The New Starbucks Gold Card, or How I Fund My Addiction

Keeping up with my Starbucks addiction and sticking to my budget requires me to utilize any, and every, reward or coupon I can get my hands on. Which brings me to their rewards cards, a nifty way for me to save a few cents on every drink I purchase.

But let me first justify why I continue to go to Starbucks every morning, instead of making my coffee at home. Years ago, I worked as a part-time barista at Starbucks. During my few years there, drinks were either “on the house” or purchased at a reduced price. The magnitude of the caffeine combined with the rich, dark brewed taste hooked me for life.

Their beckoning logo still calls to me, and so I’ve had to find ways to whittle my drink down to the least expensive drink, outside of a regular drip. That drink is an Iced Venti Americano with Vanilla syrup. Full price would bring this drink to $3.05. However, after my cup discount (I try to be green) and rewards card, my drink comes out to $2.55, a 50 cent savings.

Over the years of experimenting to reduce the price of my drink, I’ve found that their various rewards cards benefit me in different ways. Their three different cards have some subtle differences in the way they apply their rewards.

Gift cards

These are the easiest to purchase directly from the store with a minimum of $5.00 loaded on the card. (Online the minimum value is $15.00). With a registered gift card, syrups are free of charge, saving you up to 30 cents per drink. The key is that you have to register your card online, which takes a few minutes but is well worth it. Gift cards are also reloadable, so you can reuse the card as many times as you like.

The one drawback to this card, however, is that often the remaining few cents is forgotten about and not used; a disadvantage of most gift cards.

Rewards card – Welcome Level

Two years ago, Starbucks introduced their Gold Card Rewards program. At the time, the membership fee was $25. Nevertheless, for frequent users, the savings (10% off all purchases) outweighed the cost. This card has recently gone through some upgrades and changes including:

• No membership fee
• A free drink on your birthday
• 2 hours of continuous Wi-Fi usage at any of their stores
• After 5 drinks (or stars) purchased using the rewards card, members move to the Green Level and receive free drink customization including free syrups and no charge for soy milk, free refills on drip coffee, and a free drink with purchase of coffee beans.

However, this card no longer offers the 10% discount off all purchases. This affected my purchases on the VIA packets, I now have to pay full price for these.

Rewards card – Gold Level

Once a member purchases 30 drinks using their rewards card, they retain their Gold Card status for the year. This status allows for drink customization at no charge, no charge for syrups or soy milk. Every 16th drink, the rewards customer is mailed a free drink coupon as well as all the benefits at the two previous levels.

Some of the disadvantages to this card include having to load the card with money in order to use it as a rewards card. In my most recent experience, I tried using this card and had forgotten to load it, a barista told me I couldn’t receive the rewards without the card being loaded. Another thing I find annoying is the coupon for a free drink is mailed to you instead of automatically showing up on their computer. The rewards program tracks your purchases, you would think it could also track when you should receive your free drink. Having to use the card 30 times to qualify for another year of membership may also be a negative aspect to using this rewards card.

Final words

Starbucks may still be the priciest coffee, but using one of their rewards card options definitely saves money. If you’re not a rewards card member, a registered gift card may be the way to go, just be sure you use every cent!