Five Guys' biggest competitor is selling $1 burgers - but there's a huge catch

Hollis Johnson

A burger from Smashburger.

• Smashburger is selling a $54 pass that allows customers to buy $1 burgers.
• With the pass, customers can buy 54 burgers for $1, from mid-November to January.
• The burgers cost $1 on top of the price of the pass, so it's really a $2 burger - and you have to pre-pay.

Smashburger - a fast-casual chain that's emerging as a major Five Guys rival - has a surprising ploy to win over customers.

Hollis Johnson

The chain is offering a $54 "Holiday Smash Pass" that allows customers to buy $1 burgers every day from November 15 through January 9, Nation's Restaurant News reported. With Thanksgiving and Christmas as exceptions, that's 54 burgers - if you go every day.

If you get sick of burgers, you can swap them out for a turkey burger, black bean burger, or salad.

According to Nation's Restaurant News, a Smashburger burger costs, on average, $6.70. Fifty-four burgers would cost $361.80. Meanwhile, if you buy the $54 pass and order a burger every day, you'd only pay $108 - saving $253.80.

So, how many burgers do you need to plan to eat for this plan to be worth it?

According to our back-of-the-napkin math, the magic number is 10 burgers. Without the pass, 10 Smashburger orders would cost roughly $67. With the pass, it only costs $64.