Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
CVS CarePass is a subscription service that offers free shipping plus a $10 discount each month. ExtraCare, meanwhile, is CVS’ free loyalty program that offers discounts and rewards in the form of “ExtraBucks”. Together, these two programs offer big real world savings.
CVS CarePass
CVS CarePass costs $48 per year, which works out to $4 per month. Alternatively, you can pay $5 per month if you don’t want to be locked in long term. Either way, you can easily get more than your money’s worth thanks to the $10 promo reward they offer each month.
Is CarePass available in your area?
CarePass isn’t available everywhere. Use this page to see if CarePass is available to you: cvs.com/carepass/carepassLookUp
CarePass perks
- Free 1 to 2 day shipping with no minimum
- Free prescription delivery
- $10 promo reward each month
- 20% off CVS Health® brands every day
- 24/7 Pharmacist Helpline
CVS ExtraCare
ExtraCare is CVS’s free loyalty program. If you shop CVS often, you probably already carry around a CVS ExtraCare card. At the minimum, CVS ExtraCare offers 2% back on purchases: For every $50 you spend at CVS, you get $1 worth of ExtraBucks (which give you a discount off future purchases). But that’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is what happens when you sign up for email savings. After you sign up for emails, you’ll regularly get offers for 20%, 30% or even 40% off any 1 product:
Each time you get an email like this, it’s worth the few seconds to click “Get coupon” and then on the resulting web page, click “Send to card.” This will make the discount available to you regardless of whether buy in-store or online.
Another noteworthy aspect to CVS ExtraCare is that you can log into your CVS account, click “ExtraCare,” and then find and load coupons to your account. They tend to offer a seemingly endless selection of coupons that range from general purpose (e.g. 40% off almost anything, like shown above) to general categories of things (e.g. “$3 off $18 toothpaste, mouthwash, or toothbrushes”), to groups of products within a brand (e.g. “$5 off $15 CVS HEALTH brand allergy remedies,” to specific products (“$3 off 2 Hallmark Cards”). Before, shopping, find all of the coupons that seem remotely interesting and click “send to card.” Sometimes multiple coupons will apply to the same products. Do note that some coupons are only for in-store purchases whereas others are available both in-store and online. Click “Details” on any coupon to see where it can be used.
How to save big at CVS with CVS CarePass + ExtraCare
By combining a CVS CarePass subscription with your free ExtraCare membership, its easy to save on products you buy regularly. At a high level, the trick is simply to wait for a 30% or 40% off coupon and use it to buy things you need. Don’t forget to also check ExtraCare online for additional stackable coupons. Once a month, you can kick in your $10 promo card for additional savings. Obviously you can save on pharmaceuticals, but also consider things like haircare products, laundry detergent, razor blade refills, make-up, diapers, batteries, printer ink, etc.
Here are the basic steps for saving big:
- Sign up for ExtraCare and CarePass.
- Load coupons to your card as they arrive via email.
- Before shopping, log into your CVS account, go to the ExtraCare section, and load all coupons of interest.
- When shopping online make sure to apply coupons, promo rewards, ExtraBucks, etc (you’ll see the option to load relevant coupons and rewards when you view your shopping cart).
- Make sure to buy at least $10 per month worth of stuff in order to get the most out of your CarePass membership (since you’ll get a $10 promo reward each month).
Below are two real-world examples where I’ve taken advantage of stacking savings at CVS. To compare apples to apples, I show name-brand items even though I could have saved more by buying the CVS brand equivalents…
Example 1: Flonase Allergy Relief Spray
Save 71% off Amazon’s price
The same product shown above was available on Amazon.com for only $39.93. CVS, meanwhile, listed it at $49.99 minus a $4 manufacturer coupon for a total of $45.99. Paying $6 more at CVS doesn’t sound like much of a deal until you stack additional savings. Once I added the above item to my cart, I was able to add coupons and promo rewards. I had previously found a CVS coupon for Flonase which stacked with the 40% off coupon…
- After applying coupons (including 40% off), price dropped to: $23.39
- After applying $2 ExtraBucks rewards found in my account, price dropped to: $21.39
- After applying my monthly $10 CarePass reward, price dropped to: $11.39
- CVS: Total after taxes (free shipping): $12.55
Even without accounting for my $10 promo reward, I was able to buy this product for only $21.39. That’s more than $18 lower than the best alternative price I could find ($39.93 at Amazon). It’s worth pointing out these savings without the $10 CarePass promo reward because that reward is only available once per month whereas savings similar to what I show here (before deducting the $10) can be found anytime you receive a 40% off coupon.
