Saturday, July 14, 2012

Walgreens blitzes with Rx transfer coupons ($25 gift card)



Walgreens is throwing around Rx coupons (worth a $25 gift card for each prescription you transfer to them).  They expire 9/30/2012.

In addition to the coupon shown on the cover of this week's sales flyer (Sunday, July 8, to Saturday, July 14), you'll find a stack of them at the checkout counters at Walgreens.  And there's a good chance that when you check out, the coupon printer will give you another Rx coupon.


  • OTHER STORES THAT ACCEPT THESE: 
    Giant Eagle, CVS, and Kroger
    (ask Kroger in advance if they are going to limit how many of these competitor coupons they will accept; it tends to differ from one location to another and even one pharmacist to another; plus, they will impose a lifetime limit sometimes -- blacklisting you from using any more of their Rx coupons or those of a competitor).




  • LIMITS for WALGREENS?  Ask ...
    Ask the pharmacist at Walgreens when you drop off information about the prescriptions you want to transfer whether:
    -- Is there a limit on how many coupons you can use per day, transaction?
    -- Is there a limit on how many coupons you can use per 6 months?


  • WHY THE COUPON BLITZ? 
    Walgreens has not been one of the stores that was a fan of using Rx coupons to lure people in and they hadn't taken competitor coupons.

    However, Walgreens lost a lot of business to its competitors in 2012 since it refused to let Express Scripts force it to accept an absurdly low fee for each prescription they processed.  This may be an effort to bring in customers who don't have insurance or have an insurance other than Express Scripts.


  • EXPRESS SCRIPTS CUSTOMERS: 
    Even if you have Express Scripts, you may find that paying CA$H and getting the gift card for $25 is a better bargain.  I've seen some cases where the gift card reduces your cost for some medications by more than what your insurance pays elsewhere.  Check the www.Express-Scripts.com website (under "Prescription History") to see how much the plan is paying vs. how much you are paying (and what the total is).