Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
We go to Starbucks maybe 3 times a week in the evening and always use the card just in case we need the wifi. It's the middle of June and we just got an email saying "Hey, you're now a magical gold member! Wow! Starting from this email, every 15 visits, you'll get one free drink."
So apparently you have to make something like 25 visits EACH YEAR before you even start accumulating free drinks.
As a loyalty program this makes the Delta frequent flyer program look generous.
It's actually 30 visits to get gold status.
FYI, once your card was registered, it was not necessary for you to buy something with it more than once every thirty days for free wifi. Once you get the gold card, you can use the wifi as long as the card is valid.
As to your comments about the program, I agree completely.
Think of it this way. A customer who buys a short Pike Place ($1.50) gets the same reward as a customer who buys an espresso machine. Better yet, buy one cup of coffee, get one star. Buy two cups of coffee, get one star. Buy four cups of coffee, you still get one star.
I guess none of these pinheads ever figured out the difference between segments, miles and points.
