The Sneaky Reason You Should Always Ask For A Receipt At McDonald's

There are two types of people in the world: those who ask for receipts when they pick up fast food and those who don't. Asking for a receipt when you pick up a few dollars worth of food might sound like major overkill — especially if you know that receipt will likely end up in a random drawer or at the bottom of your purse for the next eternity. But sometimes it pays to ask for a receipt — and at McDonald's in particular, there's a sneaky reason why you always should, per Reader's Digest.

This McDonald's hack won't necessarily save you extra cash, but it will pretty much guarantee you the best McDonald's experience possible. So if you frequent McDonald's and want to be treated like Golden Arches royalty every time you stop in for a Big Mac, ask for that receipt after you order, per The Sun. We promise that it'll be worth your time.

How does something as understated as asking for a receipt at McDonald's give you such big perks? It all has to do with some special customers McDonald's employees are trained to look out for.

According to Reader's Digest, former McDonald's employee Kamran Adnan has taken to Quora to spill the tea about the top fast food chain, and what Adnan has to say about McDonald's receipts is intriguing. Apparently, McDonald's receives its fair share of secret shoppers — called "mystery shoppers" or "Gapbusters" — throughout the day. These customers are paid to review McDonald's food and service, so the chain's employees always serve up the freshest food just for them. How can an employee know when a customer is an undercover reviewer? While they can't always be completely sure who's whom, employees know that "Gapbusters" are reimbursed for the cost of the food that they purchase, so they pretty much always ask for a receipt, per The Sun. According to Reader's Digest, if you ask for a receipt — especially between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., you'll likely be served first and receive the freshest food. Now that's a good reason to get that receipt!

You don't have to stop in at certain times of the day or ask for a receipt to get fresh food at McDonald's (though doing either of those is obviously highly recommended). There are plenty of other hacks to get some of your favorite McDonald's foods — and not all of them take significantly more time than usual.

A variety of McDonald's orders — from breakfast sandwiches to fries — can be "freshened up" with a few simple requests. To get a real egg on your breakfast sandwich, ask for a "round egg." You'll avoid the folded-up "egg" you usually get and end up with the fresh kind that they use on their McMuffins. You also may have heard that asking for fries without salt is the easiest way to get fresh fries, but needlessly preparing a salt-free order requires wiping everything down. Simply ask for fresh fries — unless of course, you need lower sodium for dietary reasons — and you'll get fresh fries with salt. As a matter of fact, if you have a few extra minutes to spare, just ask the employees to "drop your food fresh," and you'll get everything fresh, per Insider. According to Cooking Panda, ordering a Filet-o-Fish sandwich "fresh" is an absolute must. Asking for a receipt at McDonald's is just one of many ways to get the freshest food — but when you do, you'll also get the service to match.