{"id":245945,"date":"2026-02-03T16:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=245945\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:33:17","slug":"starbucks-rewards-adds-elite-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/starbucks-rewards-adds-elite-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Starbucks Is Revamping Its Rewards Program and Launching Elite Status \u2014 Here\u2019s How It Works"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Update: The program changes mentioned below have taken effect.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It's official: On <strong>March 10, 2026<\/strong>, Starbucks will launch a revamped loyalty program featuring new elite status tiers, benefits, and redemption opportunities. Although this isn't the travel hacking coverage you're used to seeing from us at AwardWallet, we're all about maximizing any and every loyalty program out there &#8212; including Starbucks Rewards.<\/p>\n<p>Here's what you need to know about the new Starbucks loyalty program, including how to earn elite status and redeem your Stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"custom-blue\"><strong>Make sure to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/account\/add\/195\" rel=\"noopener\">link your Starbucks Rewards account to your AwardWallet account<\/a> to track your stars and expiration<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/account\/select-provider\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>. Don't have an AwardWallet account yet? <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/register?ref=235\" rel=\"noopener\">Sign up for free<\/a> and track unlimited rewards programs and travel plans.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Introducing_Starbucks_Elite_Status\">Introducing Starbucks Elite Status<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Starting <strong>March 10, 2026<\/strong>, there will be three elite status levels with Starbucks Rewards: Green, Gold, and Reserve. The more you spend at Starbucks, the higher you'll climb in the ranks.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Starbucks_Green_member_perks\">Starbucks Green member perks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You become a Green member by simply joining Starbucks Rewards. You'll enjoy the following benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Enjoy a Birthday Reward (free beverage or food).<\/li>\n<li>Receive personalized offers, opportunities to play games like Starbucks for Life, and early access to select beverages and food.<\/li>\n<li>Take advantage of Free Mod Mondays: receive a complimentary beverage modification on one select Monday per month.<\/li>\n<li>Stars are valid for six months, and you can extend the life of your Stars for a month by completing a monthly qualifying activity (redeeming a reward, making a purchase, or digitally reloading a Starbucks card).<\/li>\n<li>Earn 1 Star per $1 spent. You'll also earn 10 bonus Stars for a $30 digital reload of a Starbucks Card or 25 bonus stars for a digital reload of $50 or more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span id=\"Starbucks_Gold_status\">Starbucks Gold status<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You can reach Gold after earning 500 Stars in a 12-month period. In addition to Green tier benefits, you'll enjoy the following perks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your Stars never expire.<\/li>\n<li>Receive a seven-day window to redeem your birthday treat.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy at least four additional Double Star Days annually, where you can earn double the Stars for your entire purchase.<\/li>\n<li>Earn 1.2 Stars per $1 spent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span id=\"Starbucks_Reserve_status\">Starbucks Reserve status<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You can become a Reserve member once you earn 2,500 Stars in a 12-month period, and enjoy the following benefits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Receive a 30-day window to redeem your birthday treat.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy at least six additional Double Star Days annually.<\/li>\n<li>Gain access to exclusive merchandise and curated events, including all-expenses-paid trips around the world to explore and celebrate coffee culture.<\/li>\n<li>Earn 1.7 Stars per $1 spent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_246287\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"900\/673\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-246287 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-900x673.webp\" alt=\"Three new elite status tiers with Starbucks Rewards\" width=\"900\" height=\"673\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-900x673.webp 900w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-750x561.webp 750w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-768x574.webp 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-276x207.webp 276w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg-476x357.webp 476w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Starbucks-Rewards-Elite-Status.jpeg.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><center><em>Credit: Starbucks<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Related: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/shopping\/do-starbucks-rewards-stars-expire\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Use AwardWallet to Track Your Starbucks Stars Expiration<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"How_To_Redeem_Starbucks_Stars\">How To Redeem Starbucks Stars<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Your redemption methods are largely staying the same. However, Starbucks is introducing a new redemption method, allowing members to take $2 off any item for 60 stars. Here are all your options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>25 Stars:<\/strong> A free drink customization (an extra shot of espresso, syrup, or added cold foam, up to $1 in value).<\/li>\n<li><strong>60 Stars:<\/strong> $2 off any purchase.<\/li>\n<li><strong>100 Stars:<\/strong> A hot or iced brewed coffee or tea, bakery item, or packaged snacks (up to $6 in value).<\/li>\n<li><strong>200 Stars:<\/strong> A handcrafted beverage like a latte or cold brew, or hot breakfast items like egg bites or a breakfast sandwich (up to $10 in value).<\/li>\n<li><strong>300 Stars:<\/strong> A free sandwich, protein box, or packaged coffee (up to $16 in value).<\/li>\n<li><strong>400 Stars:<\/strong> Select Starbucks merchandise (up to $20 in value).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In other words, if you are a Starbucks Reserve member, you'll earn enough Stars for a free sandwich up to $16 once you spend about $177 on Starbucks purchases. While it might not sound like the best return, you're likely already spending money at Starbucks anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, you can stack your rewards by using a credit card that offers bonus points on Starbucks purchases. