Starbucks Is Offering New Ways To Pay While Still Earning Stars With The App

The Starbucks Rewards loyalty program got an upgrade today! It’s a good one too! I love using the Starbucks app and earning stars with my purchases. I always cash those stars in for free drinks or merchandise.

Well, sometimes I get caught off guard and forget to load my loyalty card! Sometimes I can get it loaded really quickly, but if they’re busy I’m not about to hold up the line for my scatterbrained mistake.

Apparently people have been upset and have complained about the limited ways to pay and still earn loyalty stars. It never bothered me to a complaining level, I just blamed it on my ditzy spells.

If you don’t already use the app, you may be a bit confused. The Starbucks app allows you to load a Starbucks card with cash to spend at the stores. You link that card with your app and each time you purchase you earn 2 stars for every dollar spent.

Those stars add up and you can use them towards purchases. Like, you can use 400 stars and get a Starbucks collectible cup. Or you can use them for drinks, add-ons, and other menu items.

However, if you forget to load your card, and only have cash… you wouldn’t earn any stars. Booo! I don’t like missing out on free stuff. So now they have added other payment options and you can still earn rewards!

Here’s how it works

You can now use your debit card, credit card, cash, and even certain mobile wallets. You’ll still be able to earn your stars through the app even if you pay with one of the other options. The only difference is, instead of 2 stars per dollar, you will only earn 1 star per dollar spent.

I’m definitely going to work on remembering to load my card first so I can always earn the maximum amount of stars. However, if I am ever in a pinch, I can still grab up 1/2 of my stars while using another payment option.

You can read more about the new changes here on the Starbucks website. I think it’s great!