The Offer
No direct link. Sent out via e-mail by Starbucks. Subject line is ‘Limited time $0 introductory annual fee. Restrictions apply. Learn more.’
- Chase & Starbucks have increased the sign up bonus on the Starbucks credit card to 4,500 Starbucks stars after $500 in spend within the first 3 months from account opening. You also get  250 stars (2 free drinks) when using the Starbucks Visa card to load your Starbucks card in the app for the first time.
- Annual fee of $49 is waived first year
Card Details
- $49 annual fee is waived first year
- Get instant Gold status on the Starbucks loyalty program which typically takes 300 stars ($150 in spend) to reach
- Earn 1 star per $4 spent everywhere outside Starbucks (free item after $500 in spend)
- Earn 1 star per $1 spent on Starbucks purchases only when reloading your Starbucks balance via the app (if you pay directly at Starbucks you’ll earn the regular earn rate of 1/$4). The 1 star per $1 earned on Starbucks app reloads is in addition to the standard 2 stars per dollar earned by Gold members on all purchases. In total, you’ll end up with 3 stars per dollar, but again, the credit card is only adding 1 star extra per dollar.
- 8 Barista Picks: Curated food or beverage Rewards selected by baristas and automatically loaded to the cardmembers Starbucks Rewards account. These are random picks that get sent to you, not something you can choose. This benefit will load to your account 45 days after becoming a cardmember and will reset each cardmember year. Barista picks expire after 30 days.
- Read full review here
Our Verdict
When the card first launched it was offering 2,500 stars. Then they boosted it to 4,500 stars, then 6,500 stars. Now we see this 4,5000 Stars and annual fee waived. Current offer is enough for 36 free drinks/food items.  It’s still not worth considering at all due to the fact it looks like this card is subjected to the Chase 5/24 rule. There are also much richer credit card sign up bonuses available as well. It is interesting that Starbucks and Chase seem to becoming increasingly desperate for cardholders on this card. They might have more luck if they removed the annual fee and the 5/24 rule from this card.
Hat tip to readers Feb S, raekwon, Eric L, Mikey
