Exclusive! Big changes coming to the Starbucks Rewards program

October 16 is the day that the Starbucks Rewards program changes debut. Among them:

-- At the Gold Level, you get a free drink at 12 stars -- not 15 like before.

-- Say farewell to those postcards you get in the mail telling you about your free drink. Under the new Gold plan, an email from Starbucks will let you know you have a freebie coming.

-- Sorry, but you'll no longer get a free tall beverage when you buy your pound of coffee.

-- Also, you'll no longer be able to add a syrup or swap in soy milk for free, but...

-- Rewards will be good for pastries, bistro boxes, breakfast sandwiches, and other food items.

Have I missed anything, SBUX employees? Let us know in comments.

(Follow Starbucks Gossip on Twitter.)

Comments

[Jeff]

Ouch! My favorite benefit is going away. I usually do both of these: add a syrup/ swap in soy milk

[John]

This was supposed to be kept under wraps until the 18...

[DD]

Sad to hear that soymilk benefit might be going away. For us frequenters that are lactose intolerant and have to have soy, that extra cost really adds up.

[Former Manager]

In the old days you - anyone, that is - got a free tall drip with a one-pound bean purchase. Do customers still get tall drips, even if they no longer get a tall-any-drink??

[Bryen]

No more free soy or vanilla? I have to say - big dislike on this one.

[frapatte]

This is gonna lose plenty of customers. So many people hand me their gold card and make a point to say "I wanna take off the money for my soy and syrups, make sure it does that".

[kewlbeanz]

I never understood why people complain that they have to pay extra for soy, soy milk in stores is more expensive than regular milk so why wouldn't you pay extra at Starbucks? Also going along with what John stated, this was suppose to be kept very under wraps.

[MT]

Oops, customers aren't supposed to know this yet!
I'm pretty bothered that they're getting rid of free soy/syrups. Besides the haranguing I'm going to get from customers, it just doesn't make any sense. It may seem like they're doing you a big solid by lowering it to 12 instead of 15, but if you're paying for the extras, you're spending more money than the free drink is worth. E.g. 60 cents times 12 is an extra $7.20. And it's kind of cruel to people who can't or don't drink milk. If I weren't a partner I'd seriously think about going elsewhere for my soy lattes.

[jk]

The cost of soy milk is a simple supply and demand thing. If you want a product outside of the mainstream, you pay more for it, that's always been true. Soy milk costs the company more, so it costs the customers more. I have never been to a coffee shop that doesn't put a premium on soy.

[Ben]

as for "customers aren't supposed to know this yet"...we are on a site devoted to "Starbucks gossip/news" ...I did hear a partner tell a customer about it last night though.

As a customer, I'm disappointed in it...but not angry...conservative estimate: I get 300 stars a year, so that'll mean 5 more drinks a year, but even if 1/3 of those stars are for my beloved Vanilla Latte's, the syrup costs will likely double what I gain by the additional drinks...not to mention a few free tall drinks a year with WB purchases (I might just start getting half pounds). But it is what it is and I still value my free drinks. I do wish they would have kept a free brewed coffee with whole bean purchase and just made it so you had to get coffee and not a tall latte or whatever for the free drink.

I wonder if the grocery store bags will still have the coupon for the free brewed tall coffee.

[midwestcoffeeguy]

My cafe does not charge a premium for soy. They may be rare, but they're out there. :-)

[DF]

These changes seem fair, and I'm especially happy that Starbucks is 86'ing the postcards, which seem like a needless expense.

[bob]

what about free coffee/tea refills? Are they going away also?

[I <3 music]

Wallstreet will love this one.

[Gobo]

As a customer, I think this is shitty. Taking rewards away from a rewards program is bad business.

Fuckit, I'm done.

[Possum]

I don't get Starbucks often enough to worry about the free drinks (though it's nice), but the free soy was my main incentive for spending there.

