McDonald’s is making a major change to its loyalty scheme from tomorrow

MCDONALD’S is shaking up the way its loyalty scheme works and things will look a lot different from tomorrow.

In a major change the fast food giant will ditch the paper stickers you usually find on the side of McCafe hot drinks.

2

Instead McDonald’s customers can get a digital stamp when buying a beverage, and once you collect enough you’ll get a free coffee, tea or hot choc.

And with the more modern McCafe Rewards scheme, you can even get that free drink earlier.

With the physical card, you buy six hot drinks and get the seventh free.

When you collect digital stamps through the My McDonald’s app you get the sixth hot drink free after buying five.

The digital version of the reward scheme has been running alongside the old paper one for a while, giving people time to make the switch.

Savvy customers have even been able to use them both at the same time, doubling up rewards to get even more free drinks.

From July 1 the paper scheme officially ends and the McCafe cups will no longer have the stickers.

But you may still find some of the old cups in circulation after this date if they haven’t been used up yet.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to transfer over any physical stamps to the app.

2

We’ve asked McDonald’s how long you’ll have to use any paper stamps you’ve already collected and will update this story when we hear back.

But its’ probably worth using any card with enough stamps for a free coffee sooner rather than later.

How does the digital loyalty scheme work?

The scheme works in much the same way as the paper one, you’ll just collect them through the MyMcDonald’s app instead.

If you don’t have the My McDonald’s app, you can download it for free to both iOS and Android devices.

In the app’s deal section (where you can also find other offers) you’ll see the “earn McCafe rewards” deal.

Click on this and you have the option to order your drink via mobile for picking up in store , or add it to a McDelivery order, and get the virtual stamp.

Unfortunately you won’t be able to get a stamp if you’re ordering through Uber Eats.

You also have the option to “add code” and this can be used when ordering in branches.

Click on it and you’ll see a QR code to scan at the till to get the digital stamp, or a code to tell them at the drive-thru.

Once you’ve bought five drinks, you’ll get a voucher for a free regular size hot drink.

This voucher will also be in the deal section of the app. You won’t be able to use it at the same time as any other promos or offers.

You’ll have until 31 December this year to get the freebie, or 90 days after the date of your fifth stamp, whichever is later.

This is the date the scheme officially runs until, according to the Terms and Conditions, but the rewards programme is generally ongoing and if McDonald’s makes any changes The Sun will keep you updated.

Although you get the freebie sooner than with the paper stamps, you won’t be able to earn digital stamps for small drinks.

With paper it was any size hot drink, through the app it’s only regular or large.

This loophole gives you a month of free coffees and smoothies at Pret.

The Sun ranked the best and worst coffee loyalty schemes after Starbucks announced it had revamped its scheme too.

A McDonald’s worker lifts the lid on the secret behind their onions – and fast food fans are stunned

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk