
So you’re looking for that rare allocated bourbon and you’re hearing around Florida the only way to get it is with back alley favors or through rewards programs. While this isn’t entirely true if you’re persistent and put in some effort, reward programs offer what appear to be an easy way out… spend lots of money and get rewarded. This post will specifically cover ABC’s reward program that rewards bourbon enthusiasts with what are called “vault invites.”
First, let’s cover the reward program and how it works.
ABC Access (Loyalty Program)
ABC’s reward program is called ABC Access. Like many other programs, you get points for spending money. With it you get some things like coupons and specials and $10 off every $100 of wine purchases and various other stuff like that. If you reach gold key status, you are eligible to receive access to the ABC Vault.
How do I get gold key status?
Remember those back alley favors I talked about a moment ago? I kid, I kid (or do I?).
To get gold key status you have to spend $1,000 per year as you get 5 points for every dollar you spend and need 5,000 points to get gold. If you buy sourced and certified items, you get 10 points for every dollar which can bring down the total spend to $500 per year to keep status.
Pro Tip: If you’re a wine drinker, buying sourced and certified wine is the easier way to get gold key status.
What is the vault?
The ABC Vault is where they keep access to highly allocated bottles such as BTAC, Pappy, Weller 12 and Eagle Rare. No, that’s not a typo. I didn’t mean Eagle Rare 17, that’s included in BTAC. They even put daily sippers like Eagle Rare and other bottles behind this vault for whatever reason which somewhat limits any reason to stop in on occasion if you’re looking for anything more than what typically sits on a shelf.
If you are eligible, you’ll receive at least one vault invite per year. The details of how they decide who gets the invites isn’t entirely clear but one would assume it has to do with how much you spend. I got the minimum gold key status last year and have received three invites so far in 2020.
I’m gold key, what now?
Now you wait. A lot of people report their first vault invite within a couple weeks of hitting status. If you haven’t got one by then, double check and make sure your account is registered online with an email address. You can always email their customer service to make sure too. It seems as though vault invite emails go out typically on Thursday mornings.
Oh, also… don’t unsubscribe from emails. Apparently if you unsubscribe from their emails, it removes you from getting the vault invites too. Alternatively if your account was setup to have a vault invite, you can go directly to the vault website and load it to see. If you have access, you’ll see bottles otherwise you’ll get a message about it being invitation only.
Is the vault worth it?
Next thing you’ll want to know is how to be happy. The problem is this question is very subjective and depends what you mean by worth it. It’s also worth nothing ABC was sitting on a couple years of high end whiskey and bourbon they didn’t put out on the shelves so there’s a lot of concern if the level of vault invites will keep up with the quantity of items they’ve had in the past. If they area able to keep up that kind of supply on these allocated items, my answer would be yes and here’s why.
- I like wine, my wife likes wine. So buying $500 worth of wine isn’t a big deal for us. If you don’t like wine, cigars or other spirits… then getting to the $1,000 mark might be hefty.
- Vault bottles I’ve received have more than paid for the $500 worth of wine:
- W.L.W. retail was $120ish and goes secondary for $800+
- 2017 GTS retail was $120ish and goes secondary for $500+
- Weller 12 retail was $30ish and goes secondary for $175ish
As you can see I bought $500 worth of wine and under $300 worth of allocated whiskey which is almost double what I paid for all the wine and whiskey alone. And I didn’t have to wait in line or do anything other than act fast on an email when it came in. To me that was worth it, much more than how Total Wine did their Grand Reserve last year but that’s for another post.
What would make the vault better?
I’m a big proponent of not bitching about something without proposing a solution so of course I’ll throw in what I think would make this program better.
- Increase sourced and certified selections – continue to build the options for shoppers to choose from to make this easier to shop.
- Stop putting everything behind the vault – let’s stop putting things like OWA, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and other non essential allocated items behind the vault. Give your customers something to stop in and see if it’s on the shelf.
- Have more clearly defined tiers – I think having additional tiers with more clearly defined access levels would be great. Diamond Key or something that gets you at least 3 invites or whatever. I have a suspicion this is already happening based on spend but I think it would be helpful to know if I spend another $500 on their sourced wine that it will have benefits of doing so.
So I hope that helps you decide whether you think ABC’s The Vault is worth going after or not. Always happy to answer questions.
Comments(7)
jbuch84 says:
September 12, 2020 at 2:07 amReally great post! Hits the nail on the head, buy wine and beer at ABC, and whiskey elsewhere! Cross your fingers and hope all the wine and beer buying pays off with a nice bottle or 2 over the course of the year.
BurBunny says:
September 26, 2020 at 9:12 pmAnd if you’re only a spirits drinker, this one can be an issue.
Daniel says:
January 27, 2021 at 4:55 pmThanks for posting this info. Agree with everything written. I also suspect spending might increase odds of getting more invites. Big tip: make sure your address in your ABC profile matches the one on file with the credit card company you are using when purchasing from the vault, since ABC assumes the profile address when buying from the vault and does not even show it to you to confirm. My purchase for Old Forester Birthday was cancelled by ABC because they didn’t match; nothing ABC would help me with, other than “authorization credentials could not be confirmed.”
David O'Connor says:
June 1, 2021 at 3:55 pmAnyone know the answer to this. Am I better off having 2 accounts (husbands and wife) that each reach 5k points so double my chances or having one account with 10k points? A rep at a store told me the separate accounts gives more chances but the site says same address’s would be merged. Do they merge for just same address or same name AND address? Id hate to have my registrations blocked because it is interpreted as trying to double dip. Thoughts?
Mat Houchens says:
July 15, 2021 at 8:54 amIt’s tough to say. There’s not a whole lot of transparency as to how invites go out right now.
Agnes says:
September 12, 2021 at 8:23 amI had two accounts with my husband, we were told by the store that it increased our odds. Then we waited for our invitations! We both got one the same time. I was working and my husband got his email and then checked mine. He ordered in his (something he had been waiting to try but we hadn’t found), he then logged into mine and got a bottle Weller 12. He placed both orders with his PayPal account. A few minutes later, I got a confirmation email and then a few minutes after that a cancellation!!! I contacted my store and they said I needed to contact guest services. I emailed them and they said that it was most likely because we paid with PayPal for both and they saw his name twice!!! I was not happy and told them I wasn’t. They told me I could get another invite. This all for a bottle of weller??? Why didn’t they just put my order through.
Mike says:
November 21, 2021 at 3:02 pmJust that your staff is very helpful,friendly,and informed.Great cigars and selection.z just need a few more vault invites..Bottom line we will just buy my more from you fo##dump the secondary market- bourbons