I frequently ask them to leave *out* a shot of syrup, so with the free soy, I felt like I was balancing out, getting what I paid for. Now I'll feel like I'm paying extra for something I don't want, whether I get it or not. (That irks me. If I want an extra pump, I pay for it. But if I want one left out, I don't get it discounted.)

Quite unhappy. :(

Yeah, it's a total #whitewhine and #firstworldproblem, but still. One of the tiny little occasional happy things in my life is going away, so, boooooo.

So, removing the free soy? Honestly, it removes any reason I had to go choose Starbucks over someone else.

[SirMark]

Finally. A fair, straight forward, simple to understand, and hopefully easy to implement rewards program! Thank you Cecile Hudson for listening to the voice of reason.

[ct]

Wow... they'll be losing a lot of business from us. We like no whip Cinnamon Dolce Latte's and for a tall we save 70 cents with a registered card. I think Grande is 90 cents savings and Venti even more than that? There is a big surcharge (more than just the syrup).

[Kelsey498]

ct, you save the same amount no matter what size you get. It'll take off the cost of syrup, 50 cents, and that's all. No difference for different sizes.

[CB]

People need to chill out. Starbucks isnt the end of the world. it is a business. I never understood why starbucks customers felt so privileged, like they deserved free product and starbucks owes it to them to give them special things free of cost? The rewards program is a way to say Thank you, by offering a free drink as they keep track of the number of drinks you buy, but so many people abuse it. So everyone complaining should think about the ways theyve abused their barista and store by taking advantage a little bit too much of the friendless of starbucks policies. Suck it up.

I dont understand whats so confusing. Did they say theyre getting rid of refills? NO. but understand the policy before coming in and asking for free frappucino refills. Did they say that if you return your lb coffee bag they wouldnt give you a free cup of coffee? NO. It is only Soy and Syrups that is changing and the 3 star reduction.

The economy sucks. Starbucks is reacting to it.

[Barista Ben]

Free food or drink? That's awesome. FREE FOOD ITEM. I'll be taking advantage of that even more then the free syrups. Some of those sandwiches are almost $6!

That being said its always a bad idea to take away things. It's why you should always make sure what you do is what you want to do. Still, same stuff when they got rid of the old gold card (10% off)

[Ryu]

If the customers at Starbucks weren't so crazy and cheap, they wouldn't have to make a move like this.

There was a woman standing in line ahead of me at Starbucks that argued with the barista for 3 minutes and demanded that her vanilla be free, and she is never charged, when she had 6 pumps in a grande and did not have a Starbucks card. Thank goodness the barista refused.

I mean, really? In what world is product free? It's a GIFT, not a RIGHT.

[John2]

Baha the customers that're going to stop coming. Please do, that's another drink off our cue! Here's a secret. If you're really pleasant to your baristas, tip, ask us about our days etc, many of us tend to not charge for soy or syrups anyway... They did say that there aren't going to be free cups of coffee with your bean purchase. I honestly wish they'd do something about multiple transactions to make it once a day or something that you can earn stars.

[CB]

@CT You would save nothing and lose nothing with this policy change on CDL regardless of the WC. it's a standard drink...unless the barista rings it up wrong to take off the 50 cents by calling it a latte with CD syrup, which is a possibility.

[Hipsterdufus]

Free syrups pretty much the only reason I used my gold card. Even less reason for me to wander into a Starbucks these days.

[Mr. Who]

@CB A green level card has always made the price of a CDL, the price of just a latte... Even though it's a premium beverage and (in most markets) the same price as a Caramel Macchiato or White Mocha, it is offered to cardholders at the price of a standard latte.

[KDH]

Rewards will NOT be good for RTD/E DRINKS -- no bottled Frappuccinos, no canned Refreshers, etc.

The change I was looking for didn't happen -- 1 star for each beverage, instead of per transaction. Way to piss off customers and baristas at the same time, Starbucks!

[notevenclose]

Starbucks has said repeatedly it won't be changing the rewards program to per drink, so no one should be surprised that they are not.

