Free coffees and bagels at Tim Hortons will mean spending more money, more often in 2023

Earning a free coffee or bagel at Canadian chain Tim Hortons will look a little different come February 2023.

Customers who take part of the company's loyalty program received an email on Thursday, notifying some revisions to the program's terms. 

Under the new system, customers will earn 10 points per dollar spent. To earn a free coffee, customers will have to reach 400 points. That's up from the current 70 points needed to earn a freebie coffee. 

According to Patrick Sojka, founder of Rewards Canada, that's because the loyalty program has switched over from rewarding visits to now rewarding the amount of money spent by customers.

It seems like it is punishing people who can't afford ... to go as often as other people can.— Daniel Laplante, Sudbury resident

"It's really going to depend on the type of customers as to whether these changes are going to be good for you or bad," he said.  

"But I feel for the most part, I think a lot of Canadians are not going to be happy with this." 

Rewards Canada is a website that provides Canadians with information on how to earn more miles and points, the best ways to redeem points and miles and to make the most of their credit cards. 

Sarah Lalonde lives in Sudbury. She says she's been visiting the coffee chain for many years on and off and doesn't feel the changes are a good idea. 

'Difficult choices have to be made'

"We're all feeling financial crunch these days," she said. 

"We're looking for ways to be more money savvy. If the existing product and service is going to come at a higher cost with less benefits, it definitely creates a situation where difficult choices have to be made." 

Sojka said inflation is likely partly to blame for the changes, but he suspects Tim Hortons simply realized how much potential money they were losing in rewarding visits, as opposed to money spent. 

"I think they can see that they can make more money by rewarding those people less," he said. 

He said the revenue model has become popular among airlines and restaurant chains in recent years. This shift, he said, is also likely behind Tim Hortons decision to revise its program.

Shift to revenue model

"Just over a year ago McDonald's totally revamped their program. They went away from just rewarding fried and coffee to doing a whole restaurant-based system," Sojka said.

"I think your listeners might want to know that in the McDonald's program it's 2,000 point for a free coffee but they're giving you 100 points per dollar. You only have to spend $20 to get that free coffee, versus Tim Hortons' $40." 

Sojka said while many Canadians won't be fans of the new program, it will benefit those who spend more. 

Sudbury's Daniel Laplante said the program won't affect him very much, but he feels for those it may impact.

"On one hand its a free coffee, I'm not too torn about it. But on the other hand, it seems like a lot of points just to get one little freebie," he said. 

"It seems like it is punishing people who can't afford ... to go as often as other people can, you know, which is really unfortunate. Maybe they really relied on getting that extra coffee after fewer amount of purchases?"  

In an email to CBC News, Tim Hortons confirmed the revenue-based model. 

"In the current program, Tims Rewards members earn 10 Points per visit, regardless of how much is spent at each visit. However, in the new program Tims Rewards members will earn 10 Points for every dollar spent, meaning those who spend more, will earn more." 

The changes to the company's rewards program will come into effect Feb. 21, 2023.