Can You Earn Free Flights Working From Starbucks?

Every month I spend around $150 working remotely from cafes, a large portion of it going towards Starbucks purchases.

Previously I wrote about the Starbucks Star Rewards program, as well as how I get 11% off on all Starbucks purchases using credit card hacks.

In this blog post, I will take a larger leap: can strategically spending on Starbucks get me free flights around North America? Let’s see.

Using Bilt Mastercard on Starbucks Purchases to Fly Alaska and American Airlines

The first strategy revolves around the Bilt Mastercard and Starbucks in-app wallet.

On the first of every month, Bilt gives 6X on dining. Reloading $150 into my Starbucks wallet on that day earns 900 Bilt points.

Over the course of a year, you can earn 900*12 or 10,800 Bilt points.

That’s the earnings part. Let’s look at redemption now.

Bilt’s newest airline transfer partner is Alaska Airlines. That means, you can transfer Bilt points to Alaska Airlines and book either Alaska or American Airlines flights to fly domestically within the US.

Next question - are there flights available for only 10,800 Bilt points? Surprisingly, yes!

Here are a few routes you can book for around 7.5K Alaska miles:

Seattle to Portland

Los Angeles to San Diego

Anchorage to Fairbanks

New York to Boston

Los Angeles to Las Vegas

Dallas to Houston

Expanding to 10K Alaska miles:

Seattle to Phoenix

Chicago to Nashville

Denver to Salt Lake City

New York to Washington DC

That’s quite a few options to get one free flight every year with minimal effort.

Using American Express Gold on Starbucks Purchases to Fly Delta Airlines

This strategy leverages American Express Gold's superior dining earnings rate, as well as a partnership between Starbucks and Delta Airlines.

The first part is simple. Every month you use AMEX Gold to load $150 into your Starbucks app wallet. At 4X per dollar on restaurants, that’s 7,200 MR points annually.

Starbucks and Delta Airlines have a unique partnership where, for every $100 loaded into Starbucks, you get 200 Delta SkyMiles. That’s 2,400 Delta SkyMiles annually.

American Express is the only credit card issuer who partners with Delta Airlines. You can transfer 7,200 MR points to Delta SkyMiles. Adding the 2,400 miles earned through the Starbucks/Delta partnership, annually we accumulate 9,600 Delta SkyMiles only from Starbucks purchases.

What does 9,600 Delta SkyMiles get you? Not a lot, but there are still a few options:

New York to Boston

Atlanta to Charlotte

Los Angeles to San Diego

Chicago to Detroit

Atlanta to Nashville

Quick Thoughts

By strategically using the Bilt Mastercard or American Express Gold card for all Starbucks purchases you can fly short US domestic routes, such as New York - Boston, Atlanta - Nashville, Seattle - Portland, Los Angeles - San Diego, New York - Washington DC, for FREE.