YMMV: Starbucks sending bonus stars via email (must click to add them to your account)

This is a YMMV promotion since I don’t know if every member of the Starbucks Rewards program is getting an offer like these, or only some people or whether everyone gets the same amount of stars. In an email today, Starbucks sent 50 bonus stars. All you have to do to claim them is click on the link in the email. The stars will be added to your account in 24 hours. You must click to claim them by 4/20/16 (ha!).

Here’s a screenshot from that email:

sbux_50_stars

50 Stars may sound like a lot, but it’s really just 40% of a reward. If you assume a reward has a $6 value, that’s like giving you $2.40. Still better than nothing, but it won’t make up for the changes in the reward program 🙂

Speaking of the new rewards program, there is a simple way to think of it: assuming you will redeem your Reward for an item costing $6.25, you are essentially getting a 10% reward on whatever you spend in store. Here’s the simplest example, if you spend $62.50 at the store (in any amount of visits), you will earn 125 stars. 125 stars translate to one Reward. Assuming you select a $6.25 item as your reward, you have 10% ($6.25 vs $62.50).

It should go without saying, make sure you use your Rewards on the most expensive items you typically buy. Don’t use it on a cup of coffee or brownie!

For more details on the new rewards, check our earlier breakdown post.

Comments

  1. Margaret Williams says:

    I got this offer but when I clicked I got a message that said “Ooops It looks like something didn’t quite work. Please try again” I have tried again… several times. The bonus is no bonus. Thank you Starbucks for nothing.

    • Thanks for the comment! I clicked on it yesterday from a desktop PC and it worked the first time, the Stars were added to my account today. I don’t remember if I was logged on to my Starbucks account when I clicked on it or not.

      If it doesn’t work, you can contact their customer service using the customer service form on their website and ask them to add them to your account manually. They are usually pretty good with fixing Star-related issues. Give them all the details on the offer and the problem to help them figure it out and fix it by the time they reply to you. It takes at least a few hours usually, I don’t know if the switch to the new Rewards system has them dealing with more issues than usual.

      • I saw this email but got an error msg. Been trying access and cannot find in my email inbox, trash, etc. I wonder if Stsrbucks recalled the email or something.

        • it’s still in my inbox as of Sunday night. The email title is “50 Stars Inside” from 4/15/16. On occasion email services may have partial maintenance which may impact search results (in case you want to check by date).

          Their latest updated Android app has some error messages as well, so they may be side effects of the switch to the new system?