Starbucks merging reward plans, adding free drinks

Registered Starbucks card users come in at the second "green" level, which offers two hours of free Wi-Fi, free brewed coffee refills and other benefits.

Gold card members enter at the "gold" level, which adds to the previous offers with tailored coupons and a free drink with every 15 purchased.

Existing Gold card members will get their same benefits for a full year after the purchase of their cards and none of the card benefits will expire before January, even if a member's benefits were due to run out, Davenport said.

Davenport said Starbucks asked a sampling of its roughly 850,000 Gold card members if they would like to switch to a no-fee program. He said there was a two-to-one preference for eliminating the fee. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)