- The spending needed for a free barista-made drink will rise from £50 to £60.
- A free pastry or cake will require £35 of spending, up from £30.
- Starbucks is the latest coffee chain to scale back its loyalty offering.
Starbucks is making its loyalty rewards more expensive to earn, with customers needing to spend up to 20 per cent more for some of the freebies available through its scheme from September 3.
Under the changes, customers will need to spend £60 to earn enough rewards for a free barista-made drink such as a cappuccino, flat white or frappuccino, up from £50. The threshold for a free pastry or cake will rise from £30 to £35.
The amount customers need to spend varies according to the reward they want, but the direction is the same: getting a free item will require more spending.
Starbucks said it was changing the number of stars required to redeem certain rewards to ensure the programme continues to deliver value over the long term. The company said there would be no change to how members earn stars and that it would continue investing in rewards.
For regular customers, however, the practical effect is straightforward. They will have to spend more in Starbucks before reaching some of the same rewards.
The loyalty squeeze is spreading
Starbucks is not alone in making its loyalty offering less generous.
Pret a Manger introduced its subscription model in 2020, initially charging £20 a month for up to five coffees a day. The price rose to £30 in 2023 before the scheme was changed to a £5 monthly subscription, offering up to five half-price coffees a day.
Leon took a different route. Its Roast Rewards subscription launched in May 2024 at £25 a month, offering up to five coffees a day and 20 per cent off food. The programme was scrapped at the end of 2025, just over a year after it began.
The changes suggest that coffee chains are finding it harder to maintain the generous rewards that helped build customer loyalty when operating costs were lower.
Jeffrey Young, founder and chief executive of coffee market research firm Allegra, reportedly described Starbucks' decision as a reflection of the difficult economics facing hospitality businesses.
There is also a question over whether customers still see loyalty schemes as worthwhile when the spending required to unlock rewards keeps rising.
Scott Martin, who created Costa Express and is now chief executive of Unity Coffee, reportedly criticised Starbucks' repeated changes to its loyalty programme, arguing that customers could increasingly feel that the value of their rewards was falling.
Another coffee industry chief executive reportedly questioned whether loyalty schemes offered enough value to customers at all, suggesting some people might prefer paying for their drinks without a rewards programme if prices were more transparent.
That may be the uncomfortable part of the loyalty business.
These schemes are designed to encourage customers to keep returning, but they only work if customers believe the reward is worth chasing. Raising the spending threshold does not necessarily stop people from buying coffee, but it could change how attractive the programme feels.
For Starbucks, the company says the changes are intended to ensure the programme remains valuable over the long term.
For customers, the calculation is simpler: how many coffees, cakes or pastries do you need to buy before the free one still feels free?
