Walgreens New Balance Rewards Program 101

As I mentioned last week, Walgreens rolled out its new Balance Rewards program on Sunday, September 16th. There was quite a bit of confusion over how this program was going to work – and whether it would replace Register Rewards.

I saw a lot of bloggers were talking about it, but I decided to stop in at my local Walgreens and chat with the manager – figuring I should get my information straight from the source.

Here’s what I now know:

• Walgreens Balance Rewards program has launche nationwide. There are four ways to sign up: Online, in the store, by calling 1-855-225-9255 or by scanning the QR code which is all the local Walgreens ads.

• When you sign up, you can elect to get a membership card, or you can choose to go card-less (that’s what I did). If you don’t have a physical card, you just need to give them your phone number before you check out.

• Balance Rewards are not replacing Register Rewards (at least not now, that is ;-)). This is an additional program, which is intended to promote customer loyalty.

• You earn points for purchasing specially marked items – each week, there are a number of items in stores and online that will produce points, so check your local ad.

• You can also earn points by signing up with Walk with Walgreens, which is a fitness promotion program that gives you 10 points for every mile you log.

• Points are redeemed for cash-value rewards to be used at Walgreens.

5,000 points = $5

10,000 points = $10

18,000 points = $20

30,0000 points = $35

40,0000 = $50

• Once you hit a reward threshhold (eg. 5,000 points), the cashier will be prompted to ask you if you’d like to apply your reward to that order. If you say yes, your points zero out, and you start again. You can, however, elect to continue accruing your points, since the more you save, the higher your reward.

• If you use points to pay for a purchase, you will not earn points from that purchase. For example, if you are buying diapers that should let you earn 1,000 points, you will forfeit those points by using a $5 reward to pay for them. Instead, wait for a non-point-earning transaction and then apply your reward.

Hopefully this helps to clear up any confusion about the new Balance Rewards Program. Please let me know if you have any questions – or further information.