Is Panera Coffee Subscription Worth It? Review 2024
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Panera Bread was founded in 1987 and quickly became one of the most popular bakery-café fast casual restaurants in existence.
Panera bread is well known for its delicious bread, salads and fresh roasted coffee.
If you are like me, starting the day with a cup of coffee is as essential as brushing your teeth or combing your hair.
You have probably heard about the Panera subscription but you don't really know what it is and what it offers or might be deciding whether it is worth it or not.
Here’s a look at how the Panera coffee subscription works, how much it costs, and whether it's actually worth the membership fee.
Panera offers customers the opportunity of saving money on their coffee purchases by signing up for a membership.
Panera subscription is a $8.99 monthly subscription membership that automatically renews, that you can add to your mypanera account.
The subscription service gives members access to free coffee and tea and rewards. Let’s take a precise look at how it works.
To help you decide whether it’s a good deal for you, we've broken down the basics on how the subscription actually works.
This is the first important point to understand. If you want to get free coffee at Panera you first need to create a MyPanera account and be at least 18 years of age or older. Do not worry, the account is free.
There are two primary benefits:
Panera coffee menu has a variety of hot or iced coffee drinks to help you cool down – from a Madagascar Vanilla Cream Cold Brew to a smooth Cold Brew Coffee, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
However, benefits do not apply to certain beverages, such as cold brew, espresso drinks, Iced Tea and other kinds of beverages.
Find below a comprehensive list of what is included in the panera coffee subscription:
You can also customize your coffee or tea with milk, skim milk, almond milk, half and half, and sweeteners. However, if you like to sweeten your iced coffee with liquid sweetener like simple syrup, you'll have to pay an upcharge.
Well, you are probably thinking that you will be able to offer a coffee to all your friends with the membership. Panera unlimited coffee rules are pretty clear. Members can redeem one eligible beverage every two hours.
Additionally, you cannot share your account with someone else.
With modern technology Panera can easily recognize that some share their accounts. That said, they can suspend your membership benefits if they uncover it.
The bakery-café chain currently operates in more than 2,000 stores in the United States and Canada. However, the subscription program is only available in the United States. Additionally, you can redeem your subscription benefits only in participating Panera Bread bakery-cafes. Not all locations will accept the membership.
When you sign up for your free trial, you will be prompted to choose your “Home Coffee”. The “Home Coffee” should be the location you go to more often to pick up your coffee. While you can use your subscription at any participating cafe, by using the zip locator, you will be able to check unavailable cafes.
If you decide you don’t like the subscription or it isn’t worth the cost, you can cancel at any time with no penalties or extra fees.
Summarizing:
The Panera subscription offers many benefits including:
Like any service, there are downsides including:
Have you ever thought of giving Panera bread a try? You’re in luck because the bakery-café chain offers a free trial that will give you enough time to see whether the membership is worth it for you.
It can also be a great opportunity to try all the coffees available for free and find the best coffee, and possibly your new favorite, at Panera according to your preferences.
Free trials are always the perfect opportunity to find out whether you really need a service or not.
Of course, the free trial is available only for new subscribers.
The process of signing up for a Panera free trial is pretty straightforward. Especially when using the Panera app.
Follow our step by step tutorial:
💡 PRO TIP: after three months of free trial subscription, your card will be charged with the monthly fee, unless you cancel beforehand.
Very similar to other membership such as the DashPass or the Uber One, you will not get an email. Your free trial will convert automatically into a subscription.
So, make sure you set a calendar reminder in your phone if you don't intend to continue the subscription.
So, is the Panera Bread subscription worth it?
Of course, if you don’t like coffee or tea, you won’t find that much here worth getting the subscription.
If you are a coffee or a tea lover and live or work near a Panera, whether membership perks justify the price tag depends on how much you use them. Let’s start by evaluating how much a drink costs at Panera.
We wanted to give you a detailed analysis, so we looked at the Panera Bread beverage menu with the goal of finding how much you’d have to spend per month to cover the $8.99 monthly cost of the membership.
The price of an Iced Dark Coffee is $2.79.
Doing an easy calculation you can see that the subscription is worthwhile only if you would order from Panera at least three times a month.
If you use it less often, you’ll likely wind up spending more on the membership fee than you save from the benefits.
According to CNBC, if you enroll for an American Express® Gold Card you will get a complimentary MyPanera+ Coffee membership for six months.
Your Unlimited Sip Club Subscription benefits work very similarly to MyPanera rewards.
You can redeem your benefits with the app or you can use your MyPanera card that you will swipe at the register or kiosk while placing your order.
While dining in a Panera Bread café, you can get your free coffee or tea, and unlimited refills at the self-service coffee station.
If you place your order with the cashier, you just have to provide your phone number and the cashier will be able to access your Panera coffee subscription rewards.
The great advantage of using the app is that depending on your location you can choose between the delivery option and different pick up options such as Rapid Pick-Up and drive-thru.
Keep in mind that while you can order from Panera by using the pickup option on the DoorDash app or the pick up option on the Uber Eats app, subscription benefits cannot be redeemed with third party apps.
Once your subscription is active, you can use the benefits directly from the app.
Follow our step by step tutorial:
Whether you signed up for a Panera free trial or you have been using it for months, you can always cancel your subscription at any time.
However, you will need a computer or smartphone with the Panera bread app installed. Alternatively, you can also call Panera Customer Service at 1-855-3-PANERA
Here’s how to cancel your Panera subscription:
To cancel the subscription online from a computer, go to www.panerabread.com/MyPaneraCoffee or on the Panera Bread app to cancel your subscription.
You can also use the link provided in subscription related emails and follow the instructions there.
Unfortunately, no. As we said above, benefits apply only on eligible iced or hot coffee and hot tea.
The panera bread coffee refill policy allows you to refill as much as you want from Panera's vast selection of beverages.
If you are hunting for free food, we must tell you that there are currently no other subscriptions like Panera offering free hot or iced drinks to their members.
However you can for sure find great deals from various coffee shops and providers during National Coffee Day!
I hope this Panera coffee subscription review helped you understand the benefits and costs of the membership. MyPanera+ Coffee subscription, which costs $8.99 plus tax, allows you to get one cup of drip hot coffee, hot tea, or iced coffee every two hours from participating bakery-cafes during their regular working hours. The best way to figure out if a Panera subscription is worthwhile is to sign up for the free trial. After trying out the options and weighing out the benefits and disadvantages, you can decide whether the membership fee is worth it or not.
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