Starbucks Gold Card review
I’ve had the new Starbucks Gold card for a few weeks now and alot of people have been asking me what I think about it and how I got in. I figured a blog entry would be good to catch people up and since I have been in charge or a rewards program before, maybe I can add a few tips for Starbucks.
I was invited into the program early, before it was open to the public, and for free. Great! I love being an early adopter, I love Starbucks, and I’m not going to lie, I like being “that guy” who the baristas say “Ohh, this is a Gold Card.”
After using the card for a few weeks I wanted to give some early feedback, and maybe some information for anybody that is thinking about buying one when they become available November 4th. Starbucks, if you want to hire me for these insights, feel free. :)
Previously to being invited to join the Starbucks Gold Card program I had been a registered Starbucks Card holder since they started giving you free syrups and milks and had been using a Starbucks Card for much longer than that. In fact I have been using the Ichiro card that came out over three years ago until I got the new, slick looking, Gold Card. All that being said, yes, I go to Starbucks a good amount.
So what does the Starbucks Gold card get you? So far it has gotten me 10% off my drinks and food. They say there will be other benefits given online over time, but I haven’t seen anything in the past few weeks. You get 10% off of other products as well and a free drink on your birthday.
Over the last few weeks I have probably earned 2 free drinks (based on saving 10% a drink). To make things easy, let’s say I buy a grande Americano everyday (which I don’t, although I do buy Americanos not the expensive drinks). That would cost me apx. $890 over the year, and with the Starbucks Gold card I would save apx. $89, or roughly 36 free grande Americanos. That’s quite the savings if you ask me, and for a free card (or even a $25 card) it is well worth it. Factor in buying for other people, snacks, gifts, and you could be making back 10X your investment fairly quickly. Sounds great, it is…but is it could easily be better.
Here are the knocks I have with the card;
- You don’t get refills, even though it is a registered card.
- You don’t get free Soy or Syrups, even if you have registered the card.
I guess those are the only two knocks that I have on the Gold card, but trying to be an elite or somewhat exclusive program they should take care of these benefits that they already offer to other “registered” card holders.
What does this mean on your bottom line? If you buy Soy drinks of any size, get coffee refills, or buy tall or short drinks with syrups the registered card, as opposed to the Gold Card, is actually is a better deal. For me, being an Americano drinker who likes refills it has actually led to me having to carry two Starbucks cards. To save money on the Americano I use the Gold Card, then when it’s time for my refill I use the registered card. You can call me cheap if you’d like, but if you know me you know it comes down to the principal of the program and the benefits.
Why doesn’t Starbucks just let the registered Gold Card members get free syrups, milk upgrades, and of course the refills? Obviously the Gold Card members are loyal and with the special invites going out Starbucks wants these card carriers them feel valued. Not taking care off these small details will hurt the overall experience for those who buy the Gold Card and make them question if they should join, or if joining was the right choice.
Overall I love the program, but would love these small changes made. Not only to save me the hassle and the money but to also make me, as a Gold Card member, feel just that much more exclusive than I was as a regular “registered” Starbucks Card holder.
Brad Steven’s giving Starbucks Ideas a sneak peek
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for this anniversary of your blog death…and I hope you come back to provide study breaks for me soon!
[...] had a friend wish me the unfortunate anniversary of the death of my blog. She had actually left a comment, but as I was receiving alot of spam comments on the old posts I had missed her comment. I was [...]
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Got one!