How to use your Starbucks card for free foreign currency conversions

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• Adam says:

  1 Jan1 January 03:34

  Worth noting that this no longer works in Hong Kong as of about six weeks ago (I’m sure it used to)

  • JAXBA says:

    1 Jan1 January 03:45

    Ah, was about to say, I’ve used my US card in both HK and UK. Pity if HK no longer works.

  • Barry says:

    1 Jan1 January 10:48

    Yeap, it did work in HK in October. Usefo, shame if it no longer does.

• Matt says:

  1 Jan1 January 04:04

  Shame that Starbucks makes terrible coffee.

  • Nick_C says:

    1 Jan1 January 06:54

    … and doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes in the UK. Although the fact the coffee is shite makes boycotting them easier!

    • mradey says:

      1 Jan1 January 07:54

      Yawn…….. . . . . . . . .

      • Paul says:

        1 Jan1 January 10:42

        Don’t moan about potholes, lack of funding for schools & police etc then because if every business with a permanent place in UK making a profit paid the proper UK corporation taxes due then there would be more money in the pot to fund these things and make the country a better place.

    • Barry says:

      1 Jan1 January 10:51

      Blame the Government not Starbucks. Anyone here voluntarily pay more tax than due?

      Starbucks is pretty much the only UK chain for filter (brew) coffee. No-one else other than Pret does it, so outside city centres it’s only Starbucks.

      • Paul says:

        1 Jan1 January 10:57

        Yes I do – I am on an employed contract and am happy to pay up to 45% income tax rather than a fudged limited company contract as recommended by an accountant friend to be paid minimum wage and then the rest as lower taxed dividends. If we all paid our fair share then we’d all benefit – doesn’t need the govt to make the first move either but agree the bigger solution lies with them.

      • RIccatti says:

        1 Jan1 January 14:33

        Paul, that accountant friend will get you/people in trouble.

        That scheme of setting up a limited company solely for the purpose of collecting what is otherwise a regular salary — the scheme stopped being acceptable to the HMRC years ago.

        The especially egregious sign if you do pay an exactly the minimum wage.

        • Alan says:

          1 Jan1 January 14:58

          Yep, IR35 rules have got pretty strict now – esp if working with public sector organisations they’ll treat you as an employee but more and more companies have to do the same now.

      • Lady London says:

        1 Jan1 January 18:08

        But it’s not coffee!
        I quite like Pret’s coffee though. And fine to have it at McDonald’s in UK.

    • Lady London says:

      1 Jan1 January 18:05

      +1. Seattle Coffee House used to make fairly decent coffee in the UK before Starbucks took them over.

  • Alex says:

    1 Jan1 January 09:02

    Out of curiosity, who do you think makes better coffee than Starbucks?

    • Brian says:

      1 Jan1 January 09:16

      Caffè Nero, Costa, independent coffee shops, my mum – pretty much anyone makes better coffee than Starbucks. They may have improved since I last went, but I see no reason to bother finding out, since it’s unlikely.

      • Nick_C says:

        1 Jan1 January 09:48

        Completely agree about Caffè Nero and Starbucks. Even Greggs make better coffee than Starbucks.

        Of course if are adding milk and sugar then it doesn’t matter where you buy your drink from. But I think Starbucks is for people who don’t actually like coffee (ie most Americans)

        I rarely get coffee outside as good as the lungo I make at home using Percol Black and Beyond beans, ground fresh every time.

      • David says:

        1 Jan1 January 11:00

        It’s not just about the beans though is it. Beans are definitely a matter of taste, so fair enough if you don’t like the Starbucks roast, but the quality of staff training in Nero and Costa seems to be terrible – no consistency about what product you’re getting (milk temperature, foam/milk ratio, whether the coffee goes in before or after the milk etc). Starbucks delivers consistently well-made drinks the world over.

    • Mark2 says:

      1 Jan1 January 09:23

      In Seattle, next to Pike St Market, is the first branch of Starbucks which is now a museum. A few doors away is a French style bakery which sells superb coffee, cakes, bread etc. Otherwise Starbucks seem to supply almost everyone in the Pacific North West including hotels and cruise ships.
      When we recently stayed in the Marriott Kensington my heart sank when I saw the warning: ‘We use Starbucks coffee’ outside.

