Free Soy Milk? Zomg!

Those of us with ecclectic and often difficult to understand interests tend to be difficult to buy for. So, Starbucks gift cards tend to be our most-received gift. It's sort of like the ultimate back up gift. When people can't think of anything else, they get you a Starbucks gift card. I really wish there was some sort of generic independent coffeehouse gift card -- valid for all non-corporate and inherently delicious coffeehouses.

Well, until that glorious innovation, I've discovered something that makes the onus of twelve Starbucks gift cards a little better. It's nothing new to most people, but new to me and wholly awesome.

I won a Starbucks gift card a few weeks back and, when I went to use it, the cashier told me I needed to register it. I kind of freaked at first because I thought that meant I couldn't use it to pay for my latte until I had registered it. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and my grande soy latte was safe in my frantic finals week hands.

I did, however, take a moment to ask the cashier what registering your gift card meant and today, stocked up with five Starbucks gift cards, I sat down to do just that.

Probably the most efficient reason to register your gift card is because it gives you the ability to combine all of your unnecessary gift cards onto one. This must not be something a lot of people know about because I have at least two people a day at work ask me to combine their gift cards (I work at a place that looks very much like a Starbucks, but is indeed not a Starbucks. Hence, why I didn't know about this promotion before now).

Starbucks advertises registering your gift card as security. I guess if you register it, you can't lose the money that's on it even if you lose the physical card. But honestly, who cares THAT much about a gift card?

What I think is the coolest is that, when you use your registered card, you can get FREE SOY MILK. Any milk or syrup flavorings that usually cost extra are free. So for you vegan and/or lactose intolerant espresso-lovers, extra charges are now a thing of the past.

Since becoming unable to drink milk, I've stuck with the simple latte at Starbucks. The soy milk charge makes any other drink too expensive. I cannot wait to drink my first iced grande caramel machiatto since developing lactose intolerance.

Another cool thing about registering your card is that it gives you two hours of free wifi per day. If your university or house, like mine, often suffers from server outages, this is golden. When I'm in unfamiliar territory, Starbucks is the only place that I'm POSITIVE has wifi, even though I know I have to pay for it. No more!

With the card, you can also get free brewed coffee refills. Meh.

Personally, I don't like to spend enough time at a Starbucks for a refill. I prefer a softer, slower paced ambiance for working or chillaxing. But if you do like to spend hours at Starbucks, it's a pretty awesome deal. Do keep in mind though, brewed coffee means like House Blend or Pike Place. Not lattes or cappucinos or Frappucinos. It's astounding how many people don't know the difference between coffee and espresso drinks. I think that's how Starbucks can trick people a lot. They offer a free brewed coffee with some purchase and people buy it thinking they'll get a free vanilla bean Frappucino. Sorry guys.

Bottom line: if you're an independent coffehouse loving person (y'know, the kinds of places where soy milk is free) burdened with presents of Starbucks gift cards, register one of your cards and make them worth it.

Images via .Delight, GreenLightOffice