Crave Chick-fil-A? This college track team bought a plane ticket to get some

The only restaurant location was in the local airport, beyond security.

February 23, 2020, 9:36 PM

Sometimes you have a food craving that you'll do anything to satisfy.

That's what happened to members of the cross country track team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, on Saturday.

The team, which had the week off, decided they wanted to celebrate with lunch from the popular chain restaurant Chick-fil-A, Albany ABC affiliate WTEN reported.

The only trouble: The closest Chick-fil-A is at least an hour and and a half from campus.

The team knew of a Chick-fil-A located in nearby Albany Airport -- but the restaurant sits beyond the security checkpoint.

PHOTO: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute senior Vincent Putrino exits the security area of Albany Airport after purchasing a one-way plane ticket in order to get lunch for 18 cross country teammates at the airport's Chick-fil-A restaurant, Feb. 22, 2020.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute senior Vincent Putrino, the captain of the school's cross country track team, exits the security area of Albany Airport after purchasing a one-way plane ticket in order to get lunch for his 18 teammates at the airport's Chick-fil-A restaurant, Feb. 22, 2020.
Ryan Morrison

So team captain Vincent Putrino hatched a plan. The RPI senior figured if the whole team pooled their money, they could buy a cheap one-way plane ticket to get him past security so he could get lunch for the group.

The cheapest flight Putrino found was a one-way ticket to Fort Lauderdale for $98, so the 18 team members pitched in $5.50 apiece and Putrino bought the ticket at the airport counter, then passed through security.

At the airport Chick-fil-A he filled his teammate's orders, which amounted to 15 chicken sandwiches, 15 large fries, 13 orders of chicken nuggets, a bag of cookies, and a lemonade. He drove the food back to campus and the team enjoyed its hard-earned feast.

The total bill? $227.28 plus the price of the plane ticket that made it possible -- all of which came out to about $18 for each team member.

A small price to pay to satisfy a food craving.