Is Panera Unlimited Sip Club Worth the Price?

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Attention all coffee lovers and bargain hunters! Are you tired of constantly shelling out your hard-earned money for a daily caffeine fix? Look no further than Panera’s Unlimited Sip Club. For about $12 a month, members can enjoy unlimited hot or iced coffee, hot or iced tea, or fountain drinks at Panera.

Let’s take a closer look at whether this subscription is truly worth the price. With the rise of subscription-based services, is the Panera Unlimited Sip Club truly a budget-friendly game changer?Learn from a long-time Panera Sip Club subscriber about the return you can expect on your investment, the types of beverages that are included, and the extra perks you receive as part of your membership. And if you’re big on Panera (and saving money), you might like these 10 Panera Bread hacks.

Table of Contents

What is the Panera Beverage Club (AKA Unlimited Sip Club)?

The Panera Unlimited Sip Club replaced the My Panera coffee club subscription, which was originally priced at $8.99 a month. The original program entitled subscribers to unlimited cups of brewed or iced coffee, per visit. Panera introduced its extended version last year. It’s currently priced at $11.99 a month.

How to purchase a Panera Unlimited Sip Club membership

To purchase a Sip Club subscription, you need to be a My Panera rewards card member. If you don’t have a My Panera membership card, you can sign up at Panera.com.

Once you’re a rewards member, you can sign up for the Panera Unlimited Sip Club, provided it’s offered in your area. Your credit card is automatically charged each month, though you can cancel at any time.

How to save money on a Panera Unlimited Sip Club membership

Panera Bread periodically runs promotions -including free trials- on its unlimited coffee membership. The best way to learn about these promotions is to to sign up for a Panera newsletter or to download the Panera app on your phone.

Benefits of a MyPanera rewards card

Even if you decide not to purchase an Unlimited Sip coffee subscription, consider signing up for a free My Panera Rewards membership. Aside from being privy to special member perks, you’ll inch closer to receiving a free reward with every purchase. Although the amount of the purchase doesn’t matter, Sip Club membership orders don’t count.

I’ve noticed that the way Panera assigns awards fluctuates. The system used to randomly assign an award -after three, four, or seven visits, for example- then went to a model of having to accumulate six visits. It’s now randomly-assigned again, at least in my area.

Some rewards are along the lines of $2 off a sandwich or $1 off a pastry, while others have included free Pick Twos or flatbread pizzas. This week, I redeemed two rewards: a free café latte, free muffin, and an iced tea that was pre-paid through my Unlimited Sip Club membership.

Panera also started rolling out My Panera Week, during which time you can receive special offers (like BOGOs), two months of free beverages, and a chance to win prizes.

How to redeem a Panera Unlimited Sip Club membership

One you’ve subscribed to the Panera Unlimited Sip Club (AKA Panera Beverage Club), your membership status will appear in your rewards area on the My Cart page when you’re ready to check out. Whether you order via the kiosk or your Panera phone app, simply click Redeem. Or if you like to place your orders with live staff, they should ask if you’d like to redeem your reward.

If you ever forget your My Panera card, the system can find you by the phone number you used during registration.

How often can you use your Panera Unlimited Sip Club Membership?

You can get an unlimited amount of one type of qualifying beverage per visit, every two hours. So for example, you can’t get an unlimited amount of both iced tea and coffee during the same visit (unless you pay for the second drink, of course). You can, however, get an unlimited amount of coffee (or whatever qualifying beverage you choose) in one visit, then two hours later during a separate visit, get an unlimited amount of iced tea or whichever qualifying beverage you choose.

What’s Included With a Panera Unlimited Sip Club Membership

Availability can vary by store, but this is what I’m currently eligible to receive in my area.

Brewed coffee. Flavors include dark roast, light roast, hazelnut, and decaffeinated
Iced coffee
Iced tea
Hot tea
Pepsi drinks, including Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper
Lemonade and lemonade chargers

What’s not included

Cold brew coffee
Espresso type drinks, like lattes and cappuccinos
Smoothies and frozen drinks
Bottled or container drinks

Is a Panera Unlimited Sip Club Membership Worth It?

It depends on what you like to drink, how often you visit Panera, and whether you like the taste of their beverages. I’m a regular at Panera and drink a lot of their brewed coffee and plain iced tea – so for me, membership is definitely worth the price.

Here are some numbers to help guide your decision.

What it would take to break even

It depends on the beverage, but say you like to order plain iced tea. At $3.19 for a large cup, you’d need to visit Panera about three visits per month to make membership worth your while. At $2.59 for a regular-sized of brewed hot coffee, you’d need to make about four visits per month.

(Note that beverage prices may vary by location and are subject to change.)

Your savings could be more substantial, though

Using the coffee example above, if you normally visit Panera 12 separate times in a month, you’d save about $21 dollars (per month). Visiting 16 separate times per month would yield a savings of $31 per month. And 30 separate visits per month would save you about $67.

This number can go higher if you visit more often than this. If, for example, you drink coffee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner 30 times per month, that would be a savings of about $223.00 each month.

This is money you can use to buy something else, pay off debt, or invest in a 401(k).

Extra Rewards for Being a Panera Unlimited Sip Club Member

In addition to receiving MyPanera membership rewards, Panera also sometimes surprises me with rewards for subscribing to their Unlimited Sip Club.

Some of the extra Unlimited Sip Club rewards I’ve received recently.

20% off orders placed on Saturdays for an entire month.
$2 off orders placed on Saturday for an entire month.
$2 off orders placed for an entire week.
My favorite Unlimited Sip Club benefit so far was receiving 10% off all orders for two months, which resulted in an estimated $100 savings. This one perk just about payed for my Unlimited Sip Club membership for the year.

These seem to be random and can vary by member.

Recently when Panera offered its 20% gift card promotion, it was a no-brainer to stock up as I know they’d be put to good use. Combined with the Unlimited Sip Club perk of 10% off all orders for two months, I saved 30%. This doesn’t even take into consideration the additional rewards l receive by being a Panera rewards card member.

Additional Thoughts on Panera Beverage Club

Though I think Panera Unlimited Sip Club (Beverage Club) is an amazing value, if there’s one thing I could change, it would be the two-hour rule. While I understand that some people might abuse the program (like getting free drinks for everyone in their party), it’s just not practical to stop what you’re doing and return every two hours.

Bottom line: My Panera Unlimited Sip Club membership not only pays for itself, but it often gives me more than the cost of the membership. If you’re already spending money on drinks and visit Panera frequently enough, their beverage club is a decent investment.

This post contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support! Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support!