If you collect stamps or points for your coffee, do you actually know how much you have to spend in order to get a free one? I thought I did, but clearly I didn’t…
Conclusion: Costa is a joke. Spend over 70 pounds to get one free. Compare this to:
Caffee Nero~25.20
Starbucks~ 40.50
McDo ~11.34
On the Hoof~24.30
Beany Green~22.40
If you like to add any extras to your drink obvioulsy that will push up the cost.
I have a loyalty card for posh coffee in the office - 10th one is free. Minimum spend would be £10.80
Is this based on ordering the cheapest drink? Presumably a single espresso?
Surely a freebie is a freebie, if you are buying the drink anyway? I would not choose a retailer on the basis of getting the freebie, I would choose based on product.
I see the point, but …
regular or medium cappucino…I found the reference to Costa, starbucks and McD on the internet… I really had to fact check the price of my free Costa…
In a different context I would agree.
I think it works for regulars who go there anyway but doubt it will attract mir business it’s just a nice way to say thank you
Well, yes. But say you liked Costa and Nero equally and had the same daily access to both, then you’ll get more free coffee by choosing the latter over the former.
Just because something is free doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value. I prefer freebies of greater value to those of less value. Surely I should then take freebies into account when making purchasing decisions.
So the retailer wants to give money away to people who would be there anyway, and these cards fail to attract more custom?! IF this is true then these companies must be mad (and making less profit than they could be).
No it’s not mad it’s about keeping there customer base and repeat customers it’s easier to sell to established customer base than to recruit a be new one , imagine a Pub would rely on new customers rather than have regulars
A bit off topic, but I avoid Costa anyway 
and I hate when they’re the only option around (like in some airport I can’t recall). Worst UK coffee shop chain.
But these regulars ‘go there anyway’… why do they need to give them freebies?
A free coffee is an invitation to consume more, like a croissant, which hopefully becomes a habit.
But it’s not like a croissant… it’s another coffee… I don’t think many of these regulars will buy a coffee, complete their loyalty card, immediately order another coffee and then develop a habit by which they drink 2 coffees each visit.
imho the cards are used to ensure the loyalty of existing customers (ie there is a good chance that without them they would not ‘be there anyway’).
I guess we all have something which drives our purchasing process.
Wait. On the Hoof has a loyalty card?
My bad. It’s matchbox at Brockley st. Not on the hoof. Sorry I made a mistake.
there’s a coffee place next to the bus stop by Dalston Junction, with a loyalty card - 9th coffee is free. I go there most mornings anyway, so it’s nice to get a free coffee every now and then (coffee is a flat price of £1.50 regardless of how you take it and how it’s made) - £12 buying 8 coffees gets me my ninth free.
There’s also a reward card in the Bird In Hand, buy 8 pints of real ale and get 9th free. We got four pints in there while watching the semi final play off on Tuesday night, and we’ll get four more watching the championship play off final on Saturday, and we’ll get a free one. In most other london pubs, a pint is near enough £5 - so this is a good deal. In the Bird In Hand, a pint of Doombar is ‘only’ £1.99. still a good deal, but not as good as it could be in other pubs. but in this instance the loyalty card will get me back in there.
Where do you get Doombar for less than £1.99?
I don’t know anywhere that sells it cheaper than that.
but if the beer costs more (£3, £5?) then the free one has a higher value?..
Sounds like a bargain to me. I guess I misunderstood the below.