Are you a coffee fan? A latte lover? An espresso addict? Not only does Starbucks offer all of those drinks; they have a nice variety of breakfast sandwiches and baked goodies for sale.
My artist daughter spends quite a bit of time at Starbucks and other coffee shops. For some reason, she finds the coffee shop experience perfect for creating her artistic masterpieces. However, her once- or twice-weekly visits to Starbucks do make a serious dent in her budget.
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How to get free Starbucks gift cards
If you love coffee and other drinks from Starbucks, you probably know that shopping there can be a costly habit. But did you know that there are legit ways to get free Starbucks gift cards?
Check out these ways you can get free gift cards to Starbucks and other places. After all, who doesn’t like free food and drinks?
Bonus: If you’re not a coffee fan, most of these places offer free gift cards to other stores and restaurants as well.
1. Swagbucks
Swagbucks helps you get free Starbucks gift cards by earning points. In fact, Swagbucks has paid its members over $287 million as of this writing. They give out 7,000 gift cards every day.
When you sign up with Swagbucks, they’ll pay you points for participating in a variety of activities, such as:
- Playing online games
- Completing surveys
- Searching the Web
- Watching videos
- Shopping online
You can get paid for other activities as well. Each time you complete an activity, you’ll earn SB points. After you earn the minimum amount of SB points, you can exchange those points for a Starbucks gift card.
With Swagbucks you can get gift cards to dozens of other stores besides Starbucks as well. You can also get money deposited into your PayPal account.
2. Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie will give you rewards for sharing your thoughts. When you complete surveys or questionnaires you can earn points. You can also earn points for referring others who sign up or for completing other actionable items.
You’ll be able to get your free Starbucks gift card after you earn sufficient points. You can also choose to get gift cards to other stores such as Amazon or Target. Or, you can get your points converted into PayPal cash.
3. Harris Poll Online
Harris Poll Online is a survey company working to help influence important decision makers in government and corporations. They use opinions like yours to help shape the products we see at stores and other places. It’s free to join Harris Poll Online, and it doesn’t cost anything to be a member.
When you complete surveys with Harris Poll Online you will earn HiPoints. You can use your HiPoints to get gift cards to Starbucks. If you’d rather, you can also get iTunes gift cards or Amazon gift cards with your HiPoints.
Bonus: Harris Poll Online also has sweepstakes giveaways you can be entered into as well.
4. Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars has paid out more than 57 million dollars to members in cash and gift cards to date. This company works sort of like Swagbucks does. You’ll earn cash for completing a variety of activities, including:
- Taking surveys
- Playing online games
- Shopping online
- Searching the Web
You can earn money other ways too; go to the Inbox Dollars website for more information on that. When you’re ready to cash out your earnings you have a few different options.
You can request a check to be mailed to you. Or, you can get merchant e-gift cards from Starbucks or other retailers. Some of the other retailers Inbox Dollars works with for e-gift cards include Amazon, Kohl’s, Walmart, Target and Applebees, as well as many other choices.
5. LifePoints
LifePoints is a part of Lightspeed, the world’s largest provider of custom research and analysis. They’ve been in business since 1946. You can join LifePoints using the LifePoints Desktop app or the Lifepoints Mobile app.
The LifePoints community is over 5 million members strong. Members like you share their opinions to help companies develop and improve products and services.
It’s free to become a LifePoints member, and you’ll earn points (called LifePoints) for each survey you complete.
You can use the points you’ve earned to get gift cards to Starbucks and other retailers, or to get PayPal cash.
6. Ibotta
The Ibotta app makes it easy for you to get money back on your everyday purchases. Here’s how it works. After you download the Ibotta app, you can browse through cash-back offers on purchases.
Ibotta shares cash-back earnings from over 280 stores, including:
- Target and Walmart
- Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy
- Sam’s Club and Costco
- Trader Joe’s and Publix
And hundreds of other stores as well. The app makes it easy to search for offers before you go shopping. After you’ve purchased the offer items you’ve found, you simply take a photo of your receipt.
Ibotta searches for the offer items and deposits the cash you’ve earned into your Ibotta account. After you’ve reached the $20 account threshold for withdrawal, use your earnings to get a free gift card to Starbucks.
Or, you can get your money in the form of a PayPal deposit, or get gift cards for other stores such as Walmart.
7. Toluna
When you sign up to be a Toluna Influencer, you get to help shape and transform products you use. After you qualify for a Toluna study, you’ll take a short 15- to 20-minute long survey. There are other ways to earn points as well, such as by completing your profile or adding polls or topics to the Toluna forum.
When you complete surveys or other tasks, you’ll earn points. You can use those points to get a free Starbucks gift card or gift cards to other stores such as Groupon or Restaurant.com.
