Seemed like an incredible scam when reading it in the store today. I skip all the fancy drinks and just get normal drip coffee (and I get weird looks when I just order "coffee" ), so my spending isn't huge so I took a pass. Other than the 10% I don't really understand the benefits over the regular SBUX registered card. ...and 10% really isn't all that great considering you're paying $25 up front for it. You'd have to be spending maybe $500 a year to really justify carrying it and presenting it every time (you'd have saved net $25). If you get a coffee on the way to work day-in and day-out, maybe. Otherwise, just seems like a great scam to catch customers.