Being a nomadic web-worker I often find myself inside a Starbucks since free wi-fi is still hard to come by these days. My city (St. Louis) had tossed around the idea of blasting a wi-fi signal to the whole city limits, so everyone could have it everywhere, but I think the idea was shot down. Bummer.
Anyway, until more places offer free wi-fi, I will probably be frequenting Starbucks. I am not a coffee drinker myself, I prefer tea. As far as I can tell, they have not spiked their tea with addictive “secret juice” like they have for their coffee. 
Starbucks Gold Card
In my last visit, I was offered to sign up for their new Gold Card. It is a basically a club that you pay $25 to get a 1-year membership. The perks include…
- A free drink when you sign up
- 10% of all drink purchases
- Surprise indulgences (whatever that means)
- 2 hours of wi-fi each day
- A few more ambiguous benefits
Gold Card Math
If you assume that the average Starbucks drink cost $3.50, then you will save 35 cents on each drink purchase. That really isn’t too exciting to me, but for addicts it could be worth it.
If you buy a drink from Starbucks every weekday then you will spend (5 X $3.50) $17.50 each week on drinks and will save $1.75 per week. This will work out to $910 spent on drinks each year with a savings of $91.00.
$91 savings – $25 cost = $66 + a free drink or two = You come out ahead $70 ish
So is it worth it?
To me, I don’t really like savings cards like this. When you have one you feel compelled to always go to that place, since you will get the discount that you already PAID FOR (conversely this is why it is a good business move by Bucks). If I hated all other coffee and knew that I was going to give Starbucks $1000 a year by drinking it every day I might join, but I have a feeling that many people will think this is a better deal than it actually is.
After all, if you are spending $1000 a year on coffee, you probably aren’t too concerned about saving money. Or maybe you should be?
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When I lived in NY and bought Starbucks nearly every day on my way to work, the Gold Card would have been a good deal for me, the way Barnes & Noble membership is for my friend — if you know you’re going to spend the money, you’ll get the savings.
Now that I’m in suburban CT, I spend more money on Dunkin Donuts than Starbucks, AND I tend to make coffee at home with my $40 cappuccino maker from Target. Lately, that’s my cup for the day, so the Starbucks card wouldn’t make any sense in my current circumstances.
Hm. This would not be a worthy investment for me because I only get Starbuck’s a handful of times a year.
I don’t understand… you say you go for the free wi-fi but you get 2 free hours a day with it? Every Starbuck’s by me offers it free so I’m not understanding why that is an incentive.
Kaymarie,
I should have explained that better… Since I have SBC as my phone provider I can get wifi access for free. If I didn’t have that phone provider I would not be able to get free wifi at Bucks… They have a limited wifi network and I just happen to be on the right phone network to get it. Apparently they have different policies on wifi across the country… go figure
It wouldn’t be such a good deal for me, but if it was the only place I could access the internet, it might be a great deal!
How does the free wifi for Starbucks work? I’m a little confused. It’s free but then with the card you get 2 free hrs? So are you really paying? either way I’m not a Starbucks guy so this is something I won’t sign up for. for people who drink coffee once a week it makes sense. No there are no huge savings but yes it does pay for itself over time. I agree that this is a smart business move by Starbucks to make people feel like they are a “gold” member.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
the thing about starbucks is that they make all their stuff so enticing! i think people are starting to see though it though. i would have once thought this was a great idea, but now i am only considering this as a gift for my mom who gets a drink once a day still. oy!
As long as wifi availability is limited, the 2 hours per day is worth something.
Keep in mind the “discount” on the sales tax too… in Chicago area, where tax is 9% to 10%, that’s pretty good.
I have signed up for the gold card. I like it because I am able to load it with money like a gift card. This is nice because I can budget my Starbucks fix. Also when I am out jogging I don’t usually carry cash so this helps. Also I can say that I have gotten at least 2 free drinks.
I’ve found that the Starbucks Gold Card makes sense for me. I actually wrote an article on this very topic. Here is a link to it:
http://bit.ly/115vT0
hi, I’m still contemplating about getting a starbucks card and actually a bit curious at what their members page looks like? Could anyone send me a few screen shot of sorts for this? thanks much!