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PMB doesn’t usually cover everything Starbucks, but it is a rewards program, and one I’ve passively participated in for about a decade now, so Starbucks must be doing something right. Earlier this year, Starbucks unveiled a suite of changes, so let’s take a high-level look.
Earning & Redeeming Stars
Earning
The most important part of any loyalty program is how to earn and redeem its currency of choice: Starbucks chose Stars.
Basic Starbucks members will earn 1 star for every dollar spent when they scan their Starbucks card at the register. If you preload your digital Starbucks card, you’ll earn an extra 10 Stars per $30 load and 25 for a $50 load.
Make sure you’re loading with a card that has a dining multiplier, such as the Amex Cobalt or RBC Ion+ Visa.
Ways to supercharge your Star earnings are taking advantage of Starbucks promos, usually available in the mobile app. You’ll see bonuses to earn X Stars for ordering specific items or Double-Star days that will double the Stars you earn during a certain period.
These offers do differ between members, so always check your app. Sometimes, higher-tier elite members (more on this later) will get better promos.
Redeeming
Redeeming Stars is straightforward. Starbucks has introduced value caps on many of the redemptions this time around, which does erode the value somewhat.
New option: redeem 60 Stars for $2 off
The key play before was redeeming 200 Stars for a handcrafted drink with unlimited customizations, but that’s now capped at $10. It’s still likely to be the most popular redemption, although the 100-Star tier is technically the highest value at 6¢ per Star if you max out the $6.
Notably, you can redeem Stars in other countries, so redeeming 200 Stars in the United States will be a marginally better value than redeeming them in Canada.
Earn Aeroplan and TD Points at Starbucks
Aeroplan
Starbucks does have an interesting loyalty angle in their partnerships with Aeroplan and TD.
On the Aeroplan side, you can earn up to 25,000 SQC with Aeroplan’s travel and retail partners, including Starbucks. The earn rate is 1 SQC per 5 Aeroplan points earned, so it’s unlikely you’ll get 25,000 SQCs at Starbucks, but every bit helps!
Earn Aeroplan points when you digitally load your Starbucks card for at least $50. Loading between $50 and $74.99 will earn 25 Aeroplan points, while loading $75+ will earn 100 Aeroplan points. You can also convert Aeroplan points to Starbucks Stars, with 400 points equal to 100 Stars. 100 Stars is worth $6 per the redemption chart, while I value 400 Aeroplan points at $8 (2¢ each), so I would not convert my Aeroplan points to Starbucks Stars. I would also not recommend that anyone convert their Aeroplan points to Starbucks Stars.
TD Bank
As for TD, linking your TD account to the Starbucks app will allow you to earn one bonus Star per $1 loaded to your digital Starbucks card. If you just swipe your Starbucks membership card and pay with a different card in-store, you’ll only earn 0.5 bonus Stars per $1, so be sure to load and use the digital card.
Furthermore, TD cardholders earn 3 bonus TD points or 0.75 Aeroplan points when using the linked TD card to reload the Starbucks digital card or pay in-store, depending on whether the cardholder has a Rewards-earning card or an Aeroplan co-branded card.
Like Aeroplan, you also have the option of converting TD Rewards points to Starbucks Stars at a rate of 1,000 TD Rewards points = 100 Stars.
This is interesting because 1,000 TD Rewards points are worth $5 (0.5¢ each on the ExpediaforTD portal) while 100 Stars can be redeemed for a drink or food item up to $6 in value. Technically, the redemption value at 100 Stars and above (200, 300, and 400) is equal or better than 0.5¢ per TD point, so you should move points over if you’ll be hitting the dollar redemption cap at Starbucks. That last point is key: if your drink or food item costs less than the redemption cap, you don’t get points back.
Of course, it may not be as satisfying to redeem your TD points at Starbucks compared to using it for travel.
Starbucks Perks & Elite Status
Last month, Starbucks reintroduced elite status. Earning Gold status requires earning 500 Stars a year, while Reserve status requires earning 2,500 Stars a year. Gold members earn 1.2 Stars per dollar spent, and Reserve members earn 1.7 Stars per dollar spent (compared to a base earn of 1 Star).
Gold and Reserve members have additional perks, such as longer redemption windows and more Double-Star days.
The most well-known Starbucks perk is also the best: a free drink (with no dollar cap) or food on your birthday. Basic green members can only redeem on their birthday date, while Gold and Reserve members have 7 and 30 days to redeem, respectively.
All members get free coffee and tea refills and access to member-only promotions (in the app).
Takeaway
This might all be much ado about nothing, as the Starbucks rewards program boils down to: link your Aeroplan and TD cards to your Starbucks account and load your Starbucks digital card in $75 increments to earn Aeroplan points.
Make sure you’re always loading your digital Starbucks card and using that to pay instead of scanning your membership card and paying separately, because you earn more TD points, Aeroplan points, and Starbucks Stars this way.
Redeeming Stars is easy, and you’ll earn max value at the 100 Stars redemption, although any redemption at that tier or above is decent. Never convert your Aeroplan points to Stars; consider moving your TD points over if you’ll be spending money at Starbucks anyway and hitting the redemption value cap of $6, $16, etc.
