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Olive Garden is bringing back their Never Ending Pasta Pass, with the pass going on sale tomorrow at 2pm ET. This year, in addition to selling 22,000 of the $100 pasta passes, they will be selling 50 Pasta Passport to Italy passes for $200 each that will include an all-expenses paid trip to Italy for 2.
The Deals
- Never Ending Pasta Pass for $100: Good for eight weeks of unlimited servings of pasta, sauces, and toppings from the Never Ending Pasta Bowl menu plus unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks (pass is valid from 9/25/17-11/19/2017. (this is an annual promotion)
- Pasta Passport to Italy for $200: Good for all of the above plus an eight day/seven night all-inclusive trip to Italy from April 7-14, 2018 (dates are not flexible). Trip includes coach airfare, ground transportation, hotel, 3 meals a day, and activities
Key Terms
- Pasta pass is good for dine-in only, no sharing
- Excludes gratuity, alcohol, and anything other than the never ending pasta bowl menu + soup, salad, and breadsticks
- Both passes are non-transferable
- Trip to Italy is only on the specified dates, must be 18+ to purchase and if someone under 18 is your companion, his/her parent/guardian must be on the trip
Quick Thoughts
The never ending pasta pass isn’t a bad deal if you live near an Olive Garden and actually want to eat pasta that often and don’t like cooking. In other words, it’s not a great deal for most people as the never ending pasta bowl is usually $10. That means you would have to go more often than once a week during the promotional period just to break even. Some would say you would need to go much more often to come out ahead versus just buying $100 worth of pasta and sauce, though remember that you do also get unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks for what that’s worth to you.
The real draw here is a an all-inclusive trip to Italy for 2 for $200. Of course, with only 50 of those available, it’s probably only slightly more likely than hitting the Powerball, at least you only pay if you’re a winner. I certainly plan to throw my hat in the ring as Baby Reyes should be about 3 months old at that point – perfect time for his first trip to Italy. Here’s hoping the travel agency responsible for buying the tickets purchases an upgradeable fare class :-).
Are you going to give this a shot? Let us know if you’re one of the lucky 50!
H/T: The Resort Traveler at Travel Update
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I was put in the Waiting Room for 20 minutes then got the Sold Out message.
Sadly … feel the contest was rigged!
I do have a regular $100 Pasta Pass in my cart that I’m not going to buy. My cart will expire at 2:08pm. I imagine others will, too. Might try back then if you actually want a pasta pass (it says mine will go back up for grabs then).
haha, nope. i find it hillarious that 22,000 of the regular pasta passes sold out instantly. there’s NO WAY that’s more popular than some of the Daily Getaways deals, yet even those last about 5-10 seconds…
That was unremarkable. I clicked as soon as the button was enabled and received a message that all of the packages were claimed instantaneously. Oh well, I guess i’ll have to settle for mostly free flights and lodging for my next Italy vacation.
I clicked the second they became available but didn’t get one 🙁 Oh well, worth a try.
just tried to buy and i clicked on buy as soon as the countdown hit zero and a window popped up saying it’s sold out, what a joke…
[…] Trip for 2 to Italy for $200: All media outlets are talking about Olive Garden’s Passport to Italy. At 2pm Eastern today, you could try your chance to buy your Passport to Italy for $200. This includes airfare, ground transportation, hotel, 3 meals a day and daily activities, all for 2 people. The dates of travel are fixed and can’t be changed and there are only 50 for sale. Chances are slim that you could buy one, but take a stab at it! […]
Dont not take your 3mo old on a flight to Italy. Think it thru. Not worth it. Better than 75% chance it’ll ruin your vacation and maybe dent your marriage a little. So many things to go wrong very few can go right.
I am of a different opinion. Come April 2018, Nick and SO will have a 3-month old baby whether they are at home or, in Italy. I think being in Italy makes everything better.
Bringing a baby on a trip won’t ruin the vacation by any means but, it will change the expectations of what that vacation will look like, for sure. I know not all babies are the same but, most babies at that age sleep, eat and poop a lot. Unless they have the unfortunate luck having a colicky baby, they’ll be fine. They’ll just have to adjust to life as a new parent. Congrats on the upcoming arrival!
yes thats what will happen. The baby will be sleeping. You schedule will be the babies. Stop and start/stop and start. Chances are the baby isnt sleeping thru the night. That means 2-3-4am everyone is up in a small hotel room. Its a foolish decision. But one usually only a new parent could think to attempt. Congrats on the new arrival but wait til you get some routine down and do it later. 3mos is probably way too early.
Maybe they plan on just staying inside the hotel most of the time with the baby…just taking walks when the baby is in the mood for a walk…everything they will be doing if they are in their own homes, except…they are in Italy! They are the only ones who knows why they do the things they do.