On Wednesday, members of the Tim Hortons Rewards restaurant chain were informed that they were changing their system for earning and redeeming points. It brings some big changes to how quickly customers can earn points and how many points they have to spend to redeem them for items.
One of the biggest changes to the Tim Hortons Rewards program is How You collect points. Under the current system, you earn 10 points for every visit to Tim Hortons as long as you spend at least $0.50. Whether you bought a coffee for less than $2 or an entire lunch combo for more than $10, you earn the same points for the transaction.
Under the new system, you earn 10 points for every dollar spent (or 1 point for every $0.10). This is great news if you tend to spend a lot in a single transaction, but you may notice some slowdown if you spend on cheap individual items during your visits. More on that later.
But waityou ask. If I earned 10 points per transaction and now I’m earning 10 points per dollar, isn’t that a much better deal? It could be if points for redeeming items didn’t increase significantly as well. The good news is that we’ve got you covered and we’ve done the math for you on which items have the best value for your points.
There are now seven tiers of redemption value available:
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300 points: Classic Donuts, Specialty Donuts, Hash Browns, Cookies
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400 points: Brewed Coffee, Tea, Dream Donuts, Bagels, Baked Goods
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600 points: Hot Chocolate, French Vanilla, Iced Coffee, Potato Wedges
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800 points: Real Fruit Quencher, Cold Brew, Classic Iced Capp, Box of 10 Timbits, Yogurt, Frozen Drinks, Espresso Drinks
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1,100 points: breakfast rolls, soups
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1,300 points: Farmer’s Wrap, BELT, Lunch Sandwiches, Chili
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1,800 points: Loaded bowls and wraps
Important note: These values are based on the purchase price of items in the greater Toronto area at the time of publication. This does not take into account price changes that may occur between December 2022 and the start of the program in February 2023.
Methodology and general results
In our previous breakdown, we calculated an item’s relative value based on how much value you received per 10 points. Because the new system uses much higher point values, the new value is calculated per 100 points.
Overall, all items in the 400 point category offer the best value per 100 points. Unsurprisingly, ordering an extra-large version of any drink offers the best value and the small version offers the worst, since different sizes don’t have different point redemption amounts.
Tim Horton’s Best Value Rewards Items
5) Item: French Vanilla (extra large)
Cost: $3.19
Reward Cost: 400
Value per 100 points: $0.53
4) Item: Dream Donut, Classic Croissant or Premium Muffin
Cost: $2.19
Reward Cost: 400
Value per 100 points: $0.55
3) Item: Coffee/Tea (extra large)
Cost: $2.26
Reward Cost: 400
Value per 100 points: $0.57
2) Item: Specialty Bagel
Cost: $2.29
Reward Cost: 400
Value per 100 points: $0.57
1) Item: hash browns
Cost: $1.99
Reward Cost: 300
Value per 100 points: $0.66
Worst value Tim Hortons premium items
5) Item: Ham Cheddar Sandwich or BLT Sandwich
Cost: $5.99
Reward Cost: 1,300
Value per 100 points: $0.27
4) Item(s): Bagel Farmer’s Breakfast Sandwich/Specialty Bagel Farmer’s Breakfast Sandwich
Cost: $5.59 / $5.99
Reward Cost: 1,300
Value per 100 points: $0.25 / $0.27
3) Item: Grilled Melted Cheese
Cost: $5.49
Reward Cost: 1,300
Value per 100 points: $0.25
2) Item: Farmer’s Wrap, Farmer’s Breakfast Sandwich, Craveables, Chile or BELT
Cost: $4.99
Reward Cost: 1,300
Value per 100 points: $0.23
1) Item: Espresso (single and double)
Cost: $1.49 (single) / $1.99 (double)
Reward Cost: 800
Value per 100 points: $0.19 / $0.25
This is how Tim Hortons Rewards points are earned
What has really changed about the rewards program is how you collect your points. As previously mentioned, the new program earns you 10 points for every $1 spent. But how does that actually compare to the current Tim Hortons rewards program? The answer lies in how the company converts your existing points into the new program.
In customer communications, the company explains that your current points balance will be multiplied by 6.2 during the transition period in February. If you had 100 points in the current program, you will have 620 points in the new program. Based on this, we can estimate that the average order value that Tim Hortons takes per transaction is $6.20: Under the old program, a visit would earn you 10 points. To get the same value in the new program, you would need to spend $6.20 per order (for example, an extra-large breakfast sandwich with coffee and bacon costs $6.45 before tax).
How this compares from the old to the new system: Let’s say you want to redeem a bagel (my personal favorite redeemable item) which is 70 points in the current system and 400 points in the new one. In the old system, it took me seven visits to earn enough points for the bagel. The new system requires me to spend $40 to earn enough points for my bagel; If I spend an average of $6.20 per visit, it would take me about six and a half visits to earn this bagel. However, if I only buy one large brewed tea ($1.97) each visit, it would take me just over 20 visits to earn enough points to redeem.