[notevenclose]

It wouldn't be right to say you can only earn a star once a day. That would be shooting themselves in the foot even more than they already are. Many customers come in multiple times a day.

[DLG]

How will this work for the reward on my gold card? Will the 13th transaction be credited automatically or can i "bank" the reward for when i want to use it? I would hate for my reward to be wasted on a tall coffee instead of the venti quad soy latte!

If you can "bank" it, then am i going to have to tell the barista i don't want to use it each time? Will it also have the 30 day expiration? So many questions!

[Gumball]

I think it's telling that the only people cheering for this change are baristas who are hoping for fewer customers and, of course, SirMark, who likes it just because it irritates people.

[Justin]

assuming all this is true, I'm psyched for the new program. it's much simpler - earn stars, get free stuff. I get a brewed coffee or Americano every day so I'll get my free drink (a frappuccino) even faster...and right away with an email from Starbucks?! go go gadget gold card!

[I.Heart.Spirit]

I don't comprehend why people are so upset they have to pay for something they are ordering.

I don't get pissed McDonalds charges me for a cheeseburger instead of a hamburger when I want cheese. Taco Bell charges you to add sour cream to burritos that don't come with it. We are fast food with coffee. Pay for what you order or don't order it? What did people do the many, many years before the short time we had the gold card?

It's still a rewards card. You are being rewarded with a free drink or food item. Get over yourselves.

[imout]

I like this change. I'm no longer a barista, but I've never seen a customer base that feels so entitled to free stuff as Starbucks customer base. The few times I gave somebody a free drink while I worked there the response was always "it's about time, I never get anything free and I've been coming here for x amount of time!" instead of thank you.

Starbucks is a business, and you are a customer. The customer exchanges money for goods and services provided by the business. I don't get why Starbucks customers are like this. I never had anybody expect free books when I worked at Barnes and Noble or free sandwiches when I worked at Subway. So glad I don't have to deal with customers in that hellhole anymore.

[Gumball]

@I.heart: If you were a daily McDonalds customer and, through your loyalty, earned a card that gave you, say, free bacon or free cheese, and you used that for several years... and then were told, oh hey, to reward you for your continued loyalty, we're taking that away.... you'd be a bit baffled, yes? I think most Gold Card customers will be confused and angry as to why all of their perks are being removed.

[Joe]

As a customer that has earned seven hundred fifty stars since January I can tell you that personally don't care 1 bit if they change it if you're that big of a customer it really won't matter to you. It's real simple remember to tip them and make them your friend and guess what the freebies keep coming

[SirMark]

Fair, and easy to understand. That's what a rewards program should be! Suck it up, and get used to it Gumball! Starbucks makes the rules, and all I have ever asked for is a simple program, easy to understand, and simple to implement. Starbucks has listened, and delivered!

THANK YOU CECILE HUDSON!

Now there'll be no more arguments over what is, and isn't a sauce, and when is part of standard recipe of a drink, it isn't free, so that all those beverages then becomes just a low cost modified latte.

It's about time Starbucks finally put an end to all the misinformation, and misunderstanding regarding the rewards program.

If Melody Overton, a Lawayer, can't even corectly interpret a Starbucks policy regarding the rewards program, on her own website, think of how many customers have suffered through newly trained baristas trying to interpret those same policies.

[notevenclose]

Sirmark, you are truly a sick, sick, sick old man who gets off on others misery. No one gives a flying fart what you think.
You obsess over abusing others and making them look bad, but you only make yourself look like the sick bastard that you are.

