May 2017: Buy $50 Panera Gift Card, Get $10 Bonus for June

If you are a regular Panera fan, for the whole month of May 2017, they have a promotion at their B&M stores and their website. For every $50 in gift cards you buy, you will receive a $10 bonus gift card. The bonus gift card can only be used in June 2017. You can buy as many as you like, but keep in mind, the bonus $10 gift cards will all have to be spent in June 2017.

Free Bagel Every Day in April 2017 at Panera (YMMV)

Panera Bread is running another promotion fro select Panera Rewards members that is definitely YMMV. If you are eligible for this promotion, you should have an email in your inbox that informs you of this promotion. You get a free bagel per day (no spread of course, just the bagel) for the whole month of April 2017 at their Panera stores. You have to use your Panera rewards card, which I’m assuming is how they are keeping track and enforcing the one per day thing 🙂

It is a bit of a razor and blades thing, because who is going to eat just a bagel without a spread and without coffee or tea or some other liquid to push it down? 🙂

I rarely go to Panera, which is perhaps why I have been targeted with this and similar promotions. Sometimes companies run offers like this to “encourage” customers to visit more often and develop a habit. Which is why they are running it for a month. If you get used to going to Panera for a whole month, chances are, a percentage of those people will continue going there after the promotion is over. Why pay money for ads (which annoy most people) when you can instead spend the money giving potential customers free food? 🙂

They previously had offers with free coffee as well, which is a more freerider-friendly freebie since you can drink coffee on its own and get free refills if you stay in-store 🙂

Free Bagel in January 2017 at Panera (YMMV)

This is a YMMV offer. Not every Panera Rewards member is offered this. I found it in my account when I checked email today. I only shop at Panera occasionally, so this promotion may be intended to encourage hibernating customers to wake up and start visiting Panera on a regular basis. I think they had a similar promotion last year or the year before that (free coffee or something like that).

All you have to do is show your Panera Rewards card or use their app. You get one free bagel per day, but you don’t get a spread. Regardless, most people would feel compelled to buy something, so you can either get a spread or coffee. Unlike the coffee offer of last year, this one is a bit more complicated since you may end up having to buy two items. But if you do this, you will likely accumulate Panera rewards along the way. Still, this is not a slam dunk deal, it depends. You can always do a to-go, grab the free bagel and buy the spread and drink your own coffee/tea away from the premises 🙂

Here’s a partial screenshot from the promotion:

AndroidPAY: Free Panera “You Pick Two” with $10+ order

Check your emails or Android PAY offers! Google is running a new co-promotion with Panera. If you place a $10+ at Panera using AndroidPAY, Panera will add a FREE “You Pick Two” to your Panera account. You can take advantage of this offer once per week, it’s not once per account, so it’s a big plus for regular Paneraheads. The offer ends 11/24/16.

panera_androidpay

The “You Pick Two” is a legit reward, you get two half-portions of any sandwich, salad or soup. It’s a solid lunch!

I haven’t done this offer, so all I can tell you is what’s in the emails. I will update this if I do, but I’m trying to cut back on bready sandwiches these days.

Panera Catering Rewards: Get $20 for every $500

Paneral has a regular rewards program for store purchases but that’s not all. Their rewards program is also expanding to Catering purchases. For every $500 you make in Panera Catering purchases, you earn $20 in Panera Rewards. This is a screenshot from their website promoting this:

panera_catering_rewards

You need a Panera Rewards account and a Panera Catering account for this. Catering is on the expensive side of things, so if you are a regular customer of their catering, the rewards can add up quickly. This is essentially a 4% reward ($20 / $500).

PS: yes, I am spelling police, that’s why I double underlined “recieve” 🙂

YMMV: Panera Rewards: Free Bagel Every Day in April 2016 [the razor/cartridge strategy]

CLARIFICATION & CORRECTION: one of our readers pointed out in the Comments that not every Reward member gets this promotion on their Rewards account, so it is a YMMV…

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Hot for Panera Rewards members (YMMV): Free Coffee Every Day in September 2015

If you have a Panera Rewards account (free to sign up for), check your account or the email you used to register for it. There is a promotion offered to some reward members that gets you FREE coffee every day in September 2015. That’s 30 free coffees if you go there everyday. I have no way of knowing how many Rewards members are eligible.

The email announcing this promotion will have this giant, hard to miss graphic (screenshot underneath):

my_panera_free_coffee_in_september_2015

This is quite a power play from Panera. Instead of spending their marketing money on flashy (and annoying) TV and online ads, they are using them to get people into their stores and more importantly create a new habit. Because if you go to Panera in 30 days in a row for you free coffee, you will probably continue going after the promotion expires. Plus, once there, many people will not be able to resist the siren’s call of their many pastries, or perhaps they’ll feel guilty for the freebie and feel compelled to buy something else as well 🙂