IMAG4075 Chalkboard - Fourth and Union Starbucks 28 Feb 2013 $5 promo for registering a Starbucks cardFrom now until March 14, 2013, Starbucks has a promotion going on to encourage people to register their Starbucks cards.  If you register a Starbucks card, Starbucks will put $5 on your card.  You have to create a new profile, and be registering the first card to your new profile.  For existing  MyStarbucksRewards members, such as myself, you don’t receive the $5. This is a great idea to get new members to sign up to MyStarbucksRewards, and since it is a free $5, it’s absolutely worth mentioning!

For those who don’t know what the MyStarbucksRewards program is, allow me to give a short recap.  Once you create a profile, activate a card, and use it at least once, you’re at the “Welcome” level of benefits.  At the “Welcome” level, you get a free birthday drink (digital reward).  At the “Green” level of benefits, you can take advantage of free refills when you stay in the store (same-store visit only).  A refill is when a customer orders brewed coffee (whatever happens to be brewing, such as Pike Place Roast), iced tea, or iced coffee, after a higher priced beverage purchase during the same store visit.  There is no free refill available under Starbucks rules once you leave the store.

At the “Gold” level of benefits, you receive free food or beverage rewards.  (There are some limitations – the Evolution Fresh juices and “Evenings” food items are not included.)  Look for your rewards to appear digitally!  These rewards are very valuable so check your profile now and then, or keep track of them using the Starbucks app on your Android or iPhone smart phone.  Once you reach the “Gold” level (30 stars earned in one year), you earn free food or drink every 12 stars.  Once in a while Starbucks will offer promos earning customers bonus stars.  For example, right now through the end of March, you are earning  bonus stars for your at-home coffee purchases.

That’s been just a very quick overview of MyStarbucksRewards.  There is an FAQ page for this promotion too.

I thought I would share a few MyStarbucksRewards fun facts.  It’s stunning how huge MyStarbucksRewards has become!  I recently had a brief conversation with an official Starbucks spokesperson who mentioned that there are now 5.8 million MyStarbucksRewards members in the United States, including over 3 million Gold card holders in the U.S.  Now that’s huge.  The loyalty program added more than one million members just in Q1 of 2013.  Wow.

On a complete change of topic, this morning I had the most amazing vanilla latte.  The partner on bar really puts a lot of work and finesse into what he does, and he makes it look as if it is effortless.  Here’s what my beverage looked like:

IMAG4072 Vanilla Latte made by Jesse 28 February 2013 Pine Street Starbucks

He didn’t switch and use special equipment.  This morning’s drink was definitely a nice Starbucks moment, and so I thought I would share.

It feels like Starbucks is constantly giving me things to write about.  This article here caught my eye.  I have not tried it yet, but if you are browsing the New York Times via the Starbucks Digital Network, you now get 15 free articles.  I wonder if this is something people will use?  Would you use it?

That’s it for updates from the land of StarbucksMelody.com.  Thank you for reading!