Starbucks was one of the first global restaurant chains to roll out a loyalty program a few years ago and I think they’ve done a great job with it over the years. Sure, it used to be a lot easier to earn rewards (“Stars”) and sure they watered down their coffee rewards, but overall the program is great.
I’ve grown to love the Starbucks Rewards program because I tend to buy coffee when traveling. Generally there is a Starbucks wherever I’m going and I know exactly what I’m going to get no matter where I am in the world. Sure, if I’m in Vietnam or Hong Kong I’m probably going with a more local option, but you get the idea. If I’m in desperate need of some caffeine, I’m generally going to Starbucks.
With that, I earn Stars along the way that I can then use for various free menu items over time. The way the old system worked I used to hoard my Stars and go for a mega-vente-capafrapa-mocha, but these days I generally stick to one of their breakfast sandwiches.
However, in recent weeks, I haven’t been traveling, I haven’t been going outside, and I’ve been brewing a lot of coffee at home. This means that I haven’t been earning Stars, but more importantly, I haven’t been redeeming Stars. As I recently discovered, this means I’m actually at risk of losing a few Stars in the coming weeks.
Starbucks Stars Expire Over Time
One thing I actually didn’t realize about the Starbucks Rewards program is that ‘Stars’ expire over time. Worse than that, Starbucks Stars actually expire much more aggressively than a standard loyalty program.
In most airline frequent flyer programs for example, miles won’t expire until you hit 18 months of inactivity. Even more generous, activity doesn’t just mean flying. Miles earned through credit card spend, dining programs, online shopping, etc. all count as activity and will keep your account in good standing. Further, redemptions also count as activity and will keep your miles alive for even longer.
Starbucks on the other hand has taken a much more aggressive approach. Instead of pooling your Stars into an account with one overarching expiration date, Starbucks assigns expiration dates to every single unique Star earned. Tracking Stars this way allows Starbucks to only take away Stars earned more than 6-months ago, instead of canceling all of your Stars after prolonged inactivity like an airline would.
How To Prevent Starbucks Stars From Expiring?
Well, there’s good news and bad news. As noted above, Stars expire 6-months after they are earned without exception. So, the only way to prevent Stars from expiring is to use them.
Thankfully, Starbucks makes it pretty easy to use Stars and to track when your Stars are expire. First, you need to log into your Starbucks Rewards account. Once logged in, you’ll find your current Star balance and some other helpful information.
If you scroll down toward the bottom of the page, you’ll find a list of when your Stars expire over the next 6 month period. In my case, I have a ton of Stars expire in August, September, and October. This makes sense since I used a redemption a few weeks ago and haven’t made a Starbucks purchase in about 2 months.
If you have some Stars and aren’t sure what to do with them, Starbucks has that covered as well. Also in the Starbucks Rewards homepage is a list of available reward options. As you can see, if you have 400+ Stars expiring soon you could buy a package of coffee at a Starbucks location. If you only have 25 Stars, perhaps consider adding an espresso shot to your next drink.
No matter what you chose, Starbucks makes it pretty easy to use Stars as long as you have more than 25 in your account.
Final Thoughts
As with most loyalty programs, the earn and burn strategy is always the best strategy. While hoarding miles, points, or in this case, Stars can be fun, it’s always best to use them quickly to avoid future loss. For example, loyalty programs tend to increase redemption costs with little notice. The opposite is generally not the case.
Starbucks makes this earn and burn strategy easy by assigning expiration dates to every star. This means you can only hoard your Stars for a maximum of 6 months. After that, you either to use them or let them expire.
Update: A reader, @ecshwarz, pointed out on twitter that Starbucks Stars will not expire if carry the Starbucks Rewards Visa credit card. Additionally, the card also offers several other benefits that could make it worth carrying in your wallet on an ongoing basis.
