>- If you have a loyalty card, your free refill appear the same to them as if you bought something, so don't feel bad there. The way Starbucks structures thei

>- If you have a loyalty card, your free refill appear the same to them as if you bought something, so don't feel bad there. The way Starbucks structures their loyalty program really says a lot about what behavior they want out of their customers, if we're to assume that a loyalty program's purpose is to incentivize customers to behave in a manner that's more profitable to Starbucks. You get a loyalty point for every paid transaction. Doesn't matter if you buy a $1.50 bottled water or $100 on lattes for your entire team -- your standing in the program is based on simply how often you show up. There's a really low bar (5 transactions) to get free refills, which seems to encourage you to come into a Starbucks and linger for a while. So they definitely seem perfectly happy with you coming in and spending a bunch of time there -- so long as you do it often!