Anderson Township, where I live.  Back then, people didn’t know much about the promotion, but the first 100 people in line get free chicken for a year.  At that opening, I think the final spot was filled up at around 7pm the night before.  I got in, camped out for the night, and walked away with my first batch of coupons.  Since then, I’ve attended over 10 openings all within a 4 hour driving radius.  As time has gone on, awareness has sharply increased.  Chick-Fil-A always open their restaurants on a Thursday morning.  It got to the point where we would camp out on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights in order to get the chicken we so deeply love.

Now, however, a new rule is in place.  If more than 100 people are in line 24 hours before the opening, the powers in charge hold a raffle for all who are present.  So, now, you don’t control your own destiny.  You show up to get a raffle ticket and hope that you get picked.  My group of friends still go in bunches.  We figure we’ll get as many as we can and split among ourselves.  Still a decent deal.

So, this last opening was in Richmond, KY, where Eastern Kentucky University is.  We got up and left at 3:30am on Wednesday morning in order to be there for the raffle.  This is apparently the strategy of many now.  There were about 75 in line when we drove up at 5:45 am.  There were about 180 at 6:10 when the raffle began.

Mama Sue, a famous Chick-Fil-A worker, funneled us all into the restaurant where we were given tickets to write our names on.  They all got dropped in a bucket, and we waited anxiously.  If you’ve ever sat through a raffle, you know that your mind goes through all kinds of thoughts.  I always try to have low expectations, but you can’t help but hope!  After 30 names were called we were 0-30.  With ten of us there, we figured we should get 6-7 statistically.  Then, we started popping.  Statistics caught up with us, and we had 7 called with just a few left.  I was one of three not called until Glory Be, I was selected at #98!  My friend Josh got called at #99, and we were up to 9-10.  Turns out, they gave away 110 instead of 100 and our final friend got called at #107, a perfect 10-10!

Us Playing Ninja at the Chick Fil A Grand Opening

We enjoyed the day after that, and were amazed by our luck.  On Thursday morning at 6:30 am, we all set off for home with 52 coupons in hand.  Another great Chick-Fil-A success!

EAT MORE CHICKEN!!!!

There aren’t many better feelings than winning a raffle.  Some people seem to be luckier than others in this category, but if you are on the winning side, it’s a great feeling.  Ask anyone who has ever played even a scratch of lottery ticket.  If you win something, you do a little jig and are grinning from ear to ear.  This last week, I won a raffle that was worth over $300.  Let me set the scene.

If you didn’t know, Chick-fil-A restaurants have huge celebrations for their grand openings.  The first 100 people in line win free Chick-fil-A for a year.  Translated, you get 52 combo meal coupons, which adds up to over $300.  The first time I learned about this was when our community had a Chick-fil-A move in almost 3 years ago now.  I saw the balloons and blown up cow that day, and after inquiring, I had packed a bag to camp out over night and win some free chicken!  3 years ago, it was easy to make it in this line, but with increased saturation in our area, you have to camp out earlier and earlier. 

So, when a Chick-fil-A opened in Mason, OH last week, we went to camp out 2 whole nights before the store opened!!!  There was a woman there who gave out stickers to everyone who showed up early, but it was an unofficial counting.  When the official employees showed up 24 hours before the store opening, there were over 200 people there waiting in line!  After some deliberation, the Chick-fil-A employee stated that everyone was going to get a raffle ticket, despite if you had been there earlier than others.  For my 13 friends and I, we were completely disheartened because we were all in the first 100.  

So, everyone got a red raffle ticket.  The stub went into a container and they started drawing.  Normally in these situations, I resolve in my mind that I am not going to win so as not to get my hopes up.  Just when this process was completing in my head, my ticket number was called at #34.  Woo hoo!  Just as I said, I did a little jig and went to register for my free chicken.  

Do you have a similar story?  Have you ever won a raffle?  Tell us about it.