As of yesterday, September 16th, Walgreens has started their NEW Balance Rewards Program! You can go back & read the first announcement I posted about the Balance Rewards Program if this is the first you are hearing about the program.
For those of you who are a little familiar with the new program & who want to start taking advantage of the Balance Reward deals that are in the match up this week, here are a few things you will want to know…
Balance Reward Points are SEPARATE from Register Rewards! They are two separate programs. Because of this, you will notice in this weeks Walgreens BEST Weekly Deals post that there are now 3 categories: Advertised Register Reward Deals, Advertised Balance Reward Point Deals & Regular Advertised Deals.
As far as how the points works, as of right now, it does not appear they are limiting the number of times you can earn Balance Reward Points in one transaction. For example, if you were to purchase this weeks deal on Halls twice in one transaction, you will receive 2,000 Balance Reward Points instead of just 1,000. This is different from Register Rewards because with Register Rewards you can only earn one per transaction.
Also, as of right now, manufacturer coupons are not impacting whether or not you receive Balance Reward Points. For example, if a deal requires you spend $15.00 and your manufacturer coupons bring the total down to only $12.00, the total used for points is the total PRIOR to the coupons coming off. This is awesome news for all us coupon users!!
As to when your points will show up in your account or when they can be used, at the bottom of your receipt after each transaction you will get a print out of the total points earned. And, it looks like you can turn around and use them immediately after earning them either online or in-store.
One thing to note though, if you use points to pay for Balance Reward Point deals, you will not earn new points. This is similar to what we are used to with Register Rewards. You can use Register Rewards to pay for your Balance Reward Point Deals though and you will receive the points & vice versa. If you use Balance Reward points to pay for a Register Reward deal, you will still receive the Register Reward. So, try to pay for Balance Reward Point Deals with Register Rewards & pay for Register Reward Deals with Balance Reward Points.
Of course, please keep in mind, this is a BRAND NEW program that I am learning along with all of you. I will try to keep you up to date with as much information as possible but some of this may vary by store and location. Especially here at the beginning of the program. If you have any questions that are not answered here, please talk to a manager at your Walgreens location for further details.
(Thanks Wild for Wags)
Christina
So if I signed up online, will they be mailing me a card? I am confused.
Leigh
This certainly will be a lot more to remember but, THANK YOU for the information!! I have to wonder why they decided they needed 2 programs? Probably to keep up w/ CVS Pharmacy? *heh-heh-heh*
Personally, since I don’t shop at Walgreens much, I probably won’t fret over the points as I’ve read others stories. Guess we’ll see, right?
Christine, I also signed up on-line & haven’t rec’d a card. When I was just there (before the program started) I saw a box of the cards when I checked out. I told him I signed up on-line & asked if I could get my card. He thought best to wait until it was active. I plan on going there this week for a sale. To be continued….
Leigh
Just to be on the safe side, I called Walgreens. Taylor said to just give my phone # & they should be able to complete the process. (Signed up on-line) Still, To Be Cont’d….
Leigh
I made an unplanned trip out so I swung by Walgreens. Piece of cake! All I did was enter my phone # on the device you scan your credit cards. That was it! Also, an employee told me you can buy however many of an item you want even when there’s a limit. I went to buy their NICE water at a limit of 3. I bought 4 and rec’d points for all 4. I’m also so glad they’re keeping their REGISTER REWARDS! I just expected them to disregard it when they started this new program.