Back in the early 2010s, Subway was my favorite fast food restaurant. I would hit up a specific location in Missoula for a $5 footlong on a weekly basis. But the chain eventually hit tough times and prices went up. By the time the early 2020s rolled around, it wasn’t uncommon to pay $12 for a Subway footlong.

Way back in 2013 when Subway was a great value.

As you can imagine, our family stopped going to Subway.

But then we started receiving a sheet of coupons each week in the mail. It was a mailer sent by a group of Subway restaurants in the Spokane area for discounted sandwiches within its restaurants. Lucky for us, one of the participating Subways is located within walking distance from our house. The best coupon on the sheet for a family of four was an offer of three footlong sandwiches for $19.99.

This coupon came in handy a lot for us.

Although not equivalent to the $5 footlong price of the early 2010s, it did equal out to $6.66 per sandwich. Sid and I could each get our own and we would split the third sandwich between Sloan and Beau.

Nothing wrong with a dinner under $20, right?

The other day, Beau and I walked to get the mail. When I opened our box, the trusty sheet of Subway coupons was waiting for us. I grabbed the deals and started walking home while Beau led on his scooter. I looked down at the sheet and despite the formatting and layout of the mailer looking the exact same as it has for the past couple years, something else was obviously different: the prices.

A look at the difference in prices between the March 2025 coupon sheet and the April 2025 coupon sheet.

The coupon price for a 6” sub was a $1 more. Same for the coupon price of a single footlong. But price hikes for the other specials were either triple or quadruple those increases. For example, the original coupon price for two footlongs ($13.99) had jumped three bucks to $16.99. And the coupon price for the three footlongs we used for picnics, Saturday nights, and last-minute dinners?…

From $19.99 to $23.99!

The price jump was rather disappointing.

I have said before that I understand price hikes, especially in our country’s current economic climate. But I also believe that increases should occur in a controlled and transparent manner. The 20% price increase—even though it is technically still a discount—seems too severe. Again, I get the times we were in, but some type of a note either on the previous month’s coupon sheet or this month’s coupon sheet recognizing the increases would have gone a long way with me.

I know it is “just” a $4 difference. But psychologically, it is too much for me to handle. Like I said, I felt good about paying under $20 for dinner but now the same amount of food is priced much closer to $25. But even more problematic is the fact that a Subway sandwich sold at a unit price of $8 (with the new coupon price applied) simply isn’t worth the money—the sub simply isn’t good enough. #SorryNotSorry.

I think I am going to take a break from eating Subway sandwiches.

Again, call me a cheapskate, but for the time being this is a deal breaker for me. Don’t Blink.