You can also use points to enter Toluna’s sweepstakes, where you can win vacation getaways and other prizes.
8. Ipsos i-Say
Ipsos i-Say is another company that will give you a free Starbucks gift card for taking surveys. Every time you take a survey through Ipsos i-Say, you’ll earn i-Say points.
Once you’ve earned at least 500 i-Say points, you can redeem your points for prizes. You can get a free gift card to Starbucks or to other stores, such as Target or Amazon.
You can even get a Visa prepaid card or have your points converted into a PayPal deposit.
9. Shopkick
Shopkick is an app that will pay you in reward points (called “kicks”) when you complete certain activities. This company partners with brands and retailers, helping them to drive traffic to their products and/or stores. At the same time, they reward app users for visiting those stores and buying those products.
You can earn kicks by completing both online and in-store activities. Some of the activities you can earn points for include:
- Visiting select online partners
- Purchasing certain items and submitting your receipt
- Walking into certain stores
- Viewing offers
- Making purchases through Shopkick
- Watching in-app videos
After you’ve earned your kicks points, you can redeem them for free gift cards to Starbucks or to a host of other stores. Some of the other retailers you can get gift cards from include Sephora, Amazon, Walmart and Target.
10. Drop Rewards
The Drop rewards app will give you free gift cards via points you earn for everyday purchases. Here’s how it works.
After you install the Drop app, you’ll enter your debit or credit card numbers so the app can track your spending. Don’t worry: the company uses bank-level security to keep your information safe.
The Drop app uses your spending information to reward you with Drop points. You use your points to get your free Starbucks gift cards. You can also choose to get gift cards to Amazon, iTunes and many other providers with your Drop points.
11. My Points
My Points works similar to how Swagbucks works. When you sign up for a free account, you can earn points by completing activities such as:
- Shopping online
- Taking advantage of local deals such as those through Groupon
- Watching videos
- Taking surveys
- Playing games
- Searching the web
There are other ways for you to earn points as well. You can redeem your points for gift cards to Starbucks. Or, you can choose from over 70 other retailers such as Kohl’s, iTunes and Best Buy.
12. Receipt Pal
Receipt Pal will give you points simply for taking photos of your receipts. After you download the Receipt Pal app, you just take photos of receipts for purchases you’ve made.
Every time you submit a receipt, you’ll earn points you can use toward prizes such as Starbucks gift cards. Bonus: Receipt Pal has weekly sweepstakes you can enter that give away cash bonuses.
Other ways to get free Starbucks coffee and food
Here are some other ways to get free Starbucks coffees and food.
Join the Starbucks rewards program
When you join the Starbucks rewards program, you can earn points with the purchases you make at Starbucks. Then you can use those points to get free coffee, drinks and food from Starbucks.
Not only that, but you’ll get a free birthday reward, free in-store refills, and be invited to special member events and offers.
If you become a Gold member you’ll qualify for additional benefits.
Work at Starbucks
Starbucks has some great benefits for its employees, including health insurance for those who work 20 hours or more. Perks also include smaller appreciation benefits such as a pound of free coffee each week and a 30% discount on coffee purchases.
Bonus: During your working shift as a Starbucks employee, you may be entitled to free beverages. Visit your local Starbucks store for information on a career at Starbucks.
Ask for Starbucks gift cards for gifts
If you and your family exchange gifts for birthdays, Christmas and other holidays, you could always ask for Starbucks gift cards for your gifts.
Depending on how much your family gives for gifts, you could get a decent amount of free coffee each year.
Summary
If you’re a big Starbucks fan, there are many ways for you to earn free Starbucks gift cards. Luckily, you don’t have to limit yourself to just one of these gift-card earning options.
You can sign up for multiple rewards programs and earn gift cards from several different companies. Just choose the companies that you think will work best for your particular situation.
For instance, you can earn points with Swagbucks in just a few minutes a day. Watch videos, shop or take surveys while you’re watching TV, in between classes at school or while you’re waiting for an appointment.
With Ibotta, you can earn cash back simply for shopping and scanning your receipt. Check out the details of each rewards program and see which ones work best for your lifestyle and interests.
And since each of these programs allows you to get gift cards to other stores you can save money other ways too. You could get free groceries, free restaurant meals, free clothing if you get gift cards to clothing stores, and more.
Or, you could earn gift cards to popular stores and use those cards to pay for Christmas or other gifts. Some people even choose free PayPal gift cards and pay for annual vacations with rewards programs.
So many companies give free gift cards for members who are willing to complete small tasks. There’s just no reason not to take advantage of these free offerings.
Have you ever used any of these programs to get free Starbucks or other gift cards? Did you find some rewards programs more lucrative than others? We’d love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to share in the comments section below.