rewards program Archives - The Philippine Beat

(Updated Aug. 8, 2013)

IT”S HERE!

The Starbucks Card is finally here in the Philippines. Now you need not carry cash when buying beverages, food and Starbucks items because all that can be bought with the card. The Starbucks card is being introduced with a dual feature. It’s both a stored value card as well as a loyalty card which earns you rewards points every time you purchase a Starbucks handcrafted beverage, 250g of whole bean coffee, or 12-pack Starbucks VIA Ready Brew.

My Starbucks card

Here are answers to some of your questions:

How do I get the Starbucks Card?

Just go to any Starbucks branch nationwide. The card needs to have an initial load of P300 (cash, debit card, credit card) for it to be activated. Future reloads can be as low as P100 only and the card can have a maximum stored value of P10,000. Activation of the card can be done by visiting www.starbucks.ph/card.

Customers with activated cards immediately get a complimentary GRANDE handcrafted beverage (valid for 60 days from the time it is given) and will get a FREE slice of cake every year on their birthday AFTER the purchase of a handcrafted beverage (valid for 60 days from birth date).

How does it work as a loyalty card as well?

Stars are the “currency” of the Starbucks card. You earn 1 star with every purchase of any handcrafted beverage, 250g of whole bean coffee, or 12-pack Starbucks VIA Ready Brew. (Note: The type of star you earn depends on what you buy. If you purchase a beverage, you get a Beverage star; purchase whole bean coffee and get a Whole Bean star; and purchase Starbucks Via Ready Brew to get a Starbucks VIA star)

What can I redeem with my stars?

Here’s what you can redeem with your stars:

* 12 Beverage stars = Any Grande handcrafted beverage
* 10 Whole Bean stars = Any 250g of whole bean coffee
* 10 Starbucks Via stars = Any 12-pack Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew

Is there any expiration of my load or stars?

Your Starbucks card’s load has NO expiration because that represents your money; however, if the card maintains a ZERO balance for 3 years, the card will expire also after that period as it is presumed you no longer have any interest to top up the load. Stars expire every March 1 of the calendar year following the year when stars were earned. To illustrate, all stars earned from today, Aug. 7, 2013 till Dec. 31, 2013 expire March 1, 2014.

What happens if I lose my Starbucks card?

You are protected from card loss if you register your Starbucks card online. You can track your 90-day history, protect your balance and even register up to 10 Starbucks cards under 1 account. All pooled cards mean you only need to remember 1 amount for load and stars.

What else do I need to know?

I asked the Loyalty Manager of Starbucks if beverage purchases during the promo for the Christmas planners also count towards stars. The answer is YES!!!

One more thing. This Starbucks card is only good within the Philippines. Conversely, any Starbucks card you may own from another country CANNOT be used in the Philippines.

Promo from Aug. 7-9, 2013

Here’s good news for all those getting Starbucks cards. For 3 days (Aug. 7-9, 2013), load up your Starbucks card with P1,500 and you get a P1,800 value. That’s an EXTRA P300 value for you. Sulit!

Go get your Starbucks card now and find out how much more convenient it is to enjoy Starbucks food, beverages and items.

I just discovered a new way to bond over food and recreation with my family without spending a cent – Globe MyRewards!!!

To be honest, I never paid much attention to telco reward points. Every so often, I’d get a text saying I had these much points but I was really never interested in redeeming them because the redemption options at that time were not really relevant to me. So those points sat on my phone for quite a long time.

But at the launch of Globe MyRewards some time back, I was totally surprised that they had reworked the rewards program so that it was now more relevant and meaningful to subscribers. New Globe MyRewards partner stores included Petron, Figaro, Enchanted Kingdom, Rose Pharmacy, Wendy’s, Ayala Malls Cinemas, and Sunglass Hut.

Both prepaid and postpaid subscribers in Globe and TouchMobile (TM) can earn points. How? For prepaid subscribers, every load earns points. For postpaid subscribers, points are earned based on billed amount.

Unlike some other reward programs where several points are equivalent to PhP 1, each point you earn under the Globe MyRewards program is equivalent to PhP 1. So if you have 500 points, that’s PhP 500 worth you can spend any way you want at any partner store.

Using Globe MyRewards points is a no-brainer actually. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. To check your available points – Text BAL to 4438. You will get an SMS with the info.

2. Go to any Globe MyRewards partner store and the cashier will willingly assist you.

3. To use the points as cash payment – Text BUY(space)<10-digit no. of cashier>(space)<points needed> to 4438.

4. You and cashier both get confirmation of points transfer. THAT’S IT!

One day in June, my older son and I were ‘trapped’ inside Promenade in Greenhills due to a very heavy downpour. We had already ‘cased’ Fully Booked as well as other shops, our feet were killing us, and we were hungry. Since we were right in front of the cinemas at that time, the only cafe in sight was Figaro.

As we were ordering, I spotted the Globe MyRewards poster on the counter. Savior! I hurriedly checked how many points I had (I had a lot of accumulated points to spend!). We ordered our food. I texted the number of points to be deducted using the given syntax, and almost immediately, the points transfer was done. Just like that. Our entire Figaro merienda was on Globe MyRewards.

With that very successful and burp-ful experience, I was excited to try using my points on another family bonding moment.

The opportunity came when a nephew came visiting. The kids were excited to have their cousin over and it seemed like a good time as any to bond over food. So I took them out. Our destination this time? Wendy’s!

Wendy’s has always been a favorite fastfood place for me. They used to have a fresh salad menu with different dressings (my favorite was blue cheese) but for some reason, they stopped offering it. I am happy though that they retained the baked potato line because I could never go to Wendy’s without ordering the one with bacon and cheese.

At Wendy’s Greenhills where we ended up, the Wendy’s team, including their store supervisor, was very helpful. It took a while for me to round up the orders of all the kids but they patiently took all of them down, totalled them up, and waited for me to send the SMS with the corresponding points. It took just a few seconds again before I heard the store supervisor’s mobile phone go off. Hooray, point transfer successful! We were ready for lunch!

The store supervisor himself helps me out

Our Wendy’s orders. Who says my kids are not hungry?

Happy son and mommy

By now I guess you could tell that we had quite a hearty lunch with the kids wolfing their food down while chatting and telling all sorts of stories. I was looking at them and wishing there were many more times like this one. I know people say that bonding comes in many forms but the favorite bonding form of Pinoys is over food. It’s great to know that just by continuing to top up my Globe prepaid phone, I am also accumulating Globe Rewards points at the same time.

For more info, visit rewards.globe.com.ph

For more FAQs, visit rewards.globe.com.ph/faq