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Is the Pret subscription still worth it? Price break down and the alternatives
The high street coffee shop will now offer half price drinks, instead of free ones
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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
In a move that’s proved controversial among those reliant on the high street chain to supply their daily cup of Joe, Pret has announced a significant change to its coffee subscription.
Introduced four years ago, the popular Club Pret membership cost £30 per month and allowed subscribers to enjoy up to five barista-made drinks each day.
Now though, Pret has announced that the monthly fee will drop to £10 per month with subscribers entitled to 50 per cent off up to five drinks a day. Existing and any new members until 31 March 2025 can get the membership for just £5 per month. Other changes include dropping the 20 per cent discount on food, as well as slashing its price on a filter coffee to 99p and a butter croissant down to £1.99.
Set to be implemented from September, it has left loyal customers outraged over the move away from “free coffees”. And with high street brews now averaging around £4, it’s not hard to see why.
So, is the Pret subscription still worth it? We got out our calculator and sought to find out, while also considering the alternative models from the likes of Leon, Blank Street and Costa. Or, if you’d rather save money by enjoying your coffee at home, we’ve rounded up the best coffee subscriptions that deliver right to your door.
Best coffee subscriptions
Pret A Manger
The new Club Pret model costs £10 a month, and you’ll get up to five half price drinks per day. For example, one half price Americano per day will set you back £1.60 (£3.20 full price), adding up to roughly £44 per month. So, on top of the monthly fee, you’ll be spending around £54 at Pret per month. When compared to the old model, which set you back £30 per month, it doesn’t seem like a great deal. However, it’s still saving you money overall on your coffees from Pret, as without the membership you’ll be spending around £90 on daily coffees per month. The new £10 membership doesn’t start until 3 September.
Leon
With Pret cutting back on free coffees, Leon’s subscription model is now arguably the most appealing deal on the high street. For £25 a month, you can enjoy five barista-made drinks per day, as well as 20 per cent off breakfast and the all-day food menu. The model excludes meal deals and you can only redeem one coffee per hour, but the 20 per cent discount can be used as frequently as you like. Available only through the Leon Club app, you can’t redeem on the self-serve kiosks. Plus, you can rack up loyalty points for rewards.
Blank Street
Blank Street offers a Soho House-style membership model, where you have to join a waitlist (which is currently full). If you’re one of the lucky few to be accepted, Blank Street Regulars gets you discounts on coffee, pastries, merchandise and more. You can get up to 14 free barista-made drinks per week (hot or iced, any size, including free milk alternatives and one extra flavour). Free drinks can be redeemed once every 30 minutes. Regulars can also enjoy a 20 per cent discount on any further drinks, and a 10 per cent discount on everything else (including food, merch and coffee beans).
Costa
Costa’s membership is more of a loyalty scheme. If you sign up, you can get one bean for every drink you buy – and 10 beans gets you a free drink in store. Encouraging sustainability, you can get an extra bean when using a reusable cup. Other perks include a free cake on your birthday, a welcome “treat drop” and exclusive rewards.
Starbucks
Starbucks offers a similar reward scheme, where you can collect 150 stars to get a free drink – for every £1 spent you get three stars. If you get to 450 stars, you’ve reached gold level, with gold members getting extra shots of espresso, selected syrups and whipped cream all on the house. Plus, you can get a free birthday drink as a gold member.
Best at-home coffee subscriptions
Rave Coffee subscription: From £8.95 per month, Ravecoffee.co.uk
Securing the top spot in our round-up of the best coffee subscriptions, Rave’s coffee club lets you choose between the traditional subscription (£8.95 per month) or the discovery (£9.95 per month). Both include a monthly batch of a different single-origin coffee selected by the brand’s roasters, but the difference between the two is that the discovery box features more unusual coffees.
“We tried a batch of the discovery box for cafetiere, which was the medium-roasted Honduras cafesmo (no. 167), with notes of strawberry, sweet sherry and cocao nib, and its flavours did not disappoint,” our tester said. They also loved the playful packaging and welcome card that takes you through the production process, while description cards which highlights the different tasting notes are a nice touch.
Grind coffee compostable pods subscription: £9.95, Grind.co.uk
Grind’s coffee subscription lets you choose between Nespresso-compatible compostable pods, as well as whole beans or ground coffee. “Grind conveniently does the maths for you, to find out how much coffee you’ll need in your deliveries, all you have to do is tell them how many cups you have per day,” our tester said. “You can then opt for the mixed box, pick your preferred blend or mix and match, and your coffee will be delivered every one to four weeks for pods, and every one to eight weeks for beans and ground coffee.”
As well as delivering on the taste front, the pastel-pink packaging looks the part on your kitchen counter, too. “Grind includes its signature pink tin, as well as a welcome booklet, with your first trial delivery, which costs less than a tenner. From then on, you will just receive a refill for your tin in the letterbox.
Monmouth coffee subscription: £8.95, Monmouthcoffee.co.uk
With locations in Covent Garden, Borough Market and Bermondsey, Monmouth already has a loyal legion of coffee-lovers. Helping you recreate the barista-experience at home, its coffee subscription lets you select your go-to method for preparing your cup of joe, your coffee profile (choosing from Monmouth espresso, decaf, light/medium roast or medium/dark roast), bag size and frequency of delivery. “We tried the Thiriku Kenya medium roast and its fruity notes of redcurrant and plum jam went down a treat,” our tester said, adding that the coffee is “outstanding quality and was probably our favourite out of all we tasted.” The coffee comes in biodegradable/compostable bags and, when opting for the 250g bag subscription, your coffee even fits through the letterbox, so there’s no need to stay home, waiting for your delivery.
Voucher codes
For the latest discounts on coffee and other food offers, try the below links:
Find more of the best tried and tested coffee subscriptions in our round-up