Example 2: Gillette Razor Refills
Save 66% off Amazon’s price
The same product shown above was available on Amazon.com for only $28.44. CVS, meanwhile, listed it at $35.99. After adding coupons, the price dropped:
- After applying coupons (including 40% off), price dropped to: $21.59
- After applying $2 ExtraBucks rewards found in my account, price dropped to: $19.59
- After applying my monthly $10 CarePass reward, price dropped to: $9.59
- CVS: Total after taxes (free shipping): $10.17
Before accounting for my $10 promo reward and $2 in ExtraBucks, the price at CVS was almost $9 cheaper than Amazon’s price. After accounting for $12 in rewards, the final price was way cheaper.
Additional Savings & Rewards
Want to save even more? Here’s how…
- Shop via online shopping portal. Start your online shopping in a shopping portal where you can earn cash back, reward points, airline miles, etc. Use CashBackMonitor to find the best portal options. I’ve been starting my CVS shopping at the JetBlue shopping portal in order to earn 3 points per dollar.
- Pay with a credit card that offers a drugstore category bonus. For example,Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Freedom Flex cards each earn 3 points per dollar at drugstores. Additionally, Chase Freedom Flex and Discover It cards sometimes offer 5% back at drugstores as their quarterly bonus category (Discover It will offer 5% for Jan-March 2021).
- Look for credit card offers. Many banks have merchant offers that can be loaded to your card before you pay. These could be things like “Get 5% Back at CVS”. Amex has Amex Offers, Chase has Chase Offers, etc. If you find deals are for CVS, use them!
- Look for card-linked offers. Many services such as Acorns, Dosh, and Drop let you link your credit cards and earn rebates when you make purchases at select merchants. One example where I found a deal for CVS was with SimplyMiles. SimplyMiles is currently offering 250 miles on each purchase at CVS of $45 or more (in-store only).
- Look for CVS gift card deals. There are many ways to buy gift cards for less than face value. Rather than stocking up ahead of time, a great option is to look for deals where the value is available instantly at the time you need it. See: Instant Gift Card Deals: Save Money & Get Rewarded. In my case, when making a recent online purchase for $10.17, I found that Fluz offered up to 35% back. By buying a $10.17 CVS gift card through Fluz, I earned $3.80 back!
Conclusion
It’s possible to save big at CVS by combining the best features of the CVS ExtraCare and CarePass programs. With CarePass, you do need to pay $48 per year, but you can easily recoup more than twice that by using your $10 promo reward each month for things you would have bought anyway. And since CarePass offers free shipping, I find that the coupons I get from the ExtraCare program have become more valuable. Previously, I would often let those 40% off coupons expire before I made my way to a CVS store. Now, I know I can jump online, buy something for less than I would have paid elsewhere, and get free shipping. And, finally, there are those ExtraBucks that I used to get but not always use. Now that I’m shopping CVS regularly (every time a good coupon appears anyway!), I have plenty of opportunities to use up any ExtraBucks I’ve earned.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
P2 has the extracare pass and has liked it. We have even used the free shipping a couple times this last year.
I shop CVS (and Walgreens) very regularly. Couponmom.com provides weekly match ups of sale prices and coupons (printable, from the Sunday newspaper inserts, ibotta, etc–it lists them all). The site lets you list them by percentage of savings, so I start with the free stuff and just see what interests me from there (general rule of thumb is I don’t pay more than $1 for any product). There is a little self-serve food pantry nearby and I visit each week to drop off shampoo, soap, lotion, food, etc–whatever was a good deal that week. Of course I pick up what my family needs as well, but more than half of it goes to local folks who are struggling. COVID has greatly reduced my contributions (the best deals are typically in-store with printed coupons), but Kroger lets me add coupons when I pick up my groceries, so I’ve been going that route for now (couponmom.com includes grocery stores, too). If you want to grab and go, WM and Target are cheapest. If you have interest and time in playing the game, there are stellar deals to be had at CVS and Walgreens.
I thank you Greg for the CVS examples, and the great write up. I am always tempted by their coupons and sales, but I find Walgreen’s programs are a little easier to navigate save $ with, as others have said if you price compare CVS is frequently outrageous in their normal everyday price for many household items.
If they have the new Gilette 8 blade razors I’m in!
First, don’t subtract $10 from your deal, subtract $6, which is because you paid $4 for that $10 coupon. Second off, their prices SO inflated. Why buy sentimist when you can buy the Costco brand of flonase (same drug) for about $5 a bottle. Gillette razors so also so much cheaper at Costco, only about $2 per blade.
