A former Starbucks barista revealed what customers should stop wasting their money on when visiting the coffeehouse chain.
Inga Parkel discussed seven mistakes when spending money with Business insider this month, after working at Starbucks for a year.
Parkel calls herself a “greedy spender” and says she paid close attention to customers while working and noticed they sometimes handed out more money than necessary.
“I became very familiar with how expensive the popular coffee chain is,” she said.
Parkel shared her tips for ensuring customers save money and get what they want from their Starbucks orders.
A former Starbucks barista named Inga Parkel revealed seven spending mistakes customers make at the coffeehouse chain to Business Insider this month
Parkel paid attention to customers while she was working and noticed that she sometimes spent more money than necessary
Don’t pay a premium for cold drinks with little ice
Parker suggested customers ask for “light ice” when ordering cold drinks
Customers who order cold drinks can easily get more drink for their money.
The former barista told Business Insider that it’s important to “indicate that you want light ice cubes.”
“Baristas know that putting too much ice in a drink can be frustrating,” Parkel says.
“But many will happily replace the extra ice with liquid if you ask.”
The former barista added that the light ice option for drinks is available through the Starbucks app.
Don’t pay for a dash of vanilla syrup in a soy latte or cappuccino
Customers can save money on their drinks by ordering a sweetened coffee with soy milk instead of a coffee with a pump of vanilla syrup
The vanilla syrup added to a regular Starbucks coffee could make it sweeter, but that’s a small mistake that costs the customer unnecessary money.
According to Parkel, the soy milk that Starbucks uses has a vanilla flavor and is ‘more subtle’ than a pack of syrup.
Parkel’s solution is to order a sweetened coffee with soy milk instead of paying for unsweetened oat milk, almond milk or vanilla syrup.
Unfortunately, this solution does not work for customers who order drinks with one pump of caramel, hazelnut or peppermint syrups.
Join the rewards program
Starbucks customers who are members of the rewards program can redeem points and earn up to $20 to spend on merchandise
Regular Starbucks customers who buy products are making a mistake if they don’t take advantage of the coffee chain’s savings program.
To become a member of Starbucks Rewards, customers must create an account online or in the app.
This allows them to earn points with every purchase at Starbucks, which they can then exchange for free items.
“Once you have 400 points, you can select any merchandise worth up to $20,” Parkel said.
If an item costs more than $20, the customer has to pay the difference, but it still saves money.
Stop ordering Americanos
Parkel, the former barista, described an Americano as a drink with “three shots of espresso with water.” It can be ice cold or hot
Americanos at Starbucks can be iced or hot, and ordering a grande that costs around $4 is an expensive mistake.
Parkel described the Americano as a drink with “three shots of espresso with water.”
The former barista advised customers who wanted to save money on an Americano to order a custom-made drink instead.
“Ask for a double or triple shot of espresso (whatever you prefer) in a grande cup, and then ask for extra water,” Parkel told Business Insider.
“You can actually get an Americano for almost a dollar less.”
Don’t buy hot venti lattes for a caffeine shot
Grande and venti lattes at Starbucks both come with two espresso shots. However, an iced latte comes with three
One mistake customers often fail to realize is that they don’t realize that cappuccinos and hot venti lattes only contain two espressos.
Parkel pointed out that a Grande Latte contains the same number of espresso shots as a Venti.
“If you buy a venti latte, you’re actually paying half a dollar more for a weaker ratio of caffeine to coffee,” she said.
She noted that this doesn’t apply to iced lattes, because a grande has two shots of espresso and a venti has three.
Customers can optimize their money-to-caffeine ratio by ordering grande hot lattes instead of a venti.
Take advantage of the ‘bring your own cup’ discount
Starbucks’ reusable cup program, which launched on January 3, allows customers to bring personal mugs and receive 10 cents off their order
Customers who don’t take advantage of the coffeehouse chain’s reusable cup program are leaving money on the table and missing out on an opportunity to help the environment.
Starbucks customers can fix this glitch by bringing their own mugs to a participating location.
The program launched on January 3 in the U.S. and Canada. Customers can bring their clean, personalized cups to any participating store for in-store, mobile, or drive-thru orders.
Not only would this be a green choice, but it would also save a customer 10 cents on their drink order.
Rewards members also earn 25 bonus stars when they use their own personal mug.
Stop buying bottled water
Starbucks customers can spend $2.45 on a bottle of water or order a free glass of water in any size
Starbucks sells Ethos bottled water for more than $2.45 at all of its locations, but there’s another option that doesn’t cost a dime.
The easiest way to save money on water is to order a cup of water in any size you want.
Customers can also ask baristas to add ice to their water.
“I can understand why you need something unopened, but other than that, there’s no reason to pay full price for the only product the chain offers for free,” Parkel said.