This particular promotion expired as expected…
[DEAD] Starbucks Rewards: 3 Bonus Stars on Fraps (Feb 9-15)
This particular offer expired, but as you can see above, there’s more ways to get bonus stars or discounts if you are participating in the program (free to join)…
Feb 3-9: Earn 3 Bonus Stars with Mobile Order (SBUX Rewards)
This is perhaps the easiest way in the history of the Starbucks Rewards program to earn three bonus stars. All you have to do (if you are eligible for this promotion – check your email/inbox) is place one mobile order between February 3-9 in 2016 using the Starbucks app. That’s it. Almost everything they have in store can be ordered via the mobile app, with a few exceptions. Also some of the customizations (eg cream cheese on a bagel) are not yet available. But most orders should be fine. You can only use this offer once during the promotional period.
Unlike most offers, you can only pay with the Starbucks app because you prepay the mobile order when you place it. You can’t pay after you pick it up. This is partially so it can prevent the “1000 pizzas” telephone orders, but on a more practical level, you can be on your way faster when you prepay. You just pick up the items and go, no need to wait in line.
You don’t even have to be “far away” to place a mobile order. You can do it from the parking lot, or you can even do it while you are waiting in line. Mobile orders print almost immediately at the register, and get placed in the drink queue as they arrive. So that’s one sneaky but “legal” way to cut in line at Starbucks 🙂
Starbucks Rewards (Jan 26 – Febr 1): Buy 2 of the same, Get 6 Bonus Stars (three options)
If you are a Starbucks Rewards member, check your emails for yet another bonus stars promotion. This is a “buy two” type of an offer. If you buy two of the same item between January 26 and February 1 (2016), you will earn six bonus stars, in addition to the regular one star per purchase. There are three options, you have to get two from the same category to earn the six bonus stars.
As you can see, they have a little bit of a typo, they wrote “Bonus Starts” instead of “Bonus Stars”. Yes, these things do not escape me 🙂
According to the email, you can only earn 6 bonus stars once from this promotion during the promotional period. The bonus stars will be added to your account by February 12. Do keep an eye out for them though since their system is a little bit buggy.
They also still struggle with some stars not showing in the app (they remain as “purchases” in the Transaction History of the app), but their customer service assures us that they count. I am not keeping that detailed level of star accounting, so I am assuming they are correct.
TIP: if you are not sure which one of their sandwiches are considered “breakfast”, check the menu in the Starbucks apps. You can also find it under the “Mobile Order”. Typically it is the muffin-esque items. They are often clustered together in their displays but not always.
Starbucks Rewards: $2 off Lunch Item (with promo code)
If you are a member of the Starbucks Rewards program, there’s a new promotion running now until the close of business on Monday 1/25/16. This offer requires the use of a promo code, you must show or mention code 2288 to the barista. This will get you $2 off the purchase of any lunch item.
Please note however that the breakfast muffin-style sandwiches (eg “sausage, cheddar and egg” muffins) do not quality as lunch items. You can check the menu on their website or more conveniently using the Starbucks apps to see exactly what is filed under Breakfast vs Lunch.
Restrictions: per the email, you can only use this promotion once per Rewards account. I haven’t tried it yet, so I don’t know what happens if you attempt a second use 🙂
Easy Bonus Stars for Starbucks Rewards members by using Mobile Order
This is an easy way to score a bonus star with every purchase at Starbucks if you are part of their Rewards program. Earlier today they launched a new promotion, sent to eligible members via email. Between January 6-19 in 2016, for every Mobile Order you place, you will earn a bonus star. This is in addition to the regular star you get from every purchase. The Mobile Order is fairly elaborate, so you may be able to recreate an order even if it’s not as simple as a cup of coffee.
Heck, you can even place a mobile order while you are in the store in-line or in the parking lot. This is a neat trick if there is a long line ahead of you 🙂 When you place a mobile order, a little printer prints it at the register, and it gets in the drinking-making queue right away!
Is the $40 Starbucks January 2016 Refill Cup A Good Deal?
