myWalgreens: cash rewards and clipped coupons

myWalgreens is Walgreens' free loyalty program. It does two jobs: it pays rewards called Walgreens Cash on eligible purchases, and it holds the digital coupons you clip in the Walgreens app or on walgreens.com. Both work only when your account is attached to the purchase, and the coupon side has one timing rule that trips people up more than any other.

Joining and identifying yourself

Walgreens says joining needs your name, ZIP code and phone number, and that you give your phone number at checkout to earn rewards. The help page also says you need an email address or home address on your profile to redeem rewards. Set those up before your first trip so nothing gets stuck at the register.

Walgreens Cash rewards

Walgreens Cash is a rewards balance, not money. The myWalgreens terms set:

• How rewards are earned, including a base rate on eligible purchases and higher rates on certain store-brand items.
• When rewards post, which Walgreens says differs between in-store purchases and online orders.
• How you redeem, in set increments with per-transaction and daily caps.
• What's excluded, including prescriptions and certain pharmacy items, plus some states' pharmacy rules.
• When rewards expire, and what happens to an account that goes unused.

We're deliberately not repeating the rates and caps here. Walgreens has changed them before, and the terms page is short enough to read in a couple of minutes.

Steps: a myWalgreens trip

1. Open the app at home. Search for the items on your list and clip any digital coupons for them.
2. Check your Walgreens Cash balance. Decide whether to redeem this trip or save it.
3. Bring paper coupons if you have them. Walgreens accepts manufacturer coupons under its coupon policy.
4. Give your phone number before paying. That attaches your clipped coupons and earns rewards.
5. Ask to redeem rewards if you want to. You choose an increment the terms allow.
6. Check the receipt. Clipped coupons, rewards earned and rewards redeemed all appear there.

The timing rule: clip first

Walgreens' coupon policy says digital coupons must be clipped to your myWalgreens account before the purchase, and coupons clipped after a transaction is complete aren't honored. If you remember a coupon while you're in line, clip it before the cashier finishes the transaction, not after.

Combining coupons

Walgreens publishes a coupon policy that covers combining one manufacturer coupon with applicable Walgreens coupons on a single item, unless either coupon prohibits it. It also limits identical coupons per household per day and refuses expired, copied or altered coupons. Store-level enforcement can vary, so if a combination is refused, ask to see the policy together and accept the store's final call.

Promo codes and online orders

Walgreens' help pages say promo codes work only for online purchases, and have their own rules about combining. If you shop both online and in store, treat promo codes as an online-only tool and clipped coupons as the in-store one.

Common mistakes

• Clipping a coupon after the receipt prints.
• Assuming Walgreens Cash can pay for a prescription.
• Letting rewards expire because you never checked the balance.
• Using a coupon for a different size or variety than the one described.

myWalgreens rules, rates and caps change. Check the current terms and coupon policy, linked below, before you count on any of this at the register.