The marketing phrase for the Starbucks Gold Card is “For People who Love Starbucks,” but really, I think it should be “For People who Love Starbucks and Free Wifi!” Right now, I am sitting in one of my local Starbucks locations, trying to burn a few hours while my dog is at the groomers, and using the free wifi that I get for my Starbucks Gold Card membership to access the ATT Wifi Hotspot at the store. It’s actually a pretty sweet deal. This Starbucks Gold membership card was one of my Christmas presents this year and I am actually just getting around to using it! The way it works is you pay something like $25 dollars a year for the card which is a refillable Starbucks card that gives you discounts on all your purchases as well as special offers throughout the year on specified days, ect. I was mostly interested in this card because a membership also gives you a free wifi time through ATT Wifi Hotspots. Most Starbucks locations are ATT Wifi Hotspots, although, I have been to some that give you free wifi access via a linksys router 🙂 Since I am someone who believes that places like Starbucks should give you wireless internet access for free just for visiting their store, I am a little ticked that I have to have a paid membership in order to do this, but of course this is better than nothing! I am actually really disappointed that there are no Panera locations around me, because before I moved I would spend hours sitting at Panera, ordering drinks and food and just hanging out doing work online. Panera actually has a really great set up for their customers. They have great food that you can take out or eat in, and when you do eat in, they have a very comfortable venue where customers can sit and eat, refill their own drinks and get the benefits of a dine-in restaurant without having to tip or wait around for a waitress. Of course you clean up after yourself, but that is nothing to cry over, and on top of all that you get wireless internet access for free. It’s one of those great places that college students or people who work from home or constantly on the road can go to and do lunch and work at the same time. I think Starbucks should really follow this model and start offering their wifi to customers for free. I mean, it makes perfect business sense to me that if you can keep your customers in your store for more than 5 minutes, they will buy more than one cup of coffee, and really isn’t that the point, to sell coffee?!? So, this is my rant, and my plea to Starbucks to put free wifi in all their locations!
