How to Get Starbucks for Life This Holiday Season

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At the end of every year, Starbucks brings back their much-anticipated Starbucks for Life game, which gives their customers freebies, discounts, and yes — a shot at Starbucks for Life.

We’ll tell you how to play, what the prizes are, and how to get more opportunities to win. Starbucks for Life is one of the most popular Starbucks promotions of the year, and we break it down for you. But before you get your Starbucks for Life, you’re going to need to sign up for the Starbucks Rewards program. It’s the fastest way to get free Starbucks throughout the year.

Here’s how to get Starbucks for Life, Delta SkyMiles, and bonus “Stars” added to your Starbucks Rewards account.

Play Starbucks for Life Now Through January 1, 2023

With over 4 million prizes up for grabs, this annual event is one your won’t want to miss! Every day from Nov. 29, 2022 to Jan. 1, 2023, you can enter the Starbucks for Life Sweepstakes by heading to www.starbucksforlife.com, entering your Starbucks Rewards account information, and clicking the snow globe on the screen to shake it.

Once you’ve shaken your snow globe, you’ll either get a holiday light, a random game piece, an instant win piece, or nothing. Those results add up to freebies.

You can shake the globe once a day, unless you earn additional free plays (more on that in a sec).

Actually getting Starbucks for Life is next to impossible, though. (There’ll only be two winners.)

a starbucks drink being held in starbucks

in order to claim your Starbucks of Life, you’ll need to collect three “Starbucks for Life” tokens from the snow globe. Each person will be randomly given a token, but with only two “Starbucks for Life” tokens given per day, it’ll be difficult to get the grand prize without a lot of luck.

Plus, Starbucks is only giving two Starbucks for Life rewards this year, so if two winners are already named, you’re out of luck.

There are 10 different game pieces; get three of the same one and you’ll win a prize.

If you get three of the same game pieces, you’ll get one of 10 prizes. You won’t be able to exchange pieces for another, so it might take you a while before you get three of a kind. Here’s everything you can get from the Starbucks for Life sweepstakes and how many of each prize they will give in 2022:

Free Starbucks for Life (reg. $64,605) — 2 Prizes Given in 2022
Free Starbucks for 6 Months (reg. $1,076.75) — 25 Prizes Given in 2022
Free Starbucks for a Month (reg. $177) — 100 Prizes Given in 2022
Delta Air Lines Flight Certificates (reg. $1,360) — 20 Prizes Given in 2022
1,000 Bonus Stars (reg. $38.10) — 8,000 Prizes Given in 2022
500 Bonus Stars (reg. $19.05) — 1,000 Prizes Given in 2022
150 Bonus Stars (reg. $5.72) — 35,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Mocca Master Coffee Brewer (reg. $369.95) — 20 Prizes Given in 2022
$50 Starbucks Gift Card — 1,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Cold Brew Kit (reg. $24.95) — 100 Prizes Given in 2022

TIP: We know everything you should know about the Starbucks Delta Air Lines collaboration that’ll have you saving on coffee and plane tickets.

Six holiday lights gets you a free drink or merch.

Starbucks for Life Christmas lights illustration with Starbucks reserve tote bag prize

Once you’ve lit up six individual holiday lights — one of the several possibilities each time you shake the snow globe — you’ll win one of three prizes:

$1 off a Handcrafted Beverage Coupon — 50,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Starbucks Reserve Tote (reg. $24.95) — 2,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Starbucks Ornament (reg. $19.95) — 2,000 Prizes Given in 2022

NOTE: When you win your reward, you’ll receive a notification via your Starbucks app with instructions for redemption.

Instant Prize tokens give you a freebie right away.

a person's hand holding up a starbucks holiday drink outside drive thru holiday wreath

If you get an Instant Prize token, you’ll be able to collect your reward right away. Here’s what you’ll get in the Instant Reward tier:

Starbucks Reserve Coffee (reg. $14.95) — 3,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Siren Retail Keychain (reg. $12.95) — 2,000 Prizes Given in 2022
$10.00 Starbucks Gift Card — 7,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Free Handcrafted Holiday Drink (reg. $5.50) — 16,000 Prizes Given in 2022
$5.00 Starbucks Gift Card — 12,000 Prizes Given in 2022
Free Bakery Item (reg. $3.01) — 150,000 Prizes Given in 2022
50 Stars (reg. $1.91) — 26,000 Prizes Given in 2022
$0.50 No Kid Hungry Donation and 25 Stars (reg. $1.00) — 200,000 Prizes Given in 2022
25 Stars (reg. $0.95) — 800,000 Prizes Given in 2022
10 Stars (reg. $0.38) — 601,000 Prizes Given in 2022
5 Stars (reg. $0.19) — 2,100,000 Prizes Given in 2022

Play the Holiday Run game to win another click on the snow globe.

Person playing the Starbucks Holiday Run game on their phone while the Starbucks for Life site is on their computer

Every day, you can earn another chance to shake the snow globe by earning 4,000 points in the Holiday Run gamey. It can be found on the Starbucks for Life page and is played by guiding a mouse away from obstacles and into Starbucks holiday cups.

Get another click on the snow globe when you fill out a survey.

starbucks for life survey starting screen

If you don’t want to pay for 10 purchases through your Starbucks Rewards account, head to the bottom of the Starbucks for Life page and find the text that says “To enter without making a purchase, click here.”

Once you’ve clicked on the link, you’ll be sent to a three minute survey. Once you complete it, you should be able to get another click on the snow globe without having to purchase anything.

Enter the Starbucks for Life Sweepstakes up to five times a day.

You can earn more shakes of the snow globe by completing tasks. Here’s what you can do to enter the sweepstakes more than once a day:

Load up your Starbucks Rewards account with $20
Make 10 purchases through your Starbucks Rewards account
Shake the snow globe 7 days in a row

These plays will carry over day to day, so you don’t have to load $20 or play the Holiday Run game every day to get multiple plays per day.

You can win more than one prize from the Starbucks for Life promotion.

Two women talking and laughing together while holding Starbucks cups.

If you’ve already won a prize from the Starbucks for Life promotion, you’ll still be able to redeem more rewards. According to the rules, you’ll be eligible for each prize no matter how many you earn, so make sure you’re playing every day to maximize your free Starbucks potential.