#Starbucks Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

Redemption Level Sweet Spot Of The New Starbucks Rewards

On April 16, 2019, the changes to the Starbucks Rewards program took effect. While the earning of stars is still the same at two stars per dollar, the ways to redeem your stars changed significantly. Previously, you could redeem 125 stars for most food or drink items for sale at a Starbucks store, regardless of price. I always saved stars for when I wanted to pick up a lunch to take to work and cashed in 125 stars for a Chicken Wrap box, which sells for $7.95.

Starbucks has now divided items into tiers, with a different number of Stars needed to get a free item in each category. Here’s a breakdown of the new rewards structure:

So if awards are now divided by categories, where’s the sweet spot for redemptions?

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An Airport First, Another Rewards Program Devalued, Caution: Marriott, Don’t Do This On A Plane, & More!

Happy Sunday to all of our travel friends, both near and far! Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

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Why I’m Not Paying Attention To Chase Offers

One of the guidelines when earning miles and points is to maximize every purchase. That could be by choosing the correct card to use, using a shopping portal for online (and now in-store purchases), buying gift cards for places you shop at other stores that pay a higher multiple (such as supermarkets and office supply stores) or using a dining rewards program or MileagePlus X.

Another way to earn extra miles is when banks load offers onto your account, which pay an additional bonus or cash back when you spend money at specific merchants. American Express is still the leader in this market, even after they made the AMEX Offers program less valuable when they limited you to loading an offer onto only one of your AMEX cards instead of all of them.

Since American Express’ offers were so popular, it’s no surprise that the other banks wanted to get into the action. So now we have:

Chase Offers

Real original name there, Chase.

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Sign Up For Chase Pay For Free Starbucks Offer (But There Aren’t Many Other Places To Use It)

You can add Chase Pay to the list of “mobile wallet” apps available to go along with PayPal, MasterPass and Visa Checkout. While those other applications give you an option of which cards to add to your wallet, Chase Pay only works with most Chase credit cards. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sign up if you’re eligible, ’cause Chase has been putting out valuable offers for you to start using the service.

To be eligible for Chase Pay, you need to have a Chase issued personal credit card. Chase Pay doesn’t work with Chase Business cards. This service is also separate from the Chase App which is where you can do your mobile banking (like paying your bill and checking your balance). Confused yet?

I normally wouldn’t have bothered to even download the Chase Pay app but back in May, I received this offer from Chase.

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What Are Visa Checkout and MasterPass and Why Should You Sign Up?

Keeping up with all of the ways to pay for things nowadays is hard. I remember the days of cash, check or credit (or money order). Now we have mobile payments with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay ,Chase Pay and services like PayPal and Venmo to contend with. I was asked if I wanted to use my PayPal account to pay for my Home Depot purchase in the store the other day. The line between online and in-store payments is blurring more and more every day. If you’re confused where Visa Checkout and MasterPass fit into the equation, I don’t blame you.

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