Ulta Beauty Rewards: How Pretty Is It?
In early 2024, Ulta gave their cleverly named Ultamate Rewards program a name makeover, to the generic Ulta Beauty Rewards. The good news is they kept the program as rich as a Le Mer night cream. The program is a little complex, with multiple tiers and a strategy game’s worth of point-earning opportunities, but if you play it right, you can score serious savings.
Image Credit: iStock
How You Earn:
Ulta Beauty Rewards is free to join, and as of this writing, you get $5 off just for signing up.
Regular members: Earn 1 point per $1 spent
Platinum status (spend $500/year): Earn 1.25 points per dollar (aka 25% more points)
Diamond status (spend $1,200/year): Earn 1.5 points per dollar (50% more points)
As any woman with a draw full of beauty products knows, it’s easy to spend $500 in 12 months. Heck, you walk into Ulta for one concealer and end up with a basket of items. No shame; we’ve all been there. And while $1200 seems like an even scarier amount to spend on self-care, one very expensive Dyson Airwrap gets you half way there quickly (good for your points balance, bad that you have unruly hair. We sympathize).
And Ulta doesn’t stop there. Members get 2x points during their birthday MONTH, plus frequent bonus point promos that let you supercharge your earnings.
(Side note: Ulta also offers a credit card that can significantly boost your earnings, but we’ll skip that today).
This chart shows all the benefits by Tier, which are plentiful.
Image Credit: Ulta.com
How you Redeem:
(Note: by “return value” we mean how much are you saving 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% value return).
Ulta points convert into real money off your purchases, redeemable in-app, online, or in-store. Just give them your phone number or flash the app.
Now for the important part: At Ulta, the more points you redeem at once, the better the value. For base members..
Redeeming 100 points gets you $3 off, a 3% return value
Redeeming 2,000 points gets you $125 off, a 6.25% return value
So, while Ulta is obviously nudging you to buy more (shocker), savvy members should hoard their points until they hit a higher tier for maximum value. Earning and burning quickly at Ulta is a disadvantage.
What’s the Value?
As mentioned previously, not all rewards are created equal since hoarding and then redeeming gives better value. Without bonus promotions, here’s how it breaks down:
Base Members: Get 3% to 6.2% back in value depending on how many points they redeem. This is decent for modern retail programs, albeit not huge return.
Platinum Members: Thanks to their 25% point boost, they see returns between 3.75% and 7.75%.
Diamond Members: The real MVPs, getting 4.5% to 9.3% back in redemption value.
Sounds just okay, right? But wait—if you stack promotions, you can DOUBLE those returns.
For example:
Buy all your beauty essentials during your birthday month (2x points)
Shop only during bonus point promos (Ulta does many 2x, 3x, and even sometimes 5x on certain products)
Being wise when you buy at Ulta means a base member could boost their reward return value to 6%–12.4% or more and a Diamond can hit a whopping 18.6% or more in reward return value. That’s some serious beauty-bankroll magic.
This is why retail reward programs can be quite lucrative if you pay attention to the program promotional windows and time your purchases. And with Ulta the 2x points in your birthday month is a guaranteed written benefit, so mark your calendar! Many programs give birthday bonuses on the day of your birthday only, so a full month is generous.
Ulta has extras like birthday gifts and $10 coupons for Platinum and Diamond members that add to the richness.
🕵️♂️ Any Fine Print?
Bonus point promotions are stackable, which is rare and generous among programs. So stack away!
Now, for the not-so-glamorous part:
🚨 Points expire for base members. If you don’t hit Platinum or Diamond, your points vanish one year after earning them). That means if you’re hoarding points for a big redemption, don’t wait too long.
Oh, and fun fact: If you link your accounts in advance, you can earn Ulta points at Target and even via DoorDash —because sometimes, a broken flat iron on a humid day is a literal emergency.
Summary:
Beauty isn’t cheap, and we think the higher tiers are quite attainable. But even if you are a base Ulta member it’s worth joining.
The ability to stack promos, earn double points, and score birthday freebies can lead to 10%+ returns for base members and 20%+ for Diamond members—which is pretty phenomenal. Just be strategic when you buy to maximize earnings.
Time your redemptions when you have a lot of points to maximize your redemption value.
Rewarded or Robbed?
⭐ Rewarded!
Leave us a comment! Do you agree or disagree? Any further tips about Ulta Beauty Rewards?
