{"id":4404,"date":"2015-01-05T14:29:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T14:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/?p=4404"},"modified":"2015-06-30T20:25:29","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T20:25:29","slug":"goodbye-starbucks-gold-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/01\/05\/goodbye-starbucks-gold-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye Starbucks Gold Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:7402,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/16018268690&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251104235522\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/16018268690&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-09 08:34:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-19 05:24:22&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-31 20:44:38&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-05 12:35:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-22 15:21:13&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-04 06:18:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-04 06:18:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7403,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/adam-jackson.net\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/17\\\/starbucks-dont-get-snappy-with-me&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20150303005749\\\/http:\\\/\\\/adam-jackson.net:80\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/17\\\/starbucks-dont-get-snappy-with-me\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-04 23:47:05&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-09 08:34:45&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-19 05:24:22&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-31 20:44:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-05 12:35:27&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-24 05:10:23&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-22 15:21:12&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-04 06:18:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-04 06:18:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7404,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/adam-jackson.net\\\/blog\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/30\\\/my-starbucks-reserve-gold-level-whats-the-point&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20150904070928\\\/http:\\\/\\\/adam-jackson.net:80\\\/blog\\\/2012\\\/08\\\/30\\\/my-starbucks-reserve-gold-level-whats-the-point\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-04 23:47:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-28 22:55:33&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-09 08:34:45&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-12 09:41:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-16 11:11:02&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-20 18:41:27&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-31 15:51:00&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-05 12:35:27&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-15 12:44:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-25 08:41:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-31 13:51:40&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-13 22:18:49&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-02 13:56:52&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-22 15:21:13&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 01:33:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 01:33:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p><a title=\"View &#039;Goodbye Starbucks Gold Status&#039; on Flickr.com\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/adamjackson\/16018268690\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img  loading=\"lazy\"  decoding=\"async\"  style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"Goodbye Starbucks Gold Status\"  width=\"617\"  height=\"640\"  border=\"0\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7577\/16018268690_bbae9a2d4d_z.jpg\" ><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In April, I bought an espresso maker and renewed my love for coffee. This was after spending 3 weeks of my Spring in San Francisco drinking great coffee and another 2 weeks in Europe also drinking great coffee\u2026coffee that wasn\u2019t brewed by Starbucks. I went to Starbucks a total of 15 times in 2014 and each time <a href=\"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/2014\/03\/17\/starbucks-dont-get-snappy-with-me\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I felt like I was in a McDonalds<\/a>.Starbucks\u2019 minimally trained \u2018push-button\u2019 baristas across the world who know little about coffee and spend 6 of their 8 hours making 800 calorie instal-lattes in a cup were dead to me.<\/p>\n<p>I made pour-over and espresso for the rest of 2014 and found cafes in my travels that weren\u2019t Starbucks that were making much better coffee. I\u2019ll still visit the coffee-giant but there\u2019s no way I\u2019ll be able to attain my Gold-Status going forward, nor does it really matter because<a href=\"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/2012\/08\/30\/my-starbucks-reserve-gold-level-whats-the-point\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Gold Rewards used to be great and now it\u2019s only great if you visit the store a LOT<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&nbsp; In April, I bought an espresso maker and renewed my love for coffee. This was after spending&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2016-08-31T00:09:58Z","apple_news_api_id":"01792344-893f-4641-89f9-8f699b5b86ad","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2016-08-31T00:09:58Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AAXkjRIk_RkGJ-Y9pm1uGrQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[144,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-coffee","7":"category-culinary","8":"cs-entry","9":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-192","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3919,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2013\/01\/14\/starbucks-the-automated-barista\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":0},"title":"\u2605 Starbucks&#8217; The Automated Barista","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't ordered an espresso based drink at Starbucks in a long-time. I happen to be a fan of Clover Brewed Starbucks' Reserve coffee. Actually, the $20,000 USD Clover machines and Reserve Coffees are two newish initiatives at Starbucks that have kept me as a customer. Without them, I would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1071,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/10\/26\/hey-starbucks-i-really-get-2-hours-of-free-wi-fi\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 Hey Starbucks, I Really Get 2 Hours of Free Wi-Fi?","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I write about Starbucks a lot. I do appreciate what they've done for coffee and somehow managed to remain not too evil in my list of evil corporations. They employee a lot of people and take care of their workers. Starbucks has been good in my eyes but this rocky\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/182679742-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3282,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/11\/14\/the-joy-and-economics-of-a-home-espresso-machine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":2},"title":"\u2605 The Joy and Economics of a Home Espresso Machine","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"November 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Espresso consumption is an aesthetic experience, like tasting a vintage wine or admiring a painting. It is a search for beauty and goodness and improving the quality of our life. As it offers such subjectively ineffable \u2018goodness\u2019, devoid of defects, the only adequate reaction to it is astonishment \u2014 astonishment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1338,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/01\/05\/starbucks-goes-minimalist-i-approve\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":3},"title":"\u2605 Starbucks Goes Minimalist. I approve.","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Seen above is the transformation of Starbucks' Logo over the past 40 years (via Associated Press). Wall Street Journal reports: Starbucks Corp. unveiled a new logo Wednesday as it prepared to celebrate its 40th anniversary and focus on becoming more of a consumer packaged-goods company. During a webcast meeting with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/OB-LQ256_0105st_F_20110105135427.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/OB-LQ256_0105st_F_20110105135427.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/OB-LQ256_0105st_F_20110105135427.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3829,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2012\/09\/13\/for-the-love-of-coffee\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":4},"title":"\u2605 For the Love of Coffee","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"September 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Coffee has been a love of mine for a long time. As a young boy, I'd beg my Mom to get me coffee at gas stations and saved Starbucks gift cards all year so on my yearly trip to San Francisco, I could get coffee 3 or more times a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"San Francisco Coffee Haul","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8314\/7981699426_df1a382058_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8314\/7981699426_df1a382058_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8314\/7981699426_df1a382058_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":897,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/06\/14\/understanding-starbucks-up-sell\/","url_meta":{"origin":4404,"position":5},"title":"\u2605 Understanding Starbucks&#8217; &#8220;Up sell&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"June 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm hoping someone representing Starbucks comments here as I'd like to use longhand to write this down beyond 140 characters which is what I've been using all morning. Starbucks had Gold Card in 2008 as a $20-$25 (can't remember exactly) yearly fee which enabled 10% off all Starbucks Purchases (not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Culinary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culinary","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/culinary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4071\/4206145570_c6681f745c_o.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}