As The Independent’s consumer writer, there are few things I love as much as saving money, but admittedly, coffee is one of them.
While I’m not a frequent buyer of takeaway coffees, particularly from big chains, I’m not going to be the thousandth person to tell you you can save money by making coffee at home. We all know this, and if you can and want to budget in a regular treat for yourself, then as far as I’m concerned you should do it.
What I want to do is help you make your treat cheaper. Coffee chains like Pret and Leon offer subscriptions which you can use to get discounts, but it’s worth figuring out whether this is actually worth it for you, or you may end up paying more in monthly fees than you actually save.
I’ve pulled together everything you need to know on whether you can save with a coffee shop subscription – or, if you already have one, whether you should keep or ditch it.
Pret: 50 per cent off five drinks a day
A few years back, Pret’s coffee subscription was all the rage. For £30 a month, you could get five barista-made drinks a day – great value for anyone who bought Pret coffee more than a couple of times a week. It also offered a 30-day free trial, which personally saw me through my first month working in central London where there’s a Pret on every corner.
Nowadays, though, a Club Pret subscription is less of a no-brainer.
How much does it cost?
A Club Pret subscription costs £5 a month. There isn’t a free trial anymore.
What do I get?
You’ll get half price on five barista-made drinks a day, including iced and hot coffee, chocolate, tea, matcha and coolers. It excludes blended drinks like frappés and smoothies. Make sure you check the list of excluded shops before you sign up.
Unfortunately, you can only use this discount on one drink within a 30 minute window, so you can’t treat yourself and four friends to a half price drink at the same time. You can no longer get 20 per cent off food with your subscription either.
Is it worth it?
The newer iteration of Club Pret is always going to live in the shadow of the old scheme with which you could, in theory, buy 155 drinks for less than 20p each (plus get discounts on everything else). However, while I wouldn’t call the new Club Pret an unmissable deal, it’s definitely still worth it if you buy Pret coffee more than a couple of times a month.
A regular americano costs £3.60 at Pret normally; £1.80 with a subscription. So you only need to buy three coffees a month with a Club Pret subscription to save £5.40, which is more than the monthly fee. Of course, if you buy more expensive drinks at Pret, you’ll recoup the cost of your membership fee with fewer drinks.
Leon: Five drinks a day
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Leon’s coffee subscription works similarly to how Club Pret used to: instead of discounts, you get a set number of drinks every day which are included in the price of the membership.
How much does it cost?
Leon’s Roast Rewards coffee subscription costs £25 a month.
What do I get?
You get five barista-made drinks a day (one per hour) of any size. You can also get 20 per cent off its breakfast and all-day food menus, excluding meal deals, as frequently as you want.
However, a fair few Leon branches are excluded from the deal. You can check the list of branches in point number six in the terms and conditions.
Is it worth it?
A regular americano costs £3.50 at Leon, so you’d need to buy eight of these a month to save money from your Roast Rewards subscription. However, if you tend to buy large drinks, or more expensive options, a membership may be worthwhile with fewer drinks.
There was a lot of outrage when Pret switched up its scheme, so it’s interesting that by one metric (the number of drinks you need to buy for the fee to be worthwhile), Pret has the edge over Leon.
However, if you just want to drink a lot of coffee at the lowest possible price, Leon wins: theoretically, you could get 155 coffees in a month for just over 16p each.
Coffee Club: 25 per cent off drinks
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Coffee Club allows you to get discounts on thousands of coffee shops, from chains like Caffè Nero and Black Sheep to independent baristas.
How much does it cost?
It costs £3.99 for a monthly subscription, or £24.99 for an annual subscription. However, Time Out Offers is currently selling Coffee Club annual subscriptions for £9.95 (this works out at 83p a month), which I think is a great deal.
What do I get?
You’ll get 25 per cent off barista-made coffees, seven days a week, though the days and drinks available can vary by coffee shop.
Is it worth it?
As someone who isn’t loyal to one particular coffee shop or chain, this is the coffee subscription I would be the most likely to use. But whether Coffee Club is worth it for you depends almost entirely on your location.
Before you subscribe, I would recommend going to the Coffee Club website and seeing what’s available in your area. Make sure you click through and check the exclusions, as you don’t want to sign up and then realise you can’t get the discount on the day you usually go, or on the drink you tend to buy.
