After a recent debacle about its Date Night Passes selling out in seconds, Applebee’s is trying to make amends with its customers.
The restaurant chain confirmed to TODAY.com that it will be adding 1,000 more Date Night Passes, which gives cardholders 52 “date nights.” Yes, the home of the Dollarita has heard the complaints of so many on social media dissatisfied about the initial rollout and wants to make up before Valentine’s Day.
“The Applebee’s Date Night Pass™ showed us that our guests are hungry for date night at Applebee’s with the passes selling out in less than a minute to guests in more than 40 states,” an Applebee’s spokesperson tells TODAY.com. “We know our loyal guests were craving more of the exclusive passes. So we wanted to show them the love by offering 1,000 additional Date Night Passes which will be made available for purchase via a random drawing.”
Applebee’s $200 Date Night Passes started working on Feb. 1, remain usable until Jan. 31, 2025 and allow cardholders to get up to $30 worth of food and nonalcoholic beverages during each use, either for dine-in or to-go. This means passholders can receive more than $1,500 in Applebee’s items for the $200 price of the pass.
Applebees says folks will be able to register to participate in a random drawing for a chance to purchase one of the new passes from Feb. 5 — 9 by visiting the Applebee’s Date Night Pass entry website. The 1,000 lucky winners drawn will be notified by Applebee’s on Feb. 14 with details to purchase a pass of their own.
Applebee’s released its original Date Night Passes on Jan. 22 and they sold out in literal seconds, so customers shared their exasperation with the rollout on social media.
There was also widespread backlash online about the campaign, with many posts on X, Reddit, TikTok and Instagram theorizing that the brand used the Date Night Pass for “free social media publicity,” or that it was a “date and switch scam.”Here’s hoping for a rollout as smooth as the filling in a Triple Chocolate Meltdown this go-round.
