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
OMG OMG!!! Wait. No.
Better offer: Spend 10k in 3 months get 500000 stars. Enough to make you obese by the min spend end date.
took one for the team; it is indeed subject to 5/24 even with this link 🙁
At a fair valuation of a nickel a star it’s $225 after $500 in spending, which isn’t that bad especially for a low tier card that virtually everyone without a bankruptcy can get. The Mercato salads now cost $9.45 at my local store, which is ridiculous, and sandwiches can easily be $7.50 for something smaller than a 6 inch sub at Subway – but those are eligible for redemption. The problem is that Starbucks showers everyone with star challenges so even an occasional visitor has a natural opportunity to earn hundreds of stars a month by just shifting from McDonald’s or the competition to Starbucks when targeted.
So 46 free items at ~6 dollars each means this is about a $275 Bonus on the 500 spend.
Got this offer. Tempted for the spouse who is only 2/24 and only allows me once or twice a year to open a credit card in their name. I usually pair it with “if you want that…”
It’s actually 46 free drink/food items if you do one $ load through the app, which is easy. So 36 (4500/125=36) + 8 Barista picks + 2 (250 stars with app $ load). Still not sure if it’s worth doing, but I’m considering it now. I had one of the original Starbucks Visas years ago until they shut it down. I remember they sent me a book of free drink coupons when they ended the card and I always thought that was cool.
Is this confirmed to be under 5/24 still?
Yes, unless you’ve seen any other DP?
Let’s face it: anyone smart enough to read Doctor of Credit already knows this isn’t a good deal. But there might be a scenario where it makes sense: you have a kid headed to college who is applying for one of their first cards and gets approved for this. Most schools have a Starbucks nearby. Now THERE’s someone who might totally benefit. The caffeine keeps your kid awake and studying, and the free food lets you know they’re getting some nutrition.
Actually it is a decent deal if you’re a starbucks fanatic and you don’t churn a lot of cards. It obviously isn’t a great deal if the 5/24 applies (not sure yet) and it precludes you getting a better card for a while, but there are worse deals to be had.
I’d actually go for this if it wasn’t 5/24. Of course I could say that about most Chase cards…
I don’t understand why they send these things to me when I’m ineligible for their cards.
Maybe, just maybe and hopefully, applying via the emailed link could bypass 5/24? Waiting for good Samaritans to give it a try and be a DP =)
Spotted a few typos:
“Now we see this 4,5000 Stars and annual fee waived. Current offer is enough for 35 free drinks/food items.”
– 4,500 stars
– 125 stars = 1 free food / drink. So 4,500 stars = 36 free food/drink items. IF taking into account the additional 250 stars for reloading Starbucks Card, then it’s 38 free items.
45,000 Stars would make this a deal, about 360 free food/drinks would cover food/drink expenses for a few months if you were ok eating at starbucks everyday