If you are part of the Starbucks Rewards program, check your email or your smartphone notifications or the inbox in the Starbucks app (make sure you have the latest version). There is an offer that gets you 60 Bonus Stars (that’s almost half a reward) if you purchase four breakfast sandwiches between November 30 and December 6, that’s a seven day period. This offer needs to be activated first, so make sure you press the “Join the Dash” button in your email or activate it in the app (if available there).

NOTE: some of these promotions are only offered to a subset of Rewards members. I can only see the ones in my account, and I have no way of knowing whether everybody or only a subset of members get these offers. So YMMV until you check.

The offer is one time use, meaning the maximum you will receive from this is 60 Bonus Stars, even if you buy five or more breakfast sandwiches. The bonus stars will load up in your account by 12/13/16. You can track progress using the latest Starbucks apps (it’s actually pretty nice; I’ll post a screenshot after I put mine to work).

NOTE: if you are not certain what qualifies as a breakfast sandwich, check the menu on their website or in the store or the “Order” section of the app. Some of the sandwiches are too close to call if you are just guessing. You only get the bonus stars if you buy the correct items, even if they are not foodologically (it’s a word now!) categorized accurately 🙂

This is a YMMV offer, as with many of the bonus stars offers, as I have no way of knowing what percentage of the Starbucks Rewards members receive these via email. For one thing, people would have to be opted-in to promotional emails from Starbucks for these offers to arrive. This is a simple offer, they updated their app with a new more versatile mobile ordering system, and they want to “encourage” people to try it again, so if you received this offer…

… AND you manually activate it clicking on the link in your email or app, you will receive 25 bonus stars when you place a mobile order between November 15-21 in 2016. You only get one bonus for this promotion regardless of how many orders you place. You can also stack this with the after 2PM promotion.

PS: you can place a mobile order while you are in the store, or even while you are in line (eg the line is way too long, so instead of wasting time in line, you sit on a chair, place a mobile order and wait for it to get called).

Starbucks launched a new Bonus Stars promotion. Check your emails or the latest version of the Starbucks app, as some of the Bonus Stars offers (but not all of them) have began showing up in the app. This offer requires manual opt-in, which boils down to clicking the “Join the Dash” button in the email or the appropriate button in the app.

This offer is to encourage afternoon visits. You only qualify for the bonus for purchases made after 2pm local time between November 15-21 in 2016. If you make three purchases, you will receive 50 Bonus Stars. Or if you make five or more purchases, you will receive 100 Bonus Stars. You can only get one bonus for this offer. The bonus stars will be added to your account by 11/28/16.

The email does not clarify what they mean by “purchases”. I am assuming they mean separate transactions, not visits, not individual items counted. If so, strategically, you can split your order if you are going to be “for here” ~ if you are going to be too close to call. But if you are there daily after 2pm, you can get to the bonus without effort, since the promotional period is seven days.

Again, I must stress, you must manually opt-in/activate this offer, and it only counts after 2pm local time! Partial screenshot of the email offer below:

It may not even be mid-November, but the holiday drinks are rolling out at Starbucks, and to encourage us all to give them a try, the introductory “Buy 1 Get 1” promotion is back! It runs from 2pm to 5pm local time, and it is good for everyone, you don’t need to be a Rewards member. But if you are a Rewards member, you get an extra hour, you can order them until 6pm local time. The cash register can tell this when you pay with your Starbucks app. Which may be handy if your local stores get too busy during the 2-5pm mad rush to double the sugar at half the price 🙂

If you are not sure which drinks qualify as holiday drinks, check their website or menu online or in the app (the Ordering section), or ask one of their employees. Their cash register is the ultimate decider on what qualifies since that’s the one that will give you the discount 🙂

Just in time for the winter, Starbucks Rewards has launched a new Bonus Stars promotion. As usual, these offers are YMMV, I have no clue how many people get offered each promotion. Check your emails or the latest Starbucks app offers to see if you qualify. If you do, you must opt-in to this offer by clicking the “Activate” button in your emails or the relevant button in the app.

Once you do, between November 3-9 in 2016, you get 30 Bonus Stars every time you buy Nitro Cold Brew. More specifically, the “Nariño 70”. Cold brew is more expensive than regular coffee since it takes longer to brew, thus the “liquid encouragement” of the bonus stars. The bonus stars will appear in your account within 24 hours.

ALSO: A Deal to Help Veteran’s Groups
Speaking of Starbucks, if you want to help a Veteran’s non-profit, in their B&M stores, they have new Veterans themed gift cards. For every card that customers buy and activate (eg load money on it and use it), Starbucks will donate $5 to a Veteran’s non-profit. So instead of reloading your existing card, buy a new card and load it up. Then just add it to your Starbucks account/app, so you can continue earning rewards. You can also transfer its balance to your existing default card, so you don’t have to change your gift card routine/rotation.

Starbucks Rewards is sending a new promotion by email to members. As usual with this type of offers, this is YMMV, since I have no clue how many members are getting the offers. This is an opt-in offer, you must first click the “Join Now” button in the email announcing the offer. If you don’t click on the email, you won’t get the bonus rewards. Once you click that, you get a page with a confirmation that the promotion is live in your account.

This is actually a pretty good promotion. You have to buy three items, one item from three different product categories, between November 1-7. If you do so, you receive 125 Bonus Stars (in addition to the regular stars) by November 14. 125 Bonus Stars are the equivalent of one Reward, which you can redeem for things that go up to $7 (eg the boxed veggie salad or the $6.50 bistro boxes).