UPDATE 1/10/17: this is back at the Starbucks website, going for $28! Shipping is extra unless you participate in a free shipping promotion (eg orders over a certain amount or something else). Note that if you buy it, it will take a few days to arrive, so if you are doing the math on how many free drinks it gets you, factor that in.
This is not a bad cup, I would value it at least $10 on its own, it weighs about 12.5 ounces empty (without the lid on). It is a true 16oz cup, stays cool to the touch even if you have a hot drink inside, does a decent job of keeping a hot drink hot, fits well in smaller car cupholders as well…
The JANUARY 2017 REWARD-MATH
The original post below is for the January 2016 $40 coffee cup which was available when the old Starbucks rewards program was running. The January 2017 cup is now available [as of late November 2016] to purchase at the Starbucks brick and mortar stores along with the Starbucks website. Now that we have the new rewards program, this is an even better deal, because you get 80 Stars (2/3rds of a reward) on the purchase of the cup ($40 times 2 stars) instead of the previous one star (which was 1/12th of a reward). Not only that but if you wait for a Bonus Stars promotion, you can get 160 Stars with the purchase of the $40 cup. That’s 1.28 rewards on the purchase price alone.
The reward math of the drinks have also changed in favor of the $40 cup. With the previous year cup, assuming you got one drink a day, by getting the freebie, you were not getting rewards for the 31 drinks. With the old system, the opportunity cost was around 2.58 rewards (31 divided by 12). With the new program, the opportunity cost is 152 stars ($2.45 per coffee/tea), which is 1.2 rewards. Slightly less if you use a reusable cup ($2.35 per drink). This paragraph is talking opportunity costs, so it is semi-academic in practical terms 🙂
I haven’t purchased the 2017 cup, but I saw it in-store, and the 2016 looks and feels nicer, and it is a more general-use cup. You can use it all year round without looking like a hipster running around with a Christmas cup in July 🙂 Having saod that, you can also get away with using the new one year-long, it kinda fits seasonal patterns (kinda spring, kinda harvest, kinda summer vines) 🙂
Without factoring in the reward math, the straightforward cut-off point is this: $40 divided by the price of a cup. $2.45 if you don’t bring your own cup, or $2.35 if you bring your own cup and get the 10c discount. $40 buys you 16 to 17 cups. So if you are going to be at Starbucks more than 17 different days in January 2017 AND buy a coffee or tea (no fancy drinks qualify), this is a no-brainer.
The above is before you factor in the value of the cup, which is probably somewhere between $10 and $20. Since the rewards program is a factor of the price paid, it tracks the other parameters above.
ORIGINAL POST – JANUARY 2016
The PSL may be the most famous of the Starbucks Holiday promotions but it’s only one of many. One lesser known promotion that they run during the holidays is the January cup. You pay a fixed amount of money ($40 + tax this year) and you receive a coffee cup that entitles you to one grande (= 16oz) brewed coffee or brewed tea PER DAY during the whole month of January 2016. That’s 31 days of free 16oz drinks. This is only brewed drinks, you can’t get free lattes or mochas or fraps. Just good old coffee and tea 🙂 Customizations are extra, and Reserve coffees and Oprah Chai Teas are excluded.
As you can see in the pictures below, this is actually a nicely designed cup, modest and stylish at the same time, without it being obnoxious. You can easily use this all year round. It does not scream holiday cup. You get the cup, the lid and instructions.
[DEAD] Starbucks Rewards Members: Verismo 600 machine and Box of Pods and 12 Stars for $59
This holiday temptation expired, but I’m sure there will be more sales before the Christmas of 2016…
[DEAD] Starbucks Verismo 600 with free box of Verismo pods for $59 (ends Mon PM)
This limited time holiday promotion EXPIRED…
Starbucks Rewards for December 2-13
If you are a Starbucks Rewards member, they are launching a two layer promotion between December 2-13 in 2015. The first layer will be daily promotions sent to your email or in the app inbox. These will vary daily. I don’t know what they will be in advance. The second layer will depend on how many days you visit Starbucks. If you visit every single day, you will earn 12 bonus stars. These are in addition to the promotional daily bonus offers and in addition to the regular star per purchase. These amounts are tiered as follows:
PS: I am still doing the math on the $40 promotion. More on that tomorrow!
