Sunday, October 01, 2006

McDonald's "McGold Card"

The McChronicles just encountered something cool. Something we have never heard of before. Something, it seems, we should have encountered. We discovered the McDonald's "McGold Card". "What the heck is a McGold Card?" we asked ourselves.

OK - first off, we found the McGold Card on Flickr, in paradigm4's collection (thanks paradigm4). Not having ever heard of such a card before, we Googled the thing. Clues were found in the LiveJournal mcdonalds_talk community. It seems that some McDonald's employees have them while others have never heard of the thing. Maybe only Canadians have them???

Finally, we discovered McDGoldCard.com. This site is apparently for employees only as we quickly encountered this notation: "Only McDonald's employees are authorized to use this site". Ads flashed that told us you can "save" using the card, and that you can find "new and interesting" things on this site. A little more investgation revealed that the McGold Card provides McDonald's employees with discounts at various merchants.

Seems like a great employee benefit. But many employees don't seem to be aware of it. Can anyone offer a definitive explanation?

The McChronicles: a blog about, not affiliated with, McDonald's.
Image: paradigm4's Flickr account.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll give you some info on the gold card.
It works at:
Aaron's Sales & Leasing
Ace Hardware
Apple
Bally Total Fitness
Bank of America
Barnes & Noble
Bed Bath & Beyond
BeyondWork.com
Brooks Brothers
Camria Suites
Chadwick's
Champs Sports
Cingular
Clarion Hotels
Comfort Inn
Comfort Suites
Corporate America Family Credit Union
Cost Cutters
Dell
Dish Network
Disneyland
DriverShield
Domestications
Econo Lodge
Fedex Kinko's
Footaction
Foolocker
Ford Motor Company
F.Y.E.
Game Stop / EB Games
H&R Block
Hollywood Video
hpshopping.com
Jackson Hewitt
Jiffy Lube
Kids Footlocker
Kindcare Learning Centers
La Petite Academy
Lady Footlocker
Lane Bryant
Lenovo PC Computers
LensCrafters
Mail Boxes Etc.
MainStay Suites
MasterCuts
MetroStyle
Movie Gallery
NetZero Internet
New Balance Chicago
Overstock.com
Panasonic
Payless ShoeSource
Payoneer
Pearle Vision
Quality Inns
Regal Entertainment Group
Rent-A-Center
Rodeway Inn
RxSavings
Sears Optical
Sleep inn
SmartStyle
Sprint
Suncoast
T-Mobile
Target Optical
The UPS Store
TiVo
Universal Studios
Verizon Wireless
Walmart Portrait Studio
Wayport

McChronicles said...

Awesome!

Is it Canada-based only? Or is it used in other places?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have one, and live in the States. The only bad part is that it expires at the end of the year and they might not be continuing it.

Anonymous said...

ok, not canada based.
live in the us, have one

expires in 2009

Anonymous said...

I just got one tonight and it expires september 2009. I was suprised on the wireless discounts the card has. Its an A+

McChronicles said...

Anonymous,
Where are you located?
How did you get the card?

Anonymous said...

I have worked for McDonald's for 6 years and we here in MA have had it for several years. It is for employees only. Unfortunately the managers in charge have to make sure they are being distributed. At times they are not and it is unfortunate

Anonymous said...

We've got them at the McDOnalds' in IN here is the US. Our lasts until sept 2009. Its the 2nd one for me. We got them last year. Everyone gets one when they sign on or when they expire so long as you work one shift. You have to turn it in when you quit.

Unknown said...

I am a restaurant manager in Texas. The gold card as mentioned above is an employee benefit provided by either corporate owned stores or by the independent owner/operators if they choose to pay for and provide the benefit. It has many money saving programs, and they advertise how you can save 500 dollars. Its an employee retention tool and I agree that it needs to be advertised more for employees if its available to them. As far as I know its a US and possibly canadian item. I just used it to get a discount at a hotel for a trip im taking soon!

Anonymous said...

Well I'm about to get one in Louisiana and its 2010.

Anonymous said...

i work at a franchised mcdonalds in ohio how do i go about getting one