COSTA Coffee has made it easier to get free drinks with the relaunch of its loyalty scheme.
Coffee lovers won’t have to make as many purchases before they are eligible for a freebie.
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Costa is changing the features of its rewards scheme this month so customers can now collect “beans” rather than “points”.
You earn a “bean” every time you purchase a drink or a food item at any Costa outlet.
Once you’ve racked up eight beans, you will receive a voucher for a FREE barista-crafted drink of any size to redeem at any Costa Coffee store nationwide.
You will have to be a Costa Club member to redeem but that’s free and easy to sign up for on the Costa Coffee Club app which is available on both iPhones and Android smartphones.
The new scheme should be rolled out by the end of the month so new and old customers will be able to start collecting the new rewards.
The old scheme was quite complicated for some users in comparison as for every £1 you spent, you would get five points back.
But each point was only worth 1p, so you had to rack a lot of points up.
It meant that with the old scheme you would have to spend roughly £48.40 in order to get a free coffee.
A medium Americano sets you back roughly £2.20 each go.
So when you took the five points for every £1 spent it meant you would have to purchase 22 drinks at £2.20 a time – £48.40 in total – to reach 220 points for a freebie.
The equivalent you have to pay now to redeem the freebie is at least £17.60, if you bought the same drinks over the now eligible eight transactions, which is a £30.80 saving.
But there’s a way to get it even cheaper with the new system too.
Customers can earn two “beans” if they present a reusable cup for their order to go in.
With double the points on offer for the “green” method, you could claim a freebie in just four purchases, which would only cost half the price at £8.80.
Over the course of September this year existing members will be switched over to this new scheme and will be sent an email when their account has been updated.
If you had already racked up points or previously earned benefits, you won’t lose these in the changeover though.
Any free drink rewards earned by the old system will be automatically converted to the equivalent value in “beans” and current balances will also be transferred.
There are other perks with the rewards scheme too including a free treat from the sweet counter on your birthday, and the opportunity to order via the app, which lets you skip the queue in-store.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “Not only will Costa Club members be competitively rewarded for the purchases they make, but using our Costa Club app, they can skip the queue or pay via contactless.
“We hope customers enjoy the updated scheme and collecting Beans – taking a well-earned break out of their busy days to enjoy a cup of their favourite Costa Coffee.”
It’s worth mentioning that Costa Coffee has axed some products and is offering a reduced menu as food chains have been hit by the supply chain chaos.
But it was only last month that coffee lovers could bag a free can of iced coffee from the brand at their local supermarket too.
Previously we compared the best and worst value coffee loyalty schemes including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Cafe Nero.
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