[ct]

FYI: CDL's DO have an extra surcharge of 70 cents for a tall, 90 cents for a grande and more for a Venti (this is in Canada). Same thing when we go to the U.S. although the surcharges may be slightly different. Check a receipt after a registered card CDL transaction goes through if you don't believe me. This extra charge comes off with the registered card (bringing it down to a regular latte price). It is not just the standard 50 cent syrup charge and it seems baristas will never ring it in as a latte + CDL syrup. (We never get the whip). My spouse said "Wow this becomes a game changer" when I told him... no more daily grande CDL at a buck more each (90 cents + tax added to our current registered card cost). The Starbucks habit is already too expensive, this is the point where you realize the cost is just ridiculous!

[Shifted]

@sirmark:

"Now there'll be no more arguments over what is, and isn't a sauce, and when is part of standard recipe of a drink, it isn't free" -- really? These morons are up in arms over losing their entitlement, as if you'd beaten a puppy. You think that now they will suddenly reform?

"It's about time Starbucks finally put an end to all the misinformation, and misunderstanding regarding the rewards program." -- Agreed. But that's not happening here at all. They're just changing the misinformation to new misinformation.

No rewards program that I'm familiar with has ever improved. Seems they always get worse. And the companies who start them? The more desperate they get, the more lying and reducing they do, the more they're regarded as not that place you love to go, but that place you go to when there aren't other options.

[Herman]

More Charlotte syndrome - folks get really pissed when the other guy doesn't want to pay for my free stuff.

[baristajack]

From what I understand, this information was not supposed to be public until Sept 18. Why then did a store manager disclose this information when they were told not to? Only a store manager or higher up would have had this info, seeing as they were the only ones with it.

[Baristajack]

I see there is alot of confusion as to how the program will work, maybe that is why the news was not to me spread before the date, people are bashing each other without all the facts. next time follow the policy and keep your knowledge to yourself , rather than spreading rumored changes without all the facts

[Souffle]

SirMark was kicked off of MyStarbucksIdea recently for proclaiming himself a stalker of Melody Overton and explaining how he was planning to damage her reputation, hurt My Starbucks Idea, and make the moderators' jobs as difficult as possible. I'm certain he's back now under yet another nom de plume. Why he's allowed on this board, I have no idea.

[Bobglory]

What is not fair is that you get charged for the soy no matter how much or how little is used in your drink. I can see it for a venti latte, but when all you are getting is a splash in you frapp it's insane to charge. If you figure how many frapps they get out of a box of soy at .60 a pop, it's highway robbery.

I am dairy allergic and have no choice when it comes to soy. I am already well over 300 stars this year and it's only September. None of the other coffee shops in my area offer soy.

As far as free food goes, Starbucks has only pumpkin loaf and oatmeal that are dairy free (and if you want a splash of soy in your oatmeal, you pay for it), so" free food" coupons are no good to a lot of people that have no choice but soy.

Given a choice between free drinks, free food or free soy and syrup, I would gladly give up the free drink/food to keep the free soy/syrup.

I thought the whole point of the gold card was to make their best customers fell that they are valued. Sad to say,I'm not feeling the love.

[Judy]

Presumably the free drink will automatically expire in 30 days so it becomes a "use it or lose it" proposition. Instead of now where you can get away with using expired postcards.

DLG above makes a good point - will we be able to control when this is used?

[stopthetroll]

re sir mark-he was kicked of a year and a half ago and the admin on mystarbucksidea refuse to take necessary steps to actually block him. He creates multiple screen names a day showing what an unhealthy person he is.
re soy in fraps-it's not a splash, it's a good amount. It' costs Starbucks more, a lot more.

[S Jergens]

Does anyone remember that. We used to charge for the rewards card?

[Souffle]

@Jergens: I happily paid $25 a year for the original 10%-off-everything Gold Card. It was a great perk for regular customers. It's a shame that so many people complained and demanded a free punch card.

[Rob]

Just to say to everyone that says "This is supposed to be under wraps" I actually found this information at a STARBUCKS and have the flyer right now. Just learned about it today and just did some internet browsing because I couldn't find it on the Starbucks site and wanted to know if my birthday drink would be an email or card seeing as it's on the 30th. So gratz on keeping secrets Starbucks ;-).