Starbucks Rewards Mondays: Buy $15+, Get 8 Bonus Rewards
Mondays are special promotion days for Starbucks Rewards members. So much so that has created a Merry Mondays website. For Monday 11/30/15, which coincides with Cyber Monday, if you are a Rewards member, and visit your local store after 2pm local time, and place an order of $15 or higher (in a single transaction), you will earn 8 bonus stars. That’s 3/4ths of a rewards, because you will also get the usual 1-star.
Speaking of Cyber Monday, if you shop at the Starbucks website, spend $60+ and enter coupon code CYBER15, you will receive $25 off your order total. This offer is good for Cyber Monday.
Starbucks Rewards: 1 Bonus Stars with handcrafted Teavana beverage using Mobile Order
Just as the cold winds are rising, Starbucks decided to run a Teavana promotion, although, to be fair, they also have hot Teavana beverages, not just cold/iced. Anyway, let me start from the beginning. If you are a Starbucks Rewards member, a new promotion was emailed out earlier today that gets you one Bonus Star (in addition to the regular one star) when you purchase a Teavana handcrafted beverage using the Mobile Order app feature.
As such, this is perhaps best suited for cold drinks if you are ordering from afar. The cold drinks, especially in this weather, won’t un-cool quickly, but hot drinks can cool off. Plus if you are getting teabag tea, you have to pay attention to brewing time.
Regardless, you can always place the mobile order from within the store, or if you don’t feel brave enough to do that, you can place it from the parking lot 🙂 Since this is a mobile order, this has to be paid at the same time it is placed, using the balance on your Starbucks gift card.
The promotion runs November 11-24 in 2015.
Starbucks Rewards: Buy 2 specific items, Get 6 Bonus Stars
Starbucks is back with another offer for their Rewards members. This is a bit more complicated than usual and it requires opt-in and also requires making a choice ahead of time!
There are three ways to earn six bonus stars. You select which item you want to use for this “challenge”. You have to click on one of those three in your Starbucks Rewards e-mail. Once you do that, that particular offer is activated on your account. The more general one is the breakfast sandwiches since it covers multiple items. The other two items are specific drinks. Unless of course those happen to be among your favorite drinks, in which case, you should have no problem buying two of them during the promotional period.
The promotion runs November 3-9 in 2015. As usual, you have to pay with your Starbucks app or plastic gift card that is linked to your Rewards account. The bonus stars will be added to your account by November 20, 2015.
It is possible that this offer is stackable with the mobile order but there’s no way to verify it ahead of time. They do run in parallel for the most part.
Limit one per customer during this promotional period. You can only select one of those three options, not all three!
Nov 4-10 (Starbucks Rewards): Three Bonus Stars with any Mobile Order
This is decidedly low-hanging fruit as far as Starbucks Rewards go. If you are part of their program, check your email or inbox to see if you have been offered this. It is really very simple. At some point between November 4-10 in 2015, place a Starbucks order using their mobile app and pay it using their app, and pick it up at your local store. You can even do this inside the store. It doesn’t matter. As long the order originates from the Starbucks app. You score 3 bonus starts, in addition to the one star. It’s fun!
Limit one use per customer during this promotion. When you order, there’s a little printer at the register that prints out your order. If you want to get a better feel of the process, place your order when it’s quiet so you can see the wheels turning inside the store 🙂
Starbucks Rewards: Spend $8+, Get 4 Bonus Stars
This is a good time to volunteer to make a coffee run at the office or at home 🙂 If you are a Starbucks Rewards member, a new promotion came in via e-mail (does not require opt-in or coupon code) that gets you four bonus stars every time you make a purchase of $8 or more between October 30 and November 1st in 2015 (three days). You can use this promotion as many time as you like. Your order total must be $8+ per transaction, not cumulative over multiple visits.
PS: I don’t know if this works if you buy a drink and a gift card (or gift card reload) in the same transaction. The bonus stars will appear within 24 hours, so if curious, you can try it early on October 30, and you may know whether it works or not by October 31st AM 🙂
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