MyMcDonald’s Rewards: A Value Meal… or Just a Side of Points?
(Note: Posted updated on August 13, 2025)
McDonald’s has been slinging fries since 1940. But their loyalty program, MyMcDonald, launched in the US in 2021, exciting children and adults whose lifelong wish of free fries and happy meals was finally coming true. But is this program a full meal deal or skinnier than the fries? We ran the McMath to figure it out.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
How you earn:
McDonald’s is known for simple and fast food. Thankfully their program follows the same ethos with straightforward point earnings that accumulate quickly.
100 points per $1 spent on just about every item.
You must have the McD app to be a part of the program and scan it or provide a 4-digit code found in the app.
Points earned on delivery as long as it’s through the McD app.
McDonald’s frequently runs program-exclusive bonus point promos and discounts, which can help you rack up points and savings faster than you can say “McDouble”.
When this author joined, McDonald’s was offering 1500 bonus points when you placed your first mobile order, which is extremely generous.
How you Redeem:
Points accumulate in your account until they expire (more on that later) or you convert them to a food reward.
😃First, the good news…
Rewards start at just 1,500 points ($15 in purchases to earn), which means that after one typical visit, you can walk away with a freebie.
Rewards work on mobile orders, in-restaurant, at the drive-thru or on McDelivery via the app.
😡Now, for the bad news…
There are only 16 items on the reward menu as of this writing. McDonald’s has ~100 items (if you count variations, sizes, and value meals) meaning way less than 20% of their menu is available as a freebie. That’s sadder than when your parents swapped your fries for an apple.
You can only redeem ONE award per transaction. So no redeeming for a free cheeseburger and fries, you have to pick one or the other. This restriction is similar to Chipotle and Cava and unfortunately a very bad trend in restaurant loyalty programs.
You cannot stack Rewards with discounts or other coupons in the same transaction (even if different items), which requires the member to pick and choose ahead of time what they want to apply.
To pile on to the bad news part of this burger, your points expire 6 months after earning despite your activity in the program. So no hoarding MyMcDonald’s points. Like their fries, they are meant to be consumed right away.
Recently, McDonald’s has been experimenting with using Rewards for non-food items via partners such as Booking.com or Pacsun. These are often for a minimal time, and the # of points needed is significant. But we still love the fact that McD’s is giving more choices on how to use your points other than their food, and if successful they plan to provide more redemption offers like this in the future.
Time to time McD allows you to redeem points for non-food items from select partners.
What’s the value?
(Note: by “return value” we mean how much are you save relative to how much you had to spend to earn it. For example, if you spent $100 to earn enough points to redeem $10, that’s a 10% return value).
This is where we start to put our Ronald McDonald smile on (even though it’s creepy, right?)
Now McDonald’s prices vary across the country but by our calculation we see Reward Values ranging between 9% and 20%+, making this is one of the strongest ROI programs in fast food—on the items that qualify, anyway.
Here’s an example:
Visit once, spend $15, earn 1,500 points.
Redeem a reward immediately among 4 available items
Rinse, repeat, and you’ve got a cycle of steady, high-value savings (as long as you’re happy with the small redemption menu).
That said, the limited catalog means if you’re craving something fancy (or a full meal), you’ll have to pay up or settle for what’s available. And as we mentioned prior, you can’t combine multiple rewards, which restricts your ability to build a full meal without dipping into your wallet.
(Chart disclaimer: Menu prices can vary among different McD restaurants. The prices we used are estimated based on what we are seeing in our home city of Boston and available internet information. So return value is approx).
For their partner, the return values are stellar, but they are discounts and not free items, so you need to spend to save.
$50 off a Booking.com stay is 15,000 points, which is $150 in McD spend. That’s a 33% return value…huge!
20% off a Pacsun purchase of $50+ is 3,000 points, which is only $30 in McD spend. Assuming you bought a $60 item, that’s a $12 discount for spending $30, a 40% return value. Fabulous.
As mentioned, these are limited-time offers, but if McD offers up more non-food redemption in the future, it’s worth a close look for their richness.
🕵️♂️ THE Fine Print
A mix bag here…
Points expire after 6 months. Use ’em or lose ’em. Casual users, beware.
One reward per order. Still annoying.
No points for third-party delivery services (Uber Eats, DoorDash, etc.), but you do earn through McDelivery in the McD’s app.
You can’t stack a reward with a promotional offer or discount, which is we are not lovin’.
Must be 18 to join the program. C’mon McD, show the kids some love!
👩🏻⚖️OUr verdict:
We’re giving this our Rewarding rating —by the width of a French fry.
Here’s why:
Fast earning and instant redemptions
High return values (11–20%+ is amazing)
Frequent bonus promos and discounts
Love how they are experimenting for redeeming points for non-food items
But we can’t give it full Very Rewarding status due to:
The redemption menu is tiny compared to their full offerings
No reward stacking or reward/discount/coupon stacking
Points expire too quickly for the occasional nugget run
However, even if you are a casual McD visitor, the sheer # of promotions and discounts in the app, combined with quick redemption, makes this a winner.
Leave us a comment! Do you agree or disagree? Any further tips about MyMcDonalds?
