How to earn 10x points and miles at Starbucks
In the United States, particularly in cities and surrounding suburbs, Starbucks stores are ubiquitous. It seems like you can’t go more than a few blocks without running into another one. And while Starbucks isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard to deny the convenience when you need a shot of caffeine.
If you’re someone who frequently finds themselves stopping at Starbucks, keep reading to find out how to earn 10x points and miles at Starbucks.
Credit Cards
Many credit cards offer more than the traditional 1 point per dollar on food purchases. The American Express Gold, for example, offers 4x on dining. Our favorite travel hacking starter card, the Chase Sapphire, gives 3x on dining.
But, for Q2 April through June, the best card for Starbucks purchases is the Chase Freedom Flex. The Freedom and the Freedom Flex are great cards to have in your wallet because they don’t have an annual fee and have quarterly 5x earning categories in common spend areas like grocery stores, gas stations, etc. It just so happens restaurants are a Q2 5x category. So even with just the 5x, it’s beating the other cards in our wallet for April to June.
But wait, there’s an additional benefit on this category because the Freedom Flex always offers 3x on dining, regardless of the quarterly categories. For Q2, that means that Freedom Flex cards will earn 7x points on dining. Chase outlines the details in this article – but to summarize, it’s 1x (for all purchases on the card) + 2x (dining) + 4x (quarterly category) = 7x.
Now 7x points by itself is pretty good just for credit card spend, but there are two consistent ways we get even more points and miles on our Starbucks visits.
United MileagePlus X app
We’ve previously written about the United MileagePlus X app as it’s a super-simple way for us to accrue miles with very limited effort. The app allows you to buy gift cards at a variety of retailers for a certain multiple of United miles. These miles are on top of the credit card points you’re earning for the gift card purchase.
Starbucks is on the app for 2 miles per dollar. If you use your Freedom Flex to purchase a Starbucks gift card, that’s an additional 2 miles on top of your 7x Ultimate Rewards points outlined above.
If you have a United credit card, you’ll earn an additional 25% miles on MileagePlus X purchases. You just need to hold the card but can use any card for the purchase through the app.
Delta x Starbucks Partnership
Delta Airlines has a partnership with Starbucks where you can earn 1 mile per dollar spent at Starbucks. If you haven’t enrolled, you can do so here. This is an easy way to earn miles because you set it and forget it. We haven’t flown Delta in years, but why not earn miles for purchases you’re making anyway?
Even if you’re not a Delta devotee, it’s part of an alliance with providers like KLM and Air France, which are very popular for flights from the U.S. to Europe using miles.
Example Spend
Let’s just say you decide to load your Starbucks card with $50. With the steps outlined above, you will earn 350 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, 100 United miles, and 50 Delta miles. All told, that’s 500 points and miles at Starbucks towards your future travel goals.
Summary
If stopping at Starbucks is part of your daily routine, why not turn those visits into a bucket list trip? Earning elevated points and miles at Starbucks is relatively easy and should always earn more than 1x points. And, as we outline here, it’s possible for up to 10x!
Here are some of our other posts to check out if this content is up your alley:
How to maximize points and miles with Starbucks
