Now, to start off, don't get me wrong – I love myself some Starbucks Frappuccinos and the occasional Refresher. However, across the board, Dunkin' Donuts far exceeds Starbucks. As a college student looking for a bargain and a desperate need for caffeine, I often find myself heading to Dunkin', even if it's out of my way. Feel free to breeze through my reasoning to see why Dunkin' reigns supreme.
1. Price
For a college student on a budget and you ask me to pick between two coffees just based on price, I'd probably choose the cheaper cup of coffee every time. While I do like that Starbucks has some other drinks besides coffee that I do regularly enjoy like the Acai Refresher, it just costs me a lot more. While the Dunkin' and Starbucks prices vary, between my home in South Jersey, work in Philly, or school in North Jersey, Dunkin' is consistently cheaper no matter where I go.
2. Value
Tying into price, Dunkin' for me is just the greater overall value. I can get my medium iced coffee with cream and sugar for less than $3 (sometimes, even cheaper) for much less than a small (or "Tall") iced coffee from Starbucks. Starbucks sizes are also fewer ounces, so the value at Dunkin' is even greater. At Dunkin', the medium is 24 fl. oz., while the Starbucks medium is 16 fl. oz. for a higher price. Using a little math, it's easy to see that per ounce, Dunkin' is definitely the greater value.
3. Taste
If I get my typical order (listed in point #2), I just enjoy the drink I receive from Dunkin' much better than the Starbucks alternative (without adding any extra sugar or anything). Dunkin' seems to be more sweet, which is a personal preference for me over a more bitter Starbucks coffee. I only started drinking coffee this past year, so diving into it Dunkin' was a more tasteful option.
4. Rewards Program
Overall, the rewards program at Dunkin' is much more valuable than the one at Starbucks. At Dunkin', you get about 5 points per dollar spent and get a free beverage of any size for 200 points. So if you exclusively just bought drinks to get points, it'd cost you $40. However, Dunkin' offers double and triple point offers all the times, so it's so easy to accumulate the rewards. At Starbucks, you get 2 stars per $1, but need 300 points to achieve Gold status (so spending $150). While they do occasionally offer extra star offers, it's often having to visit the store multiple times a day or buy drinks or foods you may not otherwise want.
5. Coupons
Going back to the rewards program, Dunkin' offers coupons, especially through the app, that seem to happen almost 24/7. This was incredibly awesome during the college school year because I could get my regular order for between $0.99 and $1.99 on my way to class or hanging out in the student center. For Starbucks, I find that they often don't have good coupons that are applicable to me or force to order random new drinks in order to get the deal.
6. Locations
For me, whether at home, work, or school, Dunkin' locations are more readily available and easily locatable. The only exception is near my dorm, which has a Starbucks in closer walking distance, but near most of my classes is at least one Dunkin', making the extra distance worth it.
So that basically sums up my love for Dunkin' and why I prefer it on almost all fronts over Starbucks. Feel free to disagree, though it would take a whole lot to sway my opinion on this.
