LEGO Insiders Review: Brick by Brick, Is This Program Worth It?
LEGO needs no introduction. Unless you’ve never stepped on one barefoot, in which case you may be living a charmed life. Whether you were a childhood builder or are an adult “collector”, you’ve likely had some kind of run-in with one of the best things the Danish have given the world. And speaking of Denmark: “LEGO” comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning “play well.” (thanks ChatGPT!). File that away for Jeopardy night.
LEGO has had a rewards program for years, but in late 2024, they restructured a few things for the better. We took it apart piece by piece (naturally) to see if this program clicks or crumbles.
🧱 How You Earn Points
LEGO Insiders is a global program with localized point structures. Here’s how it works in the U.S.:
Earn 6.5 points per $1 USD spent at LEGO.com, LEGO stores, or select third-party partners(list found on their website)
Participate in Double Point promos for boosted earnings
Get bonus points by completing quizzes and challenges
Score exclusive discounts and members-only sets
Get access to the LEGO community and activities
Receive LEGO Life magazine
📌 Important: You must be 18+ to actually earn and redeem points.
‼️But here’s where things get interesting: LEGO lets you scan the QR code from just about any set made after 2018 and earn 20 points per set, no matter where or when you bought it. No joke. It’s like if the Gap gave you points to scan your old jeans (they should do this to improve their program). Let’s hope this starts a retroactive Reward loyalty trend!
On the flip side, we were suprised there is no published upgraded tier for LEGO’s biggest spenders that unlocks more benefits. This seems like a rare miss for a brand with such global appeal that spans generations.
How You Redeem Points
There are two main ways to cash in:
Checkout Discounts: Redeem points in $1 increments starting at $5 off. Super easy, transparent, and flexible.
Insiders Rewards Center: A digital store with about 175 reward items as of this writing, but note:
We found 58% are downloadable items, some freebies (stickers, wallpapers, etc.)
Only 17% were actual LEGO sets
The rest are sweepstakes entries, accessories, or tchotchkes which frankly felt a bit lame
While the big LEGO sets are missing (likely because they’d require a hoard-worthy number of points), the store does offer limited-edition or Insiders-only items that sometimes end up reselling for more than their MSRP. However, we still wish the store had more physical products to choose from and offered a wider range of point amounts.
LEGO’s Reward Center is easily searchable by category, points, theme, and age.
💰What’s the Value?
(💡 Helpful tip: When we say “return value,” we’re talking about how much you get back in rewards compared to what you spend. If you spend $100 to earn $10 in rewards, that’s a 10% return value. Higher = better.)
· At baseline, redeeming points for checkout discounts gives you a 5% return value.
· If you earn points during Double Point events, this jumps to 10%.
· Add in challenge points and QR codes? You could do even better.
We sampled a handful of reward items in the Reward Center (chart below) and found return values ranging from ~5% to ~8%, with the best value being a Legoland Discovery Center ticket at 9%. So yes, the reward store can offer better value, but only marginally. Are these groundbreaking return values overall? No, but they’re not bad for the retail category.
Our advice?👉🏻 Stick with checkout discounts unless something in the store really wows you. But do check the Reward Center often for tons of freebies for the kids.
🔍 Fine Print (That’s Actually Not Bad)
Must be 18+ to earn or redeem points.
QR codes can be scanned only once per unique box, but duplicates of a box can both count.
No earnings on LEGO CITY Mission sets.
No QR codes on pre-2018 sets.
Points don’t expire as long as you stay active within 18 months. 👏🏻
👩🏻⚖️OUR VERDICT:
No assembly required, LEGO has built a well-rounded and rewarding program. The flexibility is top-notch, and the return value ranges from pretty good (5%) to great (up to 10% with effort). We wish the Reward Center was a bit meatier and there is no upgraded tier to reward the die-hards. But between generous earning mechanics, retroactive QR rewards, and occasional exclusive sets, anyone buying even a few sets a year should absolutely join.
Rewarded or Robbed?
⭐ Rewarded!
Leave us a comment! Do you agree or disagree? Any further tips about LEGO Insiders?
