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Walgreens 101: Learning The Game

June 4, 2009 by Tara Kuczykowski 114 Comments

walgreens-register-rewards-101I’ve never formally written a post on how to play the “Drugstore Game” at Walgreens, so I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to their Register Rewards program.

In many ways, this program is very similar to the CVS ExtraCare program. When you purchase certain items and/or a certain dollar amount of items, a coupon will print out that is good on your next purchase at Walgreens.

Much like CVS, to maximize your savings the key is to combine a Register Rewards producing deal or a great sale price with a manufacturer’s coupon and possibly even a store coupon. This allows you to purchase items at the lowest possible price so you can build your stockpile at a minimal cost.

However, there are some important differences that you need to be aware of to take advantage of the program to its fullest:

  • Walgreens does not require the use of a store loyalty card to earn Register Rewards, aka RRs.
  • You will only earn RRs once per deal per transaction. In other words, if Excedrin is producing $2 in RRs in a given week, you must purchase each bottle in a separate transaction to earn the Register Rewards. If you purchase 3 bottles in one transaction, you would only receive $2 in RRs.
  • RRs cannot be “rolled” on like transactions. Using the Excedrin example again, you could not purchase one bottle of Excedrin and use the RRs received to purchase a second bottle. The Register Rewards will not print out when the second transaction is completed. Instead to roll RRs, you need to alternate it with another deal. So if Pantene was producing $2 in RRs as well that week, you could purchase the Excedrin, use the Excedrin RRs to purchase your Pantene, and then turn around and use the Pantene RRs to purchase the Excedrin again and so on.
  • While Register Rewards are essentially cash, the Walgreens registers treat them as manufacturer coupons. The problem with this is that Walgreens only allow you to use as many manufacturer coupons as items on the transaction. This creates a need for “filler items” if you have a coupon for every item you’re purchasing and wish to pay with a Register Reward. Filler items are inexpensive items that you add to an order so you have a non-coupon item that will allow your Register Rewards to be processed.
  • There is some debate about the best order to hand over your RRs and coupons at checkout. The method that I’ve found to work best personally is Register Rewards first, Walgreen’s store coupons second, and manufacturer’s coupons last. Feel free to change it up if it’s not working well for you.

Finally, a word to the wise – treat your RRs like cash. They cannot be replaced if lost. Generally Register Rewards expire two weeks from when they are generated, so watch those expiration dates!

Ready to try your hand at shopping Walgreens? Check out the Walgreens Weekly Deals where I lay out the best deals for each week along with the coupons you need to maximize your savings.

Questions? Comments? Leave them all. I’d love to create an FAQs page to help guide readers through the process of learning to shop at Walgreens, so I welcome your input.

Filed Under: drugstores Tagged With: walgreens how-to

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sandra

    November 14, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    My question is does Walgreens coupon policy allow tripple coupons? Can I use two different MC & a walgreens ad coupon for one item? I know I have to check out with the same number of coupons and items. Today, I tried to use a manufactors coupon, a peelie coupon and a walgreens coupon & it didn’t go thru. I was told I could only use one manufactor coupon per item.

    Reply
  2. Shannon

    January 16, 2011 at 10:39 pm

    I just started couponing last week! I am totally overwhelmed, but I know the long run will be totally worth it! I went to Walgreens and the lady was so helpful! She actually re-scanned and “worked it” until it came out the way we wanted! I got my first two RR’s with that purchase! I hope my future wags wxperiences will be as great!

    Reply
  3. Joy

    January 19, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    what happens if you buy a filler item and later decide to return the filler item, do you lose all the RR money?

    Reply
  4. Lori

    February 10, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    OK, I know that you need to have as many items as your do coupons. Today I had a total of 12 items. I had 4 coupons for $ off 2 items, 2 coupons for $ off 1 item, and 3 RR. A total of 9 coupons. Something wasn’t going through, and the cashier stated it was because four of the coupons were for 2 items each. My understanding was that the limit was by physical coupon, not items that the coupons were on.

