Starbucks Rewards: How To Get Free Starbucks Coffee
If you buy Starbucks, you should be a member of their loyalty programme. With Starbucks Rewards, you can earn points to get free Starbucks coffees. In this guide, we’ll explain how to join, what you get, and how to maximise your rewards.
What is Starbucks Rewards?
Starbucks Rewards is the coffee chain’s loyalty programme.
If you go to Starbucks at all, it’s worth becoming a Starbucks Rewards member. Every time you spend money, you’ll collect stars.
How do Starbucks reward points work?
For every £1 you spend, you’ll earn 3 stars. When you earn enough stars, you’ll get rewards.
For every 150 stars you earn, you’ll get a free Starbucks drink. This means you need to spend £50 to get your first reward.
Once you reach 450 stars, you’ll become a Starbucks Gold Member. This means you’ll get extra rewards including a free drink on your birthday and extra shots of espresso, selected syrups, and whipped cream for free.
To earn stars, you’ll need to download the Starbucks app.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can log in to your account and view your rewards under the Starbucks Rewards section.
When you purchase anything in store, make sure you scan your digital Starbucks card in the app to earn stars.
How to join Starbucks Rewards
You can sign up to Starbucks Rewards here.
You can either sign up by downloading the app and following the steps, or signing up on the website.
You’ll need to fill in your personal details and choose a password.
Once you've signed up, you need to download the app to find your digital card. When you buy anything from Starbucks, you need to scan your digital card to collect your stars. You can download the app from the Apple App store here, or the Google Play store here.
Once you’ve created your account, you can find details about how many stars and rewards you’ve earned under the Starbucks Rewards section.
Is Starbucks Rewards worth joining?
If you go to Starbucks, it’s worth joining their rewards programme, as any freebie or perk is better than nothing.
Having said that, Starbucks doesn’t offer the best loyalty scheme compared to its competitors.
At Starbucks, you need to spend £50 before you get a reward. If you compare that to Costa’s Costa Club for example, you need to buy eight drinks to get one for free. If you’re a Costa Club member, you’ll earn one ‘bean’ for every drink you buy, and you need eight beans to earn a free drink.
Prices for drinks at Costa vary depending on the location, but a small black coffee usually costs around £2.80. This means you only need to spend £22.40 to get a free drink. Of course, this will increase depending on the drink you choose. However, you need to spend a lot less to get a free drink than you do at Starbucks.
Costa Club also makes it even easier to get your free drink. If you buy a drink with a reusable cup, you’ll earn an extra bean, so you’ll get 2 beans per drink. This means you need to spend even less to get your freebie. You’ll only need to buy four drinks.
There also is no minimum spend to qualify for a freebie on your birthday. With Costa Club, you’ll get a free piece of cake on your birthday. With Starbucks Rewards you need to be a Gold Member to qualify for the free birthday drink. This means you need to have spent £150 at Starbucks to qualify.
Similarly, Pret Coffee Subscription offers better value for money if you buy a lot of coffees on the go. It is slightly different to Starbucks Rewards and Costa Club, as you pay monthly to get five free drinks everyday. It’s £12.50 for month one, and then £25 a month from month two. Pret estimates you can save just under £10 a week if you buy five drinks a day, and this includes teas, coffees, iced drinks and more.
Overall, if you’re a Starbucks lover it’s worth becoming a member, but if you’re looking for the best way to earn free coffees and get rewarded for spending, it doesn’t necessarily offer the best incentives.
You can read our guides on Costa Club and Pret Perks here.