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/merchants\/Starbucks_62244370\" rel=\"noopener\">Starbucks codes as dining<\/a>, so paying for your purchase using your <a data-ccid=\"242\" href=\"\/blog\/link\/CitiStrataElite?var2=ccid~242\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">Citi Strata Elite\u2120 Card<\/a> (<a data-ccid=\"242\" href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=a3pDkecFgAg&offerid=1978593.4347&type=3&subid=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rates & Fees<\/a>) or <a data-ccid=\"4028085\" href=\"\/blog\/link\/CR-AmericanExpressGoldCard\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">American Express<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Gold Card<\/a> could help you double-dip on rewards.<\/p>\n<div class=\"compare-cards-wrap compare-count-cards-2 compare-p-american-express\"><div class=\"compare-card\"><div class=\"compare-pre\"><div class=\"compare-image\"><div><img data-aspectratio=\"150\/95\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CardArt-CitiStrataEliteCard.png\" width=\"150\" alt=\"Citi Strata Elite\u2120 Card\" \/ class=\"lazyload\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-name\">Citi Strata Elite\u2120 Card<\/div><div class=\"compare-offer\"><strong>Welcome Bonus<\/strong> Earn 75,000 bonus Points after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. <\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-apply\"><a class=\"btn-use qs-apply-now\" title='Citi Strata Elite\u2120 Card' data-ccid=\"242\" href=\"\/blog\/link\/CitiStrataElite?var2=ccid~242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">Apply Now<\/a><\/div><div class=\"compare-fee-score\"><div class=\"compare-fee\"><strong>Annual Fee<\/strong><p>$595<span class=\"compare-terms\"><a data-ccid=\"242\" href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=a3pDkecFgAg&offerid=1978593.4347&type=3&subid=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rates & Fees<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"compare-rating compare-rating--0\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-earning\"><ul>\r\n<li>12X \u2013 Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com.<\/li>\r\n<li>6X \u2013 Earn 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com.<\/li>\r\n<li>6X \u2013 Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights\u2120 purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time.<\/li>\r\n<li>1.5X \u2013 Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-card\"><div class=\"compare-pre\"><div class=\"compare-image\"><div><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.nextinsure.com\/imaging\/opt\/4206696d-827e-44e5-bfc0-d0ce86822875.png\" width=\"150\" alt=\"American Express\u00ae Gold Card\" \/ class=\"lazyload\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-name\">American Express<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Gold Card<\/div><div class=\"compare-offer\"><strong>Welcome Offer<\/strong>\r\nFind Out Your Offer. You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.<\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-apply\"><a class=\"btn-use qs-how-apply\" title='American Express\u00ae Gold Card' data-ccid=\"4028085\" href=\"\/blog\/link\/CR-AmericanExpressGoldCard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow sponsored\">How to Apply<\/a><\/div><div class=\"compare-fee-score\"><div class=\"compare-fee\"><strong>Annual Fee<\/strong><p>$325<span class=\"compare-terms\"><a data-ccid=\"4028085\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanexpress.com\/us\/credit-cards\/card-application\/apply\/prospect\/terms\/gold-card\/91101-10-0\/?print#terms-details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rates & Fees<\/a><br>(Terms apply)<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"compare-rating compare-rating--5\"><strong>Credit Score<\/strong><p>Excellent, Good<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"compare-earning\"><ul><li>4X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>4X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)<\/li>\r\n        <li>5X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com<\/li>\r\n        <li>3X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com<\/li>\r\n        <li>2X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points on prepaid car rentals booked through amextravel.com<\/li>\r\n        <li>2X Membership Rewards<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> points on cruises booked and paid through amextravel.com\r\n        <li>1X on other eligible purchases<\/li>\r\n        <\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>And if you want to earn even more rewards, you can <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/delta-skymiles\/starbucks-partnership\/\" rel=\"noopener\">link your Delta SkyMiles<\/a> or <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/hotels\/marriott-starbucks-partnership\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Marriott Bonvoy<\/a> accounts to earn reciprocal benefits.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you regularly visit Starbucks, you won't have to start from scratch when the revamped loyalty program launches on March 10, 2026. Your status will be determined by the number of Stars you earned in 2025. So, if you were a heavy spender last year, you could find yourself a top-tier elite member on the day the program launches.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, these are positive changes to the program. However, under the current program, you can earn 1 Star for every $1 spent and an additional Star for every $1 loaded onto a Starbucks card. That means you can net 2 Stars per $1.<\/p>\n<p>Now, you can't come close to that, unless you are a Reserve member and you load money to your Starbucks Card in $50 increments. If you're focused on earning as many Stars as possible, the new program puts you at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ftoc\"><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Introducing_Starbucks_Elite_Status\">Introducing Starbucks Elite Status<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Starbucks_Green_member_perks\">Starbucks Green member perks<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Starbucks_Gold_status\">Starbucks Gold status<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Starbucks_Reserve_status\">Starbucks Reserve status<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#How_To_Redeem_Starbucks_Stars\">How To Redeem Starbucks Stars<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On March 10, 2026, Starbucks will launch a revamped loyalty program featuring new elite status tiers, benefits, and redemption opportunities. Here&#8217;s everything you need to know about the new program, including how to reach elite status and redeem your Stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":209603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[12622,12626],"coauthors":[36518],"class_list":["post-245945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-elite-status","tag-program-guides"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245945"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246304,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245945\/revisions\/246304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245945"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=245945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}