How I Get 11% Off Starbucks Using Credit Card Hacks

Using the right credit card strategy to reload your Starbucks balance can boost your 5% discount through Starbucks Rewards to 8%, 9%, 10%, or even 11%.

In my previous blog post I discussed how you can pay for Starbucks orders using your in-app wallet and redeem the earned stars towards handcrafted drinks (such as lattes), in the process, getting 5% off on all Starbucks purchases.

However, it doesn’t stop there.

To be able to pay using the Starbucks app, you need to reload funds using the credit cards. The right credit card and the right timing will get you to that 11%.

In this blog post, I will provide a few strategies of varying effort level to help boost your Starbucks discount. The easy strategies (such as the first three below) will give you 3-4% on top of the 5% using Starbucks Rewards, while the higher effort strategies can give up to 11% overall.

Let’s get started.

8% Starbucks Discount Using Dining Credit Cards

Most mainstream credit cards in the market give 3% off dining.

Some of the best options include:

Capital One Savor Rewards

Bilt Mastercard

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase Freedom Flex

Citi Strata Premier

Wells Fargo Autograph

If you load your Starbucks app balance using a 3% Dining credit card, stacking that with the 5% you get from paying through the Starbucks app, you get a total of 8% on all Starbucks purchases.

9% Starbucks Discount Using AMEX Gold

One of the most common “foodie” credit cards is the American Express Gold. It gives 4X Membership Rewards points towards all global restaurant purchases.

Reloading your Starbucks app counts as a “restaurant purchase”.

So, if you load your Starbucks wallet using an American Express Gold card, you get a total of 9% (5% from Starbucks Rewards, 4% from AMEX Gold) off all Starbucks purchases.

I am valuing Membership Rewards points at 1 cents-per-point. If you are savvy with credit card points (and you might be if you are reading this), that 4X points can be equivalent to 8% or even 12% off.

However, to keep things simple, we will say the AMEX Gold gives you 4% on top of the 5% you get from the Starbucks app, making it a total of 9%.

10% Starbucks Discount Using 5% Dining or Office Supply Credit Cards

There aren’t many credit cards that give 5% on dining purchases. The Citi Custom cash is the exception. It gives you 5% on your top spending category every month, up to $500.

So, if you only use the card for dining, Starbucks purchases will get that 5%.

Reloading the Starbucks app using Citi Custom Cash in this way gives you 10% off (5% from Starbucks Rewards + 5% from credit card) on all Starbucks purchases.

You can also reload your balance using Starbucks gift cards purchased from office supply stores. That’s where the Chase Ink Business Cash card comes in.

The Chase Ink Business Cash card helps you earn 5% on all office supply store purchases, up to $25,000 every year. You can purchase Starbucks gift cards from most office supply stores, then use those to reload your Starbucks app balance.

In total you get 10% off Starbucks orders using this strategy - 5% from Starbucks Rewards and 5% from your credit card of choice (Citi Custom Cash or Chase Ink Business Cash).

11% Starbucks Discount Using 6% Bilt Card on Rent Days

The strategy I use is to reload my Starbucks balance using the Bilt Card on the 1st of every month (Rent Days), getting 11% off all future Starbucks purchases (5% from Starbucks Rewards and 6% from Bilt card).

Normally, the Bilt card gives 3% on dining purchases. However, on Rent Days (first of every month), it doubles every multiplier, up to the first 1K points earned.

So, 3% dining becomes 6% dining.

I load around $150 every month, giving me 900 Bilt points and keeping me under the 1K points limit. If you exceed 1K points, you revert to earning 3% on dining, instead of 6%.

Bonus Tip: If you connect your Starbucks and Delta accounts, every $100 Starbucks balance reload earns you 200 Delta SkyMiles. More stacking!

Quick Thoughts

Depending on how much effort you are willing to put in, you can get up to 11% off on all Starbucks purchases: 8% with any dining credit card, 9% with American Express Gold, 10% with Citi Custom Cash or Chase Ink Business Cash, or even 11% with the Bilt card on Rent Days.

If you are a Starbucks regular, there’s no reason to leave so much money on the table.