    • Doug M says:

      1 Jan1 January 14:37

      I don’t like Cafe Nero, that burnt taste typical of Italy is just not to my taste. Starbucks is generally poor, worse than Costa I’d say. Of chains Pret is far and away the best. But in truth good coffee comes from an independent, chains will never match up. But without any direct knowledge I’d guess that milk based drinks outsell coffee by some margin, so does it matter to most people.

  • Binks says:

    1 Jan1 January 17:01

    +1

• Max says:

  1 Jan1 January 05:19

  Currently in the USA. I will do as you say. Although 00.19 in 2019.

  Happy New Year!

• vol says:

  1 Jan1 January 07:38

  Fab tip

  Just out of curiosity

  Why is this Starbucks card top-up quirk available in some countries and not others?

  What about other countries like Greece and Belgium for example – any reports for those?

  • sayling says:

    1 Jan1 January 13:58

    I’ve used the app in Corfu.

    I tried to use it in New York, but insufficient funds meant I needed to top up – but you can’t top up a UK card through the app whilst in the US (that was in 2015).

• John says:

  1 Jan1 January 07:51

  If you ever have more than $2 of American coins you haven’t managed your cash properly….

• Alan says:

  1 Jan1 January 08:45

  You can also spend your GBP credit at spot exchange rate too – just scan the barcode in the app. I don’t drink coffee but can be handy for a snack on the go, especially when all my credit was acquired at 1/3 off through Amex promos!

  It’s annoying it doesn’t work more widely though – plus in Oz there’s only about 3 stores anyway!

  • Guesswho2000 says:

    1 Jan1 January 10:54

    There’s 42, only in VIC, NSW & QLD though. Which is fine by me!

    • RIccatti says:

      1 Jan1 January 14:39

      Look up the price of pint of milk in an Australian supermarket — and you can understand why Starbucks operation accumulated a debt.

      • Alan says:

        1 Jan1 January 14:59

        Haha yes, supermarket prices in Oz are certainly quite high. I found it better value to eat out, esp with salary packaging 🙂

    • Callum says:

      1 Jan1 January 16:20

      55p per litre (the standard supermarket price in Australia) is pretty cheap for milk – you’d struggle to find it much cheaper in the UK.

      • Alan says:

        1 Jan1 January 16:42

        Was more than that when I was there but that was a few years ago and in South Yarra so may have been a bit on the pricey side! Certainly a lot of other items were more than I was used to here too although I suppose probably not much different to Waitrose pricing!

• Michael Jennings says:

  1 Jan1 January 11:12

  I prefer the “I have a smoker friend” trick for getting rid of leftover cash. Buy a carton of cigarettes in the duty free shop at the airport. Hand them all your remaining cash and pay the balance with a credit card. Give the cigarettes to your friend when you get home and let him pay you the total cost of the cigarettes back. (I charge my friend spot).

  It only works in places where cigarettes are cheaper than the UK, but that is most places.

• Chris says:

  1 Jan1 January 11:33

  Rob always talks about the typical demographic of HFP being, business class flying, 6 figure salary, zero debt. So if that’s true why does this typical demographic care about reclaiming £4 of unspent coins when travelling?? Personally I’d rather be hearing all that cash was going to charity

  • Jonah says:

    1 Jan1 January 12:08

    Yes that’s true. There are certain regular commentators who seem obsessed with saving pennies yet also seem to have reasonable incomes. Personally I think life is too short. Each to their own but it does leave you with a skewed view. As Rob says though the relatively small number of people who post regularly simply does not reflect the number of city email addresses he sees.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    1 Jan1 January 13:10

    Pennies make pounds.

    No one likes leaving money on the table no matter how much you earn.

    However, I’m with you all my loose change goes in the charity boxes at airports.

  • Callum says:

    1 Jan1 January 16:22

    While they may be the typical demographic, they aren’t the only demographic. Why can’t Rob write articles for other people too?

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