You have to buy one item from each product category below:

• Any Breakfast Sandwich – check their menu in the app or online if you are not sure what qualifies as a breakfast sandwich versus a lunch sandwich
• Any Latte (including the hyped PSL)
• Any Frappuccino Blended Beverage

This can only be used once per Rewards member during this promotional period.

As we mentioned earlier in the month, the last three Sundays in October 2016 have Bonus Star promotions for participants in the Starbucks Rewards. Today, via email, Starbucks revealed the bonus for Sunday October 30, 2016, and it’s the same as last week, double the usual amount of stars. So you get 4 Stars per $1 spent, instead of the usual 2 Stars. This is a good opportunity to buy things like coffee beans, tea boxes, cups, mugs, and anything else that has a longer shelf like than a latte 🙂

Here’s a screenshot from the email announcing this:

Just like the previous Sundays, this is an automatic offer, you don’t have to manually opt-in for it. You know you are eligible if you receive an email with the promotion, or an app notification, or if you see double stars when you make your first Sunday purchase.

This promotion is good for rewards and non-rewards members. The only difference is that Rewards members get 250 Bonus Stars as part of the Reward program. Other than that, the offer works for non-Rewards members as well.

Starbucks brick and mortar stores just launched their new Verismo V coffee makers (K-Cup competitors, incompatible capsules), and they have an in-store bundle offer. The new Verismo V coffee machine on its own goes for $150, but for $30 more, you can bundle it with the Verismo V Milk Frother ($60 on its own) and a free box of coffee capsules (12 pack) of your choice.

For Rewards Members
If you are a member of the Rewards program, and buy the $180 bundle between October 21-29 in 2016, you also earn 250 Bonus points which is the equivalent of 2 full rewards (125 points per reward). This is in addition to the standard 2 points per $1 rewards.

But wait, there’s more! If you are considering to buy this, make sure you buy it on Sunday October 23 if you are eligible for the Bonus Stars October Sundays promotion.

Most people don’t carry these high balances in their account, so if you are convinced you are going to buy it, before you purchase it, get in line (or use the app) to load up your Starbucks account with enough money to pay for it. That way you can get rewards on the amount. Make sure you include enough for sales tax if it’s collected in your state.

I am not planning to buy this, so I won’t have any experiential updates. I am a poor blogger, I can’t buy every offer just for blog-testing purposes 🙁

As we mentioned last week the remaining Sundays in October 2016 are Bonus Stars days for (some or all? ~ I don’t know) participants in the Starbucks Rewards program. The bonus for Sunday 10/23/16 has just been revealed via email, and it is a double the regular amount of stars, so you would get 4 stars per $1, instead of the usual 2 stars per $1. This “defeats” last week’s 3 stars per $1. A good opportunity to scoop up some “infrastructure” purchases (cups, coffee beans, tea bags, etc).

UDATED: you may want to take advantage of this together with the Verismo V promotion that runs October 21-29 in 2016.

For the last three weeks of October 2016, Starbucks will be running Bonus Stars promotion. The offers will be different every week. They have now revealed the bonus stars for Sunday October 16, you get 3X stars per dollar spent, instead of the usual 2X. So that’s 1.5X faster towards getting a reward. So a $42~ purchase gets you a free reward! If you need any coffee beans or coffee cups and such, this is a good opportunity to take advantage of it.

You can use this offer as many times as you like during each Sunday. You don’t have to opt-in to the offer, it will go live automatically.

NOTE: as usual with these offers, I do not know if every single Rewards members get them, or a subset, or if they are rotated in groups. So there’s always a YMMV for these posts.

This 3-day promotion expired…

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This is a heads-up alert if you are a regular Starbucks shopper. Time flies, and a “Double Stars” day is almost upon us! Pay attention to the emails you receive from Starbucks (or messages/notifications in their mobile apps) to find out when your specific Double Stars day is going to be.

According to the email teaser they just sent (partial screenshot below):

… this will happen next week, meaning the week of October 2-8 in 2016. I think they only do Double Stars on weekdays, so I am guessing most people will get their day between October 3-7 in 2016.

Strategically, this is the time you want to buy the more expensive items. And by that I don’t just mean coffee machines. This is great if you buy coffee mugs/cups, and bags of coffee beans or boxes of teas or K-Cups. With Double Stars, you earn a reward for every $31.25 you spent. With normal stars, you earn a reward every $62.50 you spend.

Starbucks took a break from “Bonus Star” offers for a few of weeks, but they are back now with another offer. This is an in-store offer but it is focusing on pre-packaged coffee and tea. You earn 45 Bonus Stars (that’s roughly 1/3rd of a Reward) when you buy any pre-packaged coffee or tea product from their brick and mortar stores.

But that’s not all. The bonus also works on cups, tumblers and brewers and other assorted merchandise of that sort. Here’s a screenshot of the part of the email that mentions the “other” items:

Perusing further down that email, we find the fine-print that says the offer ends on 9/28/16, you can use this offer as many times as you like during this promotional period. The stars will post to your account within 24 hours of purchase. Pre-packaged food items are NOT eligible, only coffee/tea and merchandise (mugs, etc).

BETTER THAN DOUBLE STARS for ITEMS under $22.50
So this is a good time to stock up on that stuff, this is better than double-stars except for items priced over $22.50. During the double star time of the month, you earn double the usual 2X stars, so a $22.50 item will get you 45 bonus stars during Double Stars. With this offer you get a flat 45 stars. With either offer, you earn the standard 2X stars, so that’s a wash.