How to get free refills at Starbucks

Hayley Peterson

Starbucks has a little-known perk for members of its rewards program: Free refills on drinks, regardless of your original order.

As long as you're a rewards member and you don't leave the store after placing your original order, you qualify for the free refills, according to the coffee chain's policy.

There's one catch, however: you can't select just any drink from the menu for your refill. Your options only include Starbucks' lower-priced drinks, like brewed coffee, iced coffee, cold-brew coffee, hot tea, and iced tea.

To take advantage of the policy, you have to pay for your original drink using a Starbucks card or the coffee chain's mobile app.

Once you finish the drink, you can ask a barista for a free refill of your choice.

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Since the policy doesn't apply to customers who leave the store after purchasing their original drink, free refills aren't available to customers via drive-thru.

Even if you follow the rules, however, be prepared to run into some baristas who aren't familiar with the policy.

Seattle attorney Melody Overton, who runs the blog StarbucksMelody.com, has called the refills one of Starbucks' biggest "problem policies" because some baristas aren't aware of it.

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