Segments

Is the $2.40 before or after tax? New T&C state stars will be calculated on pre-tax spend. Fractional stars are being posted to my account but it is hard to monitor spend since receipts only show total paid.

tmiw

I just finished the eight day in a row promo (no additional stars from that yet). This also means that I purchased the one item needed to extend Gold for a year. However, my account currently says that I need to earn 29 more stars to stay Gold; does that mean that once the 80 additional stars hit, my Gold won't expire until 2019?

DavidDTW

Those stars usually take at least a week after the end of the promo to post. Just be sure to keep track of which promo posts. With multiple offers I am sometimes not sure which is which!

kipper

The fractions don't show on my main screen, just if I click on my transaction history.
The eight day in a row promo will usually either hit about a week after it ends, or you will receive a star code about that time. The original email will tell you which, and when to expect it.

The purchase to extend Gold promo T&Cs state that your status will update by 5/15. No one knows about the Gold extension yet, and if it will extend it beyond a year, based on your current qualifying activity. That said, how would you extend yours through 2019? If it is set to expire this year, and you extend it through stars until 2017, then the Gold extension should be 2018. Once you hit Gold, in the past, you could not requalify for the following year until you passed your anniversary date. For example, if I accumulated 90 stars between 11/2014 and 11/2015, only the first 30 would go towards requalifying. The other 60 just were used towards free items.

Mine says it will expire 11/2016, but I'd requalified before the program change. It still indicates 2016, but says I need 0 stars to requalify. I'm hoping that it does extend it through 2018.

BamaVol

I think you hit the nail on the head. There is a small amount of tax. I don't have the receipt but it could be in the $0.15 range and that would wipe out my 0.6 fractional stars. Rant retracted.

Segments

Recheck receipt from your history page. I just noticed they are now showing "total applied to stars" line. Had not seen that previously especially when I looked at the receipt immediately after purchase (i.e. the tip your barista moment)

Yeah, learning the new system is going to take time.

BamaVol

Right on the money. $2.25 applied to stars. FL sales tax is funny. It's way low on grocery purchases unless it's take-out sort of food. Obviously a cup of coffee is a "restaurant" purchase as opposed to grocery. A bag of coffee beans would/should be taxed at a different rate.

Which means it will now take me >$134 to reach 125 stars and my "free" $2.40 beverage. That's a 1.79% ROI. Better than the bank but that's not saying much anymore. Still, compared to the prior program's 8.33% ROI, not so good.

BamaVol

I got a survey from yesterday's Starbucks visit in my email. I seem to get them regularly. Instead of one oldstyle star, it now earns 10 newstyle stars. And there's a couple new final questions regarding the rewards program. I took the opportunity to express my displeasure as best I could.

coachrowsey

I just made my purchase today. We'll see.

sophiagymgall

I rechecked the terms and conditions for the gold promo and the 48 hours period is for green customers becoming gold - current golds will see their status updated after the promotion ends.

As an aside, I saw the You are here mugs in store today for the first time this year (I think?). I meant to buy one last year but missed the window, so I might get one this year!

kipper

Current golds will see their status update by 5/15.

Silver Fox

So, in the latest version of the app, is it the cynic in me that says they are "hiding" the rewards (which used to be in the left hand menu) and only showing it on the barcode screen when you go to pay. Which means I am mostly likely to forget, and I always liked to see quickly what rewards I may have.

kipper

If you scroll down on the app home screen, it says something like, "Your rewards are still here."

Silver Fox

For now it is on the home screen (I am rather cycnical today) and yes I know I can find it on the barcode screen, but my feeling is that over time they will hide it to cut down on the amount of rewards they give out. We seem to have gone from something that was eminently and easily available to see at a glance, to something that might not be. Perhaps I am wrong but the pendulum seems to be swing in their favour at the moment.

Mind you, as I am in the UK with a UK registered card I get a star a visit so I should be grateful of that !

kipper

Received an email today that says double star day is tomorrow.