Walgreens rewards program is called Register Rewards. Their reward program works, but it is not quite as easy as CVS. If you have both a CVS and a Walgreens in your area, try learning just CVS first. Once you master CVS, more onto Walgreens.
When you look through the Walgreens circular you want to keep your eye out for several different things. Firstly, you want to watch for items which are Free After Register Rewards (FARR). These are items that the Register Reward that you will earn is equal to the price of the item. Circle these. Secondly, you want to watch for items which are close to free after Register Rewards. When the value of the RR is close to the price, you may be able to purchase the item using a coupon to make it free. If you do not have a coupon, when something is cheap, it is still much better than paying full price. Circle these items. Thirdly, keep your eyes open for items which cost only pennies. Because of the way Walgreens Register Rewards program works, you need to keep an eye out for what we call 'filler items'. These are items which cost very little and which you can add to a transaction in order to use all your coupons. Circle these as well.
Start your Walgreens journey the same way you started your CVS journey. Choose to only purchase one or two RR items the first few weeks. As you look through your flier and find an item or two which is FARR (Free After Register Rewards), pick up that or those items. Do not pick up more than one of the same item. Take your items to the cashier. Hand the cashier your items and coupons (if you have them). Once you pay, the cashier will hand you your change, receipt, and the Register Reward(s).
Here's an example. Let's say that Tylenol was on sale for $3.99 with a $3.99 RR. Gillette deodorant was on sale for $4.50 with a $4.50 RR. You pick up one of each and head over to the cashier. You hand the cashier your bottle of Tylenol, your Gillette Deodorant, and a $2 Gillette coupon. Your total after your coupon is $6.49 plus tax. You pay your total. The cashier will hand you your change, your receipt and two RR – one for $3.99 and one for $4.50. Your total RR from this week is $8.49.
Next week you head back. Feminine pads are on sale for $6 with a $6 RR. Icy Hot is on sale for $2.99 with a $2.99 RR. You have picked up two items. You have a $1 coupon for the pads and a $.50 for Icy Hot. You also have two Register Rewards. Walgreens only lets you use as many manufacturer's coupons (including Register Rewards) as you have items. If you have two items and you want to use two Register Rewards and two coupons, you need to purchase two more fillers. This will bring your number of items purchased equal to the number of manufacturer's coupons and Register Rewards you wish to use. You head to the cashier and hand her your pads, Icy Hot, and two fillers ($.33 each). Before coupons and Register Rewards, you owe $9.32 plus tax. You then hand the cashier your coupons and Register Rewards. After your coupons and Register Rewards, you owe $.83 plus tax. You get back $8.99 in Register Rewards.
The next week, you find mandarin oranges on sale for $.50 with a store coupon in the flier. While this isn't free, you decide to pick up one anyway because you want it for an upcoming fruit salad. You also find Olay body wash on sale $5 with a $3 RR and Noxzema facial cleanser on sale for $3 with a $3 RR. You have a $2 coupon for Olay body wash and a $1 coupon for Noxzema. You have three items you wish to purchase, one store coupon, two manufacturer's coupons, and two Register Rewards. Your store coupon for the $.50 mandarin oranges does not count toward the number of coupons being equal to the number of items purchased because it is a STORE coupon. So you have four total MQs and RRs. You have three items in your cart. You decide to pick up another can of mandarin oranges bringing your total of items purchased to four which equals your MQs and RRs. Heading over to the cashier, you plunk down your four items. Before your coupons you owe $10.00 plus tax. When you hand your coupons, hand them in this order. Manufacturer's coupons FIRST. Hand your store coupons SECOND. Hand your Register Rewards LAST. You hand over your MQs first. This brings your total to $7 plus tax. You hand your store coupon next. This brings your total to $6. You have two Register Rewards to hand over a $6 and a $3. Your total is only $6, so you only use your $6 RR. Your total is only tax. You get a $3RR, a $3 RR and you still have a $3 RR from last week, so your grand total of RRs is $9.
Make sure you watch expiration dates on your Regsiter Rewards. While they may be out there, I haven't heard of a Walgreens which doesn't worry about the expiration dates.
While at CVS, you have a keytag and they limit how many deals you can do, Walgreens doesn't. The way that Walgreens keeps you from coming in and buying eight of anything, OlayWalgreens.
There are two ways in which you can still use your RR. You can choose each week to only purchase one of any given item which generates a RR, like in our first examples for Walgreens. When you do it this way, you will try to work it as you do CVS where you try to keep your RR levels about the same each week.
Let's say that one week there are two items which are on sale – both of which you are in need of multiples. You have coupons for both, and their Register Rewards are about the same. You can “roll” between the two different items in separate transactions. Let's say that Head and Shoulders is on sale for $4 with a $2.25 RR and Herbal Essences stylers are on sale for $3 with a $2 RR. You have a $1.50 Head and Shoulders coupon and a $.75 Herbal Essence coupon. You pick up three Head and Shoulders and three Herbal Essences, and six fillers.
Your first transaction would be one Head and Shoulders. You hand the bottle of shampoo, your filler ($.33 each), your coupon, and a previous RR (if you have one), $1.50 for example, to the cashier. Before your coupons and RR, you owe $4.33 plus tax . After your coupons and RR, you owe $1.33 plus tax. You pay your $1.33 and get a $2.25 RR back.
Your second transaction would be one Herbal Essences styler and a $.33 filler. You hand your items over along with your $.75 coupon and $2.25 RR (from the first transaction). Before coupons and RRs you owe $3.33 plus tax. After coupons you owe $.33 plus tax. You pay your $.33 and get a $2 RR back.
Your third transaction would again be one Head and Shoulders. You hand the bottle of shampoo, your filler ($.33 each), your coupon, and your $2 RR (from your Herbal Essences transaction) to the cashier. Before your coupons and RR, you owe $4.33 plus tax . After your coupons and RR, you owe $.83 plus tax. You pay your $.83 and get a $2.25 RR back.
You would keep going back and forth between the two until you no longer wanted to or until you ran out of coupons. Once you get more experienced, you can do the same process with multiple items in each transaction. Just remember that you can never use a RR to buy an identical item while generating another of the same RR. Another thing you need to keep in mind is that if you are going to do more than one transaction, do not check out at the front of the store. The beauty counter or photo counter is your best bet for checking out using multiple transactions.
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