News and notes from around the interweb:
- Brutal Starbucks Rewards devaluation coming in February. I stopped caring about this program when they gutted it in 2016. Now it reminds me of 7-11’s program. The only thing worse is what Uber did.
- Local county board meetings are insane Washington National airport edition.
- Your flight was cancelled, now what? “Here’s how to get to where you want to go.”
- A few readers thought I was overly dramatic describing mass cancellations leading to missed holidays – which for some families would have been their last one together – and missed connections which upended lives. Maybe not for most! But millions of people didn’t make the trips they’d planned.
Here’s the story of a man in need of a heart transplant to live. He was matched to a donor. But the heart was given to someone else after several cancelled Alaska Airlines flights.
- Thousands Of Spirit Airlines Passengers Disappointed Their Flights Weren’t Canceled (Babylon Bee)
- Vending machine sells airline meals from around the world
Gary – not sure why you quit caring about the Starbucks rewards. I only get a Venti dark roast (around $3.50 or 50 stars) and the new program is better for me than the old one (free drink after 12 stars). I realize if you get a more costly drink the old program was better but, for me, I get around 14% payback (2 stars per dollar spent and 7 cents a star ($3.50 divided by 50) when used). This is the best payback I get on ANY program, including all my credit cards. The new program cuts it in half for me which is still decent payback (7%) but I will definitely use the 200-300 stars I have left before 2/13. After I’ll still go to Starbucks since I go for the coffee and would frequent them if they had no rewards program.
@retired gambler, read the details. Your Venti dark roast is going to cost twice as many stars come February.
@roundtree – I understand and realize my comment may have been confusing. First of all I was comparing my benefits under the old program (2016) to the current one where I get 14% payback on the drink I order. I realize this is unique to basic coffee drinks but that is my current payback. I know the revision will change the redemption to 100 stars (doubles the price) which cuts the payback to 7% (since get 2 stars for every $ spent). While I’m disappointed in the change and plan to use all my current “stars” for drinks prior to 2/13 I think the 7% payback is still pretty good and would drink their coffee with no rewards program so anything is really a bonus for me.
Are we seriously debating the value of the Starbucks rewards program? 7% back on a $3.50 purchase? Are you (***) kidding me?
Don’t forget to add the Chase offer: 20% back up to $3.
Since we’re discussing Starbucks, I’ve stopped going in the shops or drive thru & now purchase my Starbucks at the grocery where I get better value and if you care the coffee tastes better when made at home. Now…. What about sticking to the subject???
That guy who thinks Reagan Airport is going to close is delusional.
You can do far better than 7% return on Starbucks on the current rewards plan. They’ve long offered a $0.10 discount on drinks if you bring in your own cup, but this past Earth Day they rolled out a 25 star bonus in addition to the discount. You also receive the bonus on reward drinks if you bring your own cup. The sweet spot is drinks costing $3.25 before taxes or the discount. Four of them give you 125.2 stars. You can then get four free brewed coffee or tea drinks…those are 50 stars but you get 25 back with your own cup. Basically BOGO.
The devaluation cuts this back significantly. Those four drinks will only get you one freebie. Six drinks will get your two. Eight will get you three, a 37.5% return, or more if your reward drinks would cost more than $3.25. If you stop by a Starbucks daily (I do, it’s directly on my daily commute), bring your own cup, and stick to basic coffee/tea drinks it’s still very lucrative. But it really hurts those who only buy Starbucks infrequently, or don’t bring in their own cup.
And of course if you don’t like Starbucks for any of a variety of reasons, the devaluation doesn’t matter to you. 🙂
To everyone wondering why Starbucks is the program most discussed, read up on the concept of “bikeshedding”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality
Worse airlines ever!! I will never travel with this airline ever again!! Always canceling passengers flights and doesn’t ever do anything for their passengers!! They will go out of business pretty soon!!