The Forgotten Subway Sandwich cost Australian tourists $2664
Jessica Lee went viral on TikTok after telling the story of how a Subway sandwich was fined $2664 upon arrival in Australia.
The world’s most expensive sandwich is a gilded champagne-coated grilled cheese from New York’s Serendipity 3 which retails for $US214 ($311). But one woman ended up paying more than eight times that amount for half of the Subway ride that she forgot to state when she landed in Australia after a stopover in Singapore.
The mistake cost Jessica Lee $2664 and made it go viral on TikTok. Soon, his face was plastered on the news from around the world – his story even got the attention of Subway, which awarded prizes to compensate for the fines.
“Now my family calls me ‘Subway Girl,'” Lee, a 19-year-old Australian content creator, said.
Jessica Lee ate only half of the Subway leg sandwich and saved the rest for later.
The story of how chicken feet with lettuce became “the most expensive sandwich ever,” as Lee puts it, begins when he begins to experience a feeling familiar to many travelers: jet lag like hangover caused by a long-haul flight.
Lee was on his way back from a wonderful holiday in Greece, but his return to Australia on July 1 meant nothing. He and his partner have flown more than 12,000 kilometers in the span of 24 hours. Brain foggy and “very hungry,” says Lee, a stopover in Singapore being a godsend because he can eat.
“I got one foot from the Subway, and we waited so long in line,” Lee said. “Then I asked [the airline representatives] before I got into my connecting flight if I could get it on the plane, and they said it was fine.”
Lee ended up eating half and keeping the rest in his wallet with some chocolates. He forgot about the rest of the sandwiches until agents checked his bag as soon as they landed in Perth. He unchecked the appropriate box on the declaration form – a violation of the Australian Biosafety Act, a law designed to prevent pests and disease from entering the country.
Australia strictly enforces its biosecurity laws. A country known for its diverse landscapes and wildlife wants to remain “free of the world’s most invasive pests and diseases,” according to its Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
“These hams and diseases can disrupt our agricultural industry, our natural environment, and our national economy,” said a spokesman for the department.
That means all travelers and baggage must be checked “with X-ray machines, detection dogs, physical examinations and interrogations.” Incoming passengers are also given a form to “declare any risky goods including food, animal products and plant materials,” according to the agency. Failure to comply can lead to a variety of penalties – including criminal prosecution, visa cancellation or, in Lee’s case, a $2664 fine.
“When the officer saw us and said, ‘Yeah, this is going to be close to three thousand dollars,’ I just started crying and crying,” Lee said.
That night, a mixture of jet lag and anxiety over fines kept Lee from sleeping. So, he describes the ordeal in a TikTok clip “in hopes it doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Within hours, the video had been viewed thousands of times and commented on. As of Wednesday morning, the video had been viewed more than 1.3 million times.
“All my friends and family send me screenshots of news articles, and I just sit there thinking, ‘Like, yeah, I’m actually on the internet for being such an idiot,'” she says with a laugh.
But costly mistakes also come with a silver lining, Lee said.
Domino’s Pizza TikTok account tagged Subway in the video, telling the company to “help it.” Minutes later, someone with an international sandwich franchise reached out to Lee, telling him that “even if they can’t pay the fine, they’d be happy to help,” he said.
Along with a $2664 sandwich voucher, Subway also shipped a package of branded goods, which Lee opened for his followers.
Subway did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the company said in a statement to Food & Wine that “if there is a lesson to be learned from all this, it is to always complete one step in one sitting.”
In addition to the many sandwiches he can now buy, the frenzy has become “a kind of motivation” for the currently unemployed Lee. A month ago, she quit her daycare job to pursue a career in social media.
Despite the risk of becoming a “Subway Girl” meme for good, the episode has inspired Lee to use his new audience to achieve his goals.
“I made a stupid mistake,” he said. “But I was like, ‘You know what? This is going to be the thing that, like, pushes me.’ “
And that, for him, justifies a mistake that costs more than a champagne-covered sandwich.
Washington Post
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