Is Starbucks Rewards Worth It in 2025?

Redeeming 200 stars for a handcrafted latte at Starbucks can be the equivalent of getting close to 5% back on all your Starbucks purchases.

This will be the first in a series of blog posts I write about various rewards programs. We are starting with Starbucks’ Rewards program.

Later in this series, I will talk about other rewards programs that I actively use - Dunkin Donuts, Chevron, BP, Shell, Crumbl Cookies, Chipotle, Chick Fil A, etc.

For now, let’s begin with Starbucks.

The Basics

When you are paying for your Starbucks order, there are primarily 2 ways you can do that:

Pay with credit card (either in store or through the app).

Pay with preloaded Starbucks credit (loaded in the app wallet through credit card or gift cards)

Paying directly using a credit card earns you 1 star for every 1 dollar spent (excluding taxes).

Paying with preloaded Starbucks credits earns you 2 stars for every 1 dollar spent (excluding taxes).

To give you a concrete example, say you spend $20 at Starbucks.

If you pay with a credit card, you earn approximately 20 stars

If you pay with preloaded funds on the app, you earn approximately 40 stars.

That’s a 100% increase!

Redeeming Stars for Lattes

There are various ways you can redeem Starbucks Stars.

25 stars - Add an extra shot of espresso or sweetener

100 stars - Brewed hot or iced coffee, bakery item, or packaged snack

200 stars - Handcrafted drink like lattes and cold brews

300 stars - Sandwich, protein box or at-home coffee

400 stars - Starbucks’ merchandise

In my case, I always redeem 200 stars for lattes, so I will roll with that example. I also think for most people, Starbucks equals lattes, so that is the most likely redemption.

Yes, at face value, buying Starbucks’ merchandise gives the most “bang for your buck”, but I am not sure if that will be satisfying for most.

5% Back on All Starbucks Purchases

When you spend preloaded funds for all Starbucks purchases, for every ~$100 spent, you get 200 stars.

Say, on average a handcrafted latte costs $5 (excluding taxes).

You can get that $5 latte for 200 stars.

So, essentially, for every $100 spent you get a $5 latte, or you earn 5% back on all Starbucks purchases.

That’s not a bad deal if you are a Starbucks regular like me and my wife.

Our typical Starbucks trip costs us $12 for two lattes. If we exclude taxes and tips, that’s $10 (or 20 stars) earned every trip. So, every 10 trips we get one free latte.

Wait, it gets better when you account for Starbucks promos and points-earning credit cards.

Let’s talk about those next.

Starbucks Star Promos

Fairly frequently Starbucks provides opportunities to earn triple stars or additional stars in partnership with partners, such as Delta Airlines, Marriott Hotels, Uber, etc.

A few notable promotions that come to mind are:

Earn triple stars for every $1 spent

Earn double stars on travel days flying Delta Airlines

Earn stars staying at Marriott Hotels

These promos can start adding up very quickly.

However, to truly supercharge earning rewards from Starbucks purchases, you must take advantage of credit cards.

Best Credit Cards for Starbucks Purchases

To maximize rewards from Starbucks purchases, you should use cash back or travel credit cards with bonus categories for dining.

You can stack on the 5% Starbucks stars discount by adding one of the following cards:

American Express Gold - 4% on Dining (9% with stacking)

Citi Custom Cash - 5% on Dining (10% with stacking)

Capital One Savor Rewards - 3% on Dining (8% with stacking)

There’s another trick that I use with the Bilt card that gives me 11% on all Starbucks purchases. If you want to learn about that, stay tuned for my next blog post.

Quick Thoughts

To maximize your Starbucks rewards and get as high as 11% off on all Starbucks purchases, you should load your Starbucks app wallet using dining credit cards, and always use those funds for all Starbucks purchases.

If you are able to do that, you can earn anywhere between 8% to 11% on all Starbucks purchases, and potentially more if you redeem the earned credit card points towards travel.