If you find a coffee shop on there that you go to once a week or more, it could be worth joining Coffee Club – but I recommend calculating what savings you could make.
As an example, one of available coffee shops near The Independent ‘s office is a Caffè Nero. Let’s say, hypothetically, that this is the only coffee shop near me that I can get a discount at using Coffee Club. A regular americano from Caffè Nero costs £3.20, so I would save 80p with the 25 per cent discount. That means I would need to buy five coffees a month for the monthly subscription to be worth it, or three coffees a month for the annual subscription to be worth it.
My verdict: Leon’s the best value, but consider what’s worth it for you
If your main priority is getting your money’s worth, and you buy at least two coffees a week, Leon’s subscription could help you save. It has the highest monthly fee, but unlike Pret and Coffee Club, that fee covers the total cost of your coffees, giving it the lowest price per drink. This probably goes without saying, but I would suggest trying Leon’s drinks first to make sure you like them, and checking that there’s a branch near you (make sure it’s not excluded from the scheme).
With the Time Out deal, an annual Coffee Club membership will almost certainly pay off if you buy one or two coffees a month, so this is also a good option if you have any participating coffee shops near you.
In the case of all coffee shop subscriptions, there’s an easy rule of thumb to apply: it’s only a saving if you were going to buy it anyway. Make sure that the savings you’ll make exceed the cost of the membership without buying more coffee than you usually would. No discount is worth drinking five coffees a day – trust me.
What are the best coffee shop loyalty schemes?
Takeaway coffee is a delicious and sometimes, much needed, treat, but there’s no point taking out a subscription to a new brand if you’re going to hate it and miss the old one. However if you’re going to buy beverages from the same place regularly, you may as well take advantage of the free, app-based loyalty schemes on offer.
As a bonus round, I’ve rounded up the perks below. But remember to think of these schemes as just that: a bonus. Avoid the temptation to spend more than you usually would to get these rewards.
Caffè Nero: Buy nine coffees, get one free
Collect a stamp for every coffee you buy and get an extra one each time you bring in a reusable cup. Once you’ve got nine stamps, you’ll get a coffee for free. You also get a coffee for free when you first sign up.
Minimum you need to spend to get a free coffee: After your first free coffee, it’ll be £12.25 (by buying five espressos for £2.45 and bringing a reusable cup every time).
Gail’s: Buy nine items, get a free coffee
Get stamps for every transaction you make at Gail’s and get a free coffee or loaf of bread for every nine stamps. You can make a purchase for collection on the app or, if you’re in-store, show your QR code to a member of staff. When you spend more than £20 on a single transaction, you’ll get an extra stamp.
Minimum you need to spend to get a free coffee: £10.80 (by buying nine takeaway madeleine cakes for £1.20 each).
Greggs: Buy nine coffees, get one free
Collect stamps as when you buy items in six different categories: savouries and bakes, drinks and snacks, sandwiches and salads, sweet treats, hot food and breakfast items. Once you’ve got nine stamps in a given category, you can get an item from that category for free. So if I buy nine americanos, I can redeem a tenth for free.
You also get a sweet treat every year on your birthday.
Minimum you need to spend to get a free coffee: £12.15 (by buying nine regular cups of tea for £1.35 each).
Starbucks Rewards: Collect points for a free coffee
Earn 10 stars for every £1 you spend. When you get 130 stars (by spending £13), you can claim a filter coffee, hot tea or signature americano. Save up 300 stars (by spending £30) to choose from a selection of bakery items, and 500 stars (by spending £50) to claim a handcrafted drink.
If you earn 2,500 stars, you’ll reach the ‘gold level’ which allows you to get extra syrups, whipped cream and shots of espresso added to your beverage for free. This will require you to spend £250 within the first twelve months of joining the scheme.
Minimum you need to spend to get a free coffee: £13
Costa Club: Buy ten coffees, get one free
This scheme works similarly to Caffè Nero’s: you earn one bean for every coffee you buy, plus an additional one every time you bring a reusable cup. Once you’ve got ten beans, you’ll get a free coffee. You’ll also get free slice of cake on your birthday.
Minimum you need to spend to get a free coffee: £22 (by buying ten single espressos for £2.20 each).
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