If you’ve been saving up Balance Rewards loyalty points in order to earn big discounts at Walgreens, you might want to start using them. Walgreens is planning to introduce changes that will make Balance Rewards points less valuable, and redeemable for smaller discounts.
“Starting 11/4, the Balance Rewards program is simplifying redemption, making every 1,000 points = $1 of rewards,” the memos read. Plus, the memos go on, there will be a new “5,000 point ($5) maximum redemption per transaction”.
Let’s unpack those changes one by one.
Currently, Balance Rewards is a tiered system in which points become more valuable as you accumulate them. For every dollar you spend, you earn 10 points, plus there are opportunities to earn bonus points for buying various promoted products. Every 1,000 points will get you $1 off a purchase – so if you choose to redeem 10,000 points at once, for example, you can get $10 off a single transaction. But if you choose to save up your points instead of using them right away, it takes only 18,000 points instead of 20,000 to earn $20 off. 30,000 points will get you $35 off, and 40,000 points will give you a maximum $50 discount.
Effective November 4th, those tiers will be eliminated. “Customers find the existing escalated tiers confusing,” the memos read. “Over 80% of our high value customers are unaware of the escalated tiers. Less than 2% of active Balance Rewards members are redeeming at escalated tiers.”
So if you’re carrying a rewards balance of tens of thousands of points, you’d better use them before November 4th. Otherwise, your points’ value will be slashed by up to 20%, once 40,000 points is worth a mere $40 instead of $50.
Another reason to use up your points if you have a lot of them – the second change, namely the 90% reduction in the total discount you can get in a single transaction. You’ll only be able to redeem a maximum 5,000 points at a time for a maximum $5 discount, down from the current $50 maximum.