The Lowdown on the W Card

You may have heard me mention the Walgreens W Card in prior posts. Now here’s some detail on what it is and why I love it.

What: The W Card is a membership card for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. The club costs $20 annually for a single membership or $35 annually for a family membership and entitles you to discounted prescription medicines included in their list. It is not a replacement for insurance, but it may save you a bit depending on your current medical plan. For mine, I have a $30 copay for a 90-day supply of generic drugs compared to $12 for a 90-day supply with my W card plan. So it would save me a little. However, I rarely need prescriptions, so I don’t plan to use it for the prescription savings at all.

So why would I want this card?

Bonus: There is an added bonus to having a W card. Members receive a 10% discount on any Walgreens brand purchase. That’s right…10% off Walgreens brand diapers, 10% off Walgreens brand vitamins, 10% off Walgreens brand sandwich bags….10% off Walgreens brand anything!

How To Enroll: When you sign up at the pharmacy counter, you will receive a sheet of paper that serves as a temporary card until your W card arrives in the mail a few weeks later. Don’t bother doing anything with the temporary ID because most Walgreens clerks do not know what to do with it. Just save all your receipts to get retroactive credit after your W card arrives.

How To Receive Credit: There are two ways to receive credit for your Walgreens brand purchases:

1. Scan Your Card: When you are purchasing Walgreens brand items, simply run your W card first through the credit card reader upon checkout. Your 10% credit will be automatically calculated and listed on your receipt. The 10% bonus will be loaded onto your W card to use for a future purchase. Note: I don’t recommend this method.
2. Enter Your Receipt Online: It takes a day or two for your receipt to show up in the Walgreens online system. After a few days, go to the Walgreens website and type “Prescription Savings Club” in the search box from the main page. Select “Add Receipt to Card” from the left-hand panel. You can then type in your RFN# from the top of your receipt. You will then get a yellow box that says “There is no receipt associated with card.” Select the “Add Receipt to Card” button, which will bring you to a screen where you can specify your W card number. You will then be brought to a screen to review the receipt details which will show you the total discount amount you will receive. Select “Confirm” and the amount will be credited to your W card.

How To Redeem: You can use your W card just as you would a Walgreens store gift card. The value added to your W card can be used for almost any purchase. You do not have to use it for Walgreens brand items only. To use it, simply run it through the credit card machine like a gift card.

Additional Tips and Hints:

• Currently, some items offer more credit when you enter the receipt online. With the current diaper deal, if I scan my W card at the register, I receive $0.70 for each package of diapers that I paid for as it uses the after store coupon value for the 10% credit. Diapers were $8.99 - $2 coupon, so I received 10% of $6.99. When I entered my receipt online for a separate diaper purchase, I received $0.90 back for each package because it uses the before coupon purchase price.


• Currently, Walgreens store gift card purchases are counted toward the 10% credit. If you were to purchase a $100 Walgreens gift card, you will get a credit of $10 back on your W card. This only works if you enter the receipt online.


• When redeeming the balance on your W card, do not use it to pay for items that are Walgreens brand. If you use your W card to pay, it will automatically calculate and credit the value of your Walgreens items and you will not be able to enter the receipt online later. (I made this mistake by using it to pay for diapers, which meant I missed out on $0.20 per pack credit on the purchases I made before I realized it.)


• If you still happen to have receipts from prior to enrolling in the W card plan, you can enter those online, too, and still receive credit for any Walgreens brand purchases for months prior to enrollment. I dug out a few older receipts I had from prior diaper purchases earlier this summer and received credit by entering them online.
  

Why I Love It: I have had the card for a little over a month now, and for the $20 I paid to enroll, I have already been credited back $31, more than making up for the initial investment, and for the next 11 months, I can enjoy a 10% discount on any Walgreens purchase.

For more Walgreens scoop, check out my post on Walgreens Register Rewards.