    Reply
  5. dee karvois

    February 21, 2011 at 11:20 am

    HELP! I find these RR confusing. Will the RR apply when I make the purchase or is it a reward coupon that will print out for my next purchase (i.e., grocery store rewards). If it is for the next purchase, what makes them so great? Thanks.

    Dee

    Reply
  6. Kate

    February 21, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    They’re for the next purchase, so if you don’t plan on making Walgreens a regular or semi-regular stop, they may not be worth it for you. But if you can go every week or two weeks, you can use them to buy things that produce more register rewards (as long as it’s not the same company that gave you the reward in the first place). So you can end up paying just tax out of pocket and getting back more register rewards.

    Some Walmarts and grocery stores will accept register rewards because they are manufacturer coupons. It is worth checking this out where you live, because even if you don’t make Walgreens a regular thing, you can use the coupon on your regular groceries and get the money back. =) Make sense?

    Reply
  7. Gerri

    February 22, 2011 at 9:55 am

    For this week, there is the Pampers Deal and the Pantene/Aussie/Herbal Essence deal. These products are by the same manufacturer, correct? And so these deals can not be rolled onto one another, correct? Thanks for any help that you can give!

    Reply
  8. Olivia

    May 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    So i went to Walgreens this morning to use 2 Kotex coupons along with Walgreens ad special – 2/7.00. I did receive the $2.00 RR. I went home and looked through my coupons again and I found 2 more Kotex coupons. I went back to the store, bought 2 more boxes of Kotex, presented the cashier my $2.00 RR and then my 2 $1.00 coupons. I thought I would receive another $2.00 RR coupon, but I did not. I asked the store manager what happened and he said I would not receive another RR coupon from Kimberly Clarke because I had just cashed my 1st coupon in on their product. I guess I am confused on these RR coupons. Lesson learned today. But I did get the 2 boxes of Kotex at the final price of $3.00- not bad :)

    Reply
  9. kristah

    May 15, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    can you use an in-ad coupon with a manufactures coupon

    Reply
  10. tyedye

    May 20, 2011 at 8:29 am

    Here’s a total noob question. What difference does it make if you hand over your RR first or last?

    Reply
  11. Lynn

    December 31, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    the managers make up stuff to make you happy. One told me the ohter day my rewards did not print because i buy more than one item at a time. Turns out i had the wrong toothbrush. I realized and got the right one. Purchased the toothbrush ALONE and got my reward bucks. She handed it to me and gave me a evil look.

    Reply
  12. Davida

    January 22, 2012 at 3:34 pm

    I notice sometimes a price is preceded by a psa. What does that mean?
    Thanks for your hard work.

    Reply
  13. Kim

    July 21, 2013 at 9:05 am

    I understand the use of RR’s but I don’t get the new “points” system. Could you describe how that works please. I get tht 1000 pts = $1.00 but does it come off yo total automatically when you first purchase the items giving points or do you have to ask to use it or does it drop youor total on your next purchase?

    Reply
    • donna

      February 10, 2014 at 8:42 am

      I don’t understand the points at Walgreens either. Can anyone explain that to me?

      Reply
    • Vanessa

      February 24, 2014 at 1:14 pm

      My understanding on the points system is that you can pay for your transaction if you have at least 5,000 points($5) on your card. The cashier should ask you if you would like to use your points to pay or save your points to accumalate more. But make sure the item you are paying for with the points isn’t giving you back points because you will not get back points. So you can not redeem and earn points in the same purchase. You can earn and redeem these amounts 5,000=$5 10,000=$10 18,000=$20 30,000=$35 or 40,000=$50

      Reply
  14. Gail

    January 23, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    Davida, PSA means “prices starting at” and just gives you a base amount for where the price might begin for that item and can certainly run higher, like with makeup or vitamins.

    Reply
  15. Abby

    August 18, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Can you combine Walgreen’s coupons and manufacturer coupons?

    Reply
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Hey there — nice to meet you!

I'm Tara: mom of 5 teens/tweens and one 80-lb. Weimaraner, who fancies herself a lap dog. Born and raised in Ohio (GO BUCKS!!!), my fave things include cooking + baking, my JEEP Rubicon, the 4x4 beaches at OBX, and checking out the local craft beer scene...
 
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