How to Get Free McDonald's French Fries All Month

Adam Campbell-Schmitt
Updated
Forget pumpkin spice, September is all about fried potatoes.

There’s a hotly contested notion in the fast food world as to whether McDonald’s French fries are the best in the business. Some people believe the chain sets the standard while others extoll the virtues of Wendy’s, In-N-Out, and other outlets. Regardless of whether Mickey D’s fries are the best, this month they’re certainly the cheapest. Free, in fact.

The key to this deal—and many deals lately—is the ongoing push by restaurants to get you to download their proprietary app. Such is the case with Starbucks’ Happy Hour deals, Dairy Queen’s free Blizzard promotion, and Burger King’s recent DoorDash-based free delivery deal. McDonald’s is no exception, offering a string of discounted items exclusively to users of its own app. But additionally, the Golden Arches is promoting another convenience service along with the lure of free French fries: Apple Pay.

Here’s how it works:

First, you must have the McDonald’s mobile app downloaded and your account set up. Secondly, you must also have an active Apple Pay account which you’ll use to complete your order (so basically this is an iPhone-users deal only). Thirdly, you can access the promotion—a free medium French fries—via the app’s deals section. From there you’ll need to place a mobile order totaling at least $1 (and, of course, pay for it with Apple Pay) for the French fries to be included with your order at absolutely no (additional) cost to you. As Thrillist points out, the promotion is good once a day all month long, through September 30, meaning you still have a few weeks full of free fries ahead of you. Additionally, McDonald's had run a similar French fries offer on Fridays this summer.

Currently, other McDonald’s app offers include a one-cent McCafe beverage (not including drip or iced coffee) when you purchase a medium or large McCafe item, and a deal of a free soft drink when you make at least a $1 purchase on Thursdays this month.

And if you happen to be near one of 50 lucky McDonald’s restaurants in Florida, you could spend that $1 minimum on one of four new international items which have just hit the menu as a test-run in the U.S.