The Card-Carrying Starbucks Fan

New York Times, June 7, 2008 — IN 1981, when American Airlines was struggling to differentiate itself in a newly deregulated industry, it invented the frequent flier mile. Ten years later, American Express responded to its own competitive crisis by introducing what we now know as Membership Rewards.

So it shouldn’t come as any big surprise that Starbucks, facing its own troubled times, would also turn to a loyalty program.

This week, the company flipped the switch on the latest piece of its new Starbucks Card Rewards program: two hours of free wireless Internet service a day. The other freebies include syrup and soy milk additions to its drinks, refills of drip coffee and a tall beverage of any sort for people who buy a pound of whole bean coffee.