Joining a coffee club: café memberships in Dublin

A café membership, or coffee club, is a monthly payment to one place you already go to, in return for perks such as monthly credit, a standing discount, a free coffee a day or member-only events, depending on what the café offers. It is worth joining only if it pays for itself at the rate you already visit, not the rate you hope to.

On Mosey each café designs its own membership, so no two are the same. This guide covers what they usually include, how to do the sums, and what to check before you sign up.

What does a café membership include?

The good ones combine something small you use constantly with something you could not otherwise buy. Typical perks:

• Credit that tops up every month. You pay a set amount and get a little more than that to spend.
• A standing discount, on everything or on part of the menu.
• Something free, such as a coffee a day or a pastry with it.
• Priority booking, or deposits waived, at places that take bookings.
• A birthday treat, at places that offer one.
• Member-only nights: a tasting, a supper club, a cupping session. Often the part people end up valuing most.

Read the plan before you join. Free coffee every day sounds the same everywhere until you notice that one café means any coffee and another means a filter before ten.

Is a coffee club worth it?

There is one honest test: work out whether it pays for itself on your actual last month.

1. Count your visits. Not what you intend; what you did. Your bank app or the café's rewards history will tell you.
2. Add up what you spent there. Roughly is fine.
3. Compare with the plan. Take the monthly price, and work out what the perks would have been worth over that same month.

If the membership comes out ahead at your current habit, it is a good deal. If you would need to start going more often to break even, it is designed to change your behaviour rather than reward it, and those are the memberships people quietly resent after two months.

Two things the sums miss. A member-only event can be worth more than its menu price, because it is capped and you get in first. And a membership is steady income for an independent café, which is a large part of why places offer them.

A good sign is a place that runs small member things often, such as a monthly tasting table, rather than one big night a year. The first is a reason to keep paying. The second is a reason to join in November and cancel in December.

How do you join and use one?

On Mosey you join from the café's page in the app. After that:

• Benefits apply when you order or pay through Mosey. Order ahead and the perks are applied at checkout. Pay at the counter with Mosey Pay and a member discount comes off the bill there too.
• If your card fails, you are told and given a chance to fix it before anything stops. Usually it is an expired card rather than a problem.

The memberships page has the details.

Pausing, cancelling and the first 14 days

• Pause rather than cancel if you are going away or having a tight month, where the café allows it. Most do. Pausing stops the payments and keeps your membership, so you are not starting again later.
• Cancel at any time. Nothing locks you in.
• The first 14 days. If you change your mind within 14 days of joining and have not used any of the benefits, you get that first payment back in full, automatically. The one exception is if the café asked you at checkout to give up that right and you ticked the box to agree. If you were not shown a box, you keep the right.

Family plans, gifts and shared memberships

Three variations are worth knowing about:

• Family plans. Where a café offers one, a household can share a single membership. A couple who both go should not need two.
• Gift memberships. Some places sell them, which is a thoughtful present for a regular.
• Several places, one membership. Some groups of independent places in the same area share a membership. Because its worth depends on how often you can use it, one card across several places you like can be better value than a card for one.

Before you join: a short checklist

• How much is it each month, and when is it charged?
• What exactly is free or discounted, and are there limits on time or item?
• Can you pause it, and for how long?
• Does credit carry over, or reset each month?
• Is there a family plan, if two of you go?
• What member events has the place actually run?

If the café cannot answer those clearly, it is reasonable to wait.

Rewards first, membership second

If you are not sure yet, start with the café's rewards. They are free, you collect as you go, and your history shows how often you really visit, which is the number you need for the membership sums. See the rewards page for how they work.

Looking for a café worth that kind of loyalty? Browse Dublin's coffee places, or read the guide to Dublin's cafés and coffee culture.

When one place becomes your daily stop, check whether it runs a membership on Mosey and do the sums on last month.