Starbucks Rewards Card Vent

[mrssandro]

I like that they have the birthday drink on the card. I always lose that damn postcard.

[hesitantbride]

Can someone link to a site that lists all the changes?

I am a very frequent Starbucks customer

[Susie]

I divert emails from Starbucks into my spam folder. What's the gist of the changes for better and worse?

[hazel]

Bummer! I didn't see that change. The only I got a Starbucks card was for the free soy milk.

[max88]

I'm with you c7, I think this sucks. No way does offering the free drinks every 12 stars instead of 15 make up for taking away free soy and syrups.

[Susie]

Thanks. I think I give that list a :Y: just on the 12 drinks instead of 15 basis.

I usually buy Starbucks whole bean coffee at BJ's, so I don't mind that one much. And no more losing postcards is a definite plus.

[hesitantbride]

Sept 19, 2012 9:01:40 GMT -5 c7 said:

Basically what's been discussed above:

No more free drink postcards. It's loaded directly to your card.

Rewards can be used on food AND drinks (not just drinks).

Gold level members earn free drink every 12 stars now instead of 15.

No more free soy and syrups.

No more free tall drink with pound of coffee purchase.

www.starbucks.com/rewardsfaster?utm_source=project8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=learnmore&utm_campaign=announce

Thank you!

[HoneySpider]

So how do I get my free birthday drink now if they are not mailing postcards? I don't have any kind of actual rewards card but I get that postcard every year.

I do not go there hardly ever so I'm not very familiar with the program.

[tripleshot]

Sept 19, 2012 8:54:41 GMT -5 kooshball said:

But you get a free drink sooner and no more postcards!!!!!

This!! I don't use soy or syrups, so I like this change!

[mfluder]

I was so excited about the no post card, I missed the part about soy. Boo. Although my place only charges me 25% of the time for the soy.....

Still free refills right? I love that.

[biscoffcookies]

How does one earn a star? Is it a star for every purchase you make, or per amount of money spent, or what?

[mfluder]

Sept 19, 2012 10:18:13 GMT -5 biscoffcookies said:

How does one earn a star? Is it a star for every purchase you make, or per amount of money spent, or what?

Every drink you get is a star. (Well, sometimes if I order multiple drinks at once, they don't all turn into stars, I don't quite get that, but anyway...).

If you have a smart phone, there is an app that helps track it.

[geek96]

Sept 19, 2012 10:19:52 GMT -5 mfluder said:

Sept 19, 2012 10:18:13 GMT -5 biscoffcookies said:

How does one earn a star? Is it a star for every purchase you make, or per amount of money spent, or what?

Every drink you get is a star. (Well, sometimes if I order multiple drinks at once, they don't all turn into stars, I don't quite get that, but anyway...).

If you have a smart phone, there is an app that helps track it.

I believe it's for each transaction. DH and I both have the app so we usually order individually to get 2 stars. I ordered a bagel once and got a star so I don't think it has to do with just drinks.

[agnes]

I believe it's a star for each transaction not just each drink.

I wonder how the rewards are going to show up on the gift cards? Are they going to deposit money onto the card or seomething?

[dragonfly08]

Sept 19, 2012 8:54:41 GMT -5 kooshball said:

But you get a free drink sooner and no more postcards!!!!!

I'll miss getting my vanilla syrup free, but will gladly trade that for more free drinks and not having to keep track of that darn postcard.

And stars are per transaction, not per drink, so if you order multiple drinks you still only get one. When I take my kids with me, that's why I order their hot chocolate separately. I want maximum stars, darn it! :-)

[SuziSaysDa]

This makes me sad - the free soy is what sold me on stupid gift card game in the first place. Even more sad that I have recently discovered my new favorite drink: soy pumpkin spice chai, its the first time I have added syrup to a drink.

[agnes]

I wish there was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf by my work. They give you a free drink instantly when you purchase or reload a gift car for $20 (or is it $25?). That works out to be only 7 stars at Starbucks for me.

[mfluder]

Ah, mystery solved, thanks guys! Per transaction does make more sense lol. We tried to have the app on two phones, but it didn't like it...

[pumpkin]

I too am unhappy about the loss of soy milk and don't feel that earning free drinks more quickly offsets it. I get soy regularly and it helps me justify my addiction.

[catbus]

Sept 19, 2012 11:04:43 GMT -5 SuziSaysDa said:

This makes me sad - the free soy is what sold me on stupid gift card game in the first place. Even more sad that I have recently discovered my new favorite drink: soy pumpkin spice chai, its the first time I have added syrup to a drink.

Do you order the drink so that they use the full amount of both chai and pumpkin spice syrup? I love pumpkin spice chai lattes, but I order mine half PS/half chai so they're not too sweet. In that case, the drink should be rung up as a chai latte "sub" pumpkin spice syrup, which means you don't get charged for the "additional" syrup, since it's not actually extra.

But if you're ordering full amounts of each, then yeah, you're going to be paying more.

[marchmom06]

I don't use soy or syrups, so I'm thrilled! Free drinks sooner, & no postcards to keep track of. Win/win!

[gt7301b]

Sept 19, 2012 11:19:08 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I too am unhappy about the loss of soy milk and don't feel that earning free drinks more quickly offsets it. I get soy regularly and it helps me justify my addiction.

By my back of the napkin math if you buy a soy latte daily the change will cost you ~$85 over the course of a year. If you only buy soy half the time it will run ~$16 extra over the course of a year. (Assumes you buy a coffee daily, and soy runs $0.40 a visit)

[niki]

I had no idea soy was so popular. I've never heard a single person order it, and I'm there at least once a week.

[isabel]

Off topic, sort of, but PetCo changed their reward program recently as well. They tried to make it sound like it was more beneficial for the customer, but it obviously wasn't. I find it irritating when companies cheap out on stuff like this.

[BAMFMrsB]

Sept 19, 2012 8:53:55 GMT -5 c7 said:

Starting 10/16, they're getting rid of free soy and syrups. Also no free tall drink when you buy a pound of coffee.

BOO ON YOU, STARBUCKS. Free soy is the whole reason I bought into your stupid rewards card program.

:@ :@ :@ GRRRR. Same here. I usually order a tall soy, vanilla latte. :@

:::shakes fist in the air:::

[Willis Jackson]

I'm going to come out ahead with this. I don't do syrups or soy.

[catbus]

Most people will come out ahead, and with these changes Starbucks is encouraging customer loyalty. They'll get more return and frequent customers by rewarding customers with free drinks 20% more frequently.

[k3pick]

I don't get soy or syrups anyway so this is awesome for me. I go to a Starbucks in a Kroger store. Using my Kroger card I already get a free drink for every 10 purchased in the store and now with the gold card I'll get an additional free drink every 12 instead of 15. Yes!

[Kore]

Do you have to pay for this card? I need to google. I didn't realize starbucks had a rewards program.

[benitabutrell]

In my Starbucks app, I see that one transaction back in August gave me 2 stars, while the rest are always 1 star, no matter the amount of the transaction. Was there a double star promo or something?