The Starbucks app, your frequent flier miles, the ever-growing pile of Dunkin' receipts you look at with warmth and pride — sometimes, it pays to be loyal. But loyalty is about to give back in a big, big way. Finally, the long-anticipated Chipotle Rewards program is here. That's right, all you have to do is buy Chipotle — something you already love doing — and you will be rewarded with more Chipotle, Chipotle that you did not have to buy. Take a breath, because 2019 might just be OK. Not only that Chipotle, wrapper of dreams and dreamer of delicious, has announced they will be using Venmo give away up to a quarter of a million dollars to fans. From today until March 25, they'll be giving back to about 25,000 Chipotle fans. Per day. Chipotle is not messing around.
The loyalty program itself is a huge step forward. When you join, you'll earn 10 points for every $1 spent in the restaurant, online, or in the app. When you gather 1,250 points (which at my burrito-eating rate would be in approximately 2.4 hours), you get a free entrée. Not only that, there will be other perks for those with the rewards program, like extra point days, free chips and guac after the first purchase as a member, and surprise birthday treats. To join Chipotle Rewards, you can sign up on their app or on their site. Then, just keep eating that sweet, sweet Chipotle and wait for the rewards.
Then, of course, there's the issue of the QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS that Chipotle is giving back to customers. They'll be giving out amounts between $1 and $500 and winners will be alerted on the app with a custom Chipotle pepper emoji to celebrate your win. If you want to take part in the giveaway and try your chances, you can give your phone number that you use with your Venmo account at the ChipotleRewardMe site.
"Chipotle is one of the first brands to utilize Venmo’s technology to engage with customers through this pay-out feature on the Venmo app,” Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer at Chipotle, explained in a press release. “Our customers have been asking for a loyalty program for a long time and we’re excited to partner with Venmo to reach their highly engaged network of digital-first customers to launch Chipotle Rewards, where the more you Chipotle, the more you can get free Chipotle!” And that's a message we can all get behind. Chipotle for President, 2020.
There are very few things in this life that deliver pure, unadulterated joy — in fact, they're almost exclusively GIFs of animals and babies being adorable. But the prospect of free burritos and bowls and tacos is enough to fill even the most twisted among us with a sense of child-like wonder. We can imagine a world where Netflix doesn't shame us by asking if we're still watching, a world where student loan debt doesn't exist — a world where guac isn't extra. We can imagine. But for, now the Chipotle Rewards program is the first step toward that kind of world. And it's here just in time.
