Possibly the world's most expensive Starbucks drink at $20.65

One of the great things about credit card rewards is that they allow you to indulge in things you normally would never buy yourself. For me, that guilty indulgence is Starbucks. I love their burnt-tasting overpriced cup of Joe.

However despite my love for it, I would never actually pay for it. A four-dollar drink x 365 days= $1,460 per year! Think about it… that equals around $2,500 pre-tax income for many people. Luckily thanks to my Discover More, I get to enjoy Starbucks all the time without actually paying for it. Here’s how I do it…

• The Discover More credit card gives a 5% Cashback Bonus on category spending and 0.25% to 1.00% on everything else. Those rewards add up fast if you max out your 5% spending.

• Then when you redeem your cash back, you can multiply the value even further by choosing partner gift cards in lieu of cash. For Starbucks, each $45 in accumulated Cashback Bonus will buy you a $50 gift card (that’s an 11.11% boost in value).

• But I don’t stop there. Instead of spending those gift cards directly, I transfer their balances onto an old gift card I’ve been using for years which has earned Gold status (any gift card will automatically be upgraded to gold after buying 30 drinks). With the Gold Card, you get free syrups and milk options.

• Even though I’m technically not paying, I still get creative with my drink options to minimize the price and maximize the value. For example, instead of getting a latte, I will get 3 shots of espresso ($2.30) in a grande cup, then fill the rest with steamed soy (normally 60 cents, free with Gold) plus a couple pumps of vanilla syrup (normally 50 cents, free with Gold). I’m proud to proclaim that my ghetto latte only costs $2.30, which is less than half the price of ordering a similar Grande Café Latte for $4.65. Between the 11.11% boost from Discover, plus the 50% or so discount from ordering ghettoized versions of drinks, Starbucks can be affordable!

Going back to the Gold Card, every 15 beverages you buy with it scores you a free drink certificate. Because I’m a value-oriented type of guy, I also use these certificates to their maximum potential by ordering the most extravagant beverages imaginable (not my ghetto lattes). What is the most expensive Starbucks drink ever? Well after searching all morning long, the most expensive real-life examples I could find were in the $13 to $14 range. That’s amateur work. I knew I could do better and after extensive research, I did…

My grand total: $20.65 for a single drink

I started my order with the venti white chocolate mocha, specifically because it was the most expensive drink at Starbucks. Once I started reading through my laundry list of modifiers (yes, I brought an actual list) the cashier shouts out to another employee “I need you to open the other register, this order is going to take a while and the line is backing up.” The customers behind me were not too happy, to say the least.

I got one pump of every single syrup available, extra caramel sauce, soy (which didn’t show up on my receipt), and 22 extra shots of espresso (that’s 24 total). During my order the cashier kept asking me “You are actually buying this, right?” to confirm I was for real. I assured her of my seriousness and even had my credit card in hand ready to go, to infer that’s how I was paying.

It wasn’t until after she rung me up that I whipped out the certificate from my back pocket. “Management will definitely be auditing this order for sure” she replied. I was actually surprised how friendly and helpful she was throughout the entire process. I guess because it’s Hollywood, she must be used to totally outlandish orders on a regular basis.

I patiently stepped aside and watched them make my drink, which surprisingly, didn’t take nearly as long as I would have thought. Due to all the modifiers there was a tad bit of overflow, which actually had to be poured into a second cup.

According to the Starbucks website each shot of espresso is 75 mg of caffeine, which means my drink had a grand total of 1,800 mg. To put that in perspective, a single can of Red Bull contains 80 mg, so my beverage was the equivalent of 22.5 cans of Red Bulls! Seems kind of reckless for Starbucks to sell a drink like that without having the customer sign a disclaimer or waiver, don’t you think? Would there be a valid lawsuit here if I had went into cardiac arrest?

How did it taste?

I lifted the lid and it smelled like a burnt pine cone. As to how it tasted? No clue. I don’t do dairy. I never intended to drink it – went straight into the trash. The only reason I did this was to bolster my total savings percentage (I wouldn’t remain the king of credit card rewards if I didn’t do things like this to stay on top).

My recommendation for you

If you want to try this yourself and actually plan on paying for it, then you need to use the Citi Forward card. Why? It has no annual fee and gives 5x points your spending at restaurants/fast food. On a $20.65 cup of coffee like this, you would be earning rewards worth $1.00+ using this credit card. Basically, it would be like paying $19.62 for a drink costing $20.65… that’s a bargain, right?

Written May 2011

In 2008 the U.S. Mint started selling one dollar coins directly to the public via their website. They also offered free domestic shipping and charged face value for the coins, even if the buyer paid with a credit card. Can you guess how people took advantage of this?

The $800k Coin Purchase…
According to the WSJ, one buyer raked up an astonishing $800,000 in coin purchases. Allegedly, he did this to earn the rewards on the purchases, then turned around and cashed the coins in at a bank. Assuming he earned the typical 1% cash back, that equals out to be an $8,000 profit!

Reportedly, the news of this credit card “deal” spread through online forums and message boards, resulting in tons of people doing it for the exact same reason… easy cash back and miles. Although this scheme wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t exactly what the U.S. Mint intended (they were trying to increase the usage and popularity of the dollar coin).

If You Were Thinking of Trying This…
While reading this post, I bet some of you were thinking it sounds like a good idea! (Off the record, I might have thought the same thing today when I found out about this too, ha!)  However as it turns out, this “deal” no longer works. The mint has now changed its billing so these coin purchases are counted as cash advances instead of purchases. A credit card cash advance doesn’t earn rewards and the interest usually starts accumulating immediately from the time of purchase. So if you were thinking about doing this, think again