You’ll spend hours at CVS trying to jump through these 10 hoops only to get to the register and something doesn’t scan as expected. You’ll pay sales tax on the very inflated original prices, and not save more than a buck or two. Not worth the time and effort.
Greg — just curious — whenever I use a % off coupon and a CVS dollars off coupon (or extra bucks) on the same order at the store, the computer automatically applies the dollars off coupon first, and then the percent off — no matter what order the cashier rings the item up as. So, in store, you don’t get the full value of the dollars off or extra bucks. For example — $10 item; 40% off coupon, $2.00 in extra bucks — would ring up as $10 (item price) minus $2.00) – $8.00, then 40% off that — total of $4.80. But it sounds as if online you were able to apply the percent off coupon first, then get the full value of the extra bucks (so, in my example would have been 40% off 10.00 item, equal $6.00, less $2.00 for net price of $4.00.) This difference adds up when you are trying to combine big extra bucks (like the $10 care pass) and 40% off coupons — it means the difference between a $10 extra bucks being worth only $6.00 in store when used with a 40% off coupon versus being worth $10 online.
This kind of thing is what drives me mad about CVS. The local CVS is very convenient for me, but the non-sale prices are insane. I have the Extra Care card, but I never really know WTH is going on. I appreciate this information and will study it all carefully – perhaps I will understand it all on day. CVS has done a miserable job of marketing these perqs.
I just stacked a bunch of discounts at CVS the other day like this. I didn’t end up keeping the subscription for $10 off a month. I found I didn’t like having to remember to go burn that $10 and typically grabbed other things when there (as they intended no doubt).
Their prices are incredibly inflated as Daniel mentions. However, where they become a possible place for savings is with the very generous way they stack their coupons. Most stores wouldn’t stack % discounts with $ off X purchase coupons, but CVS frequently applies multiple discounts to the same order and product within the order.
It’s funny to see this article published since I just did this last night and I don’t go often because avoiding impulse purchases is key to making this viable so you don’t grab that detergent you need as well but it’s twice what you would normally pay. Otherwise, you wipe out the saving very quickly.
I purchased the 8 count razors shown but I threw in a razor (didn’t need but you’ll see why) as well. The second Gillette item nets $10 in extrabucks for next purchase. Looking at my coupons it applied $4 off $10 shaving needs twice (I had two coupons this is where adding them to your card is key), $3 off MFR coupon, and stacked a 32% and 30% discount (which are applied after the other coupons and I honestly didn’t think would work).
So I paid 13.44 for the razor blades, 4.66 for the handle (w a blade), and got $10 in extrabucks. That’s probably one of my better discounts. Without discounts, the prices were insane, ~120 before tax (paid $55 w/tax recieved $14 extrabucks for next time), and I still did impulse-buy some junk food and wrapping paper.
If you add the discounts, go in just for what you need, and stack discounts this can really be a good deal, especially for particular products.
I forgot, don’t forget to product change your Freedom to a Freedom Flex and use it here for the bonus at drug stores.
Nine months into the pandemic and you’re still shaving?
Thank you for this, it is so useful. I have never paid attention to pharmacy “programs”. I do use Walgreens Email coupons, mainly for laundry detergent. They will often have deals to get name-brand bottles for $1-$2 each, so I stock up with 8-10 bottles at a time. (We have an AirBnB rental and do a lot of laundry).
Your Flonase example is huge. I get the Kirkland brand at Costco, 5 containers, I think $29.
Astra Platinum Double Edge Safety Razor Blades are $6.99/100 blades on Amazon. There are more premium DE blade choices available, but for 7 cents each those are fantastic. Invest once in a high-end DE razor, and stop being a victim of the razor-and-blades business model, paying $1.27/blade for Gillette plastic cartridges even after this stacking, 18 times as much. DE razors are far classier, too.
If you have a Flexible Spending Account through your job then you can save even more and still take advantage of Carepass and Extrapass.
For example, if you are in the 22% marginal federal bracket, then by paying for your qualifying CVS purchase through your FSA, you would be paying with pre-tax dollars and effectively saving an additional 22%.
With my FSA, you don’t have to use the provided debit card either, so you can still use any of the four payment methods (‘Additional Savings and Rewards’) that you describe. I just upload a copy of my payment receipt to the FSA administrator and the payment amount is reimbursed to my paycheck.
This reads like an ad for CVS.
The 40% and ExtraBux are available whether you’re a member of CarePass or not so the only thing you’re getting with the membership is $10 off each month.
I find their prices to be incredibly inflated.