Walgreens has been a household name for more than 100 years, and over that time has turned its hand to most things medical, including becoming one of the places to find the best contact lenses online. The site is clearly laid-out, and as you would expect there’s a big focus on discounts.
The price of Walgreens contact lenses are in line with competitors, without ever quite hitting rock bottom. They offer their own medical insurance, and take FSA and HSA cards for qualifying lenses. All orders receive free shipping, and there’s a range of payment options, but subscriptions are not supported.
Walgreens Contact Lens review: Price and offers
Walgreens offers free shipping on all contact lenses and the company's size means you’re pretty sure they’ll have your order in stock and ready to go. Prices aren’t sky-high, but they’re certainly not the lowest out there - check out our AC Lens review for that. Walgreens is trading on its reliable name in the business, not on crazy-low bargains.
It has its own medical insurance, which sadly doesn't rank among our picks of the best vision insurance companies, and of course take HAS and FSA cards for qualifying medical lenses.
As you’d expect from a long-established high-street chain, there is a heavy emphasis on coupons and time-limited offers to tie in with ad campaigns. Combined with the contact lens world’s system of rebates, this can make prices difficult to pin down and sometimes variable. Walgreens is super-reliable, has a huge range and if you’re happy to clip those virtual coupons, is very competitive on price.
Walgreens Contact Lens review: Features and website
Walgreens’ reputation in the pharmaceutical supply business is well earned, and it’s clearly plugged in to informing you about the ins and outs of its niche. There is an extensive page about what qualifies for FSA funding, the advice page has a ton about wearing contacts, buying contacts, storing contacts, the list goes on and on. Walgreens is knowledgeable and helpful, just like your friendly local pharmacist, and we'd recommend them over Lenscrafters if you're looking for an in-store/online combination for your contact lens needs.
The site looks good, lots of white space and good advice, but scroll down and you’ll find the attractive graphics soon dissolve into slabs and slabs of uninterrupted text. There are two reasons that this might happen. Firstly, there is a lot of info and advice which is really useful and really welcome.
To complement your lenses, there’s a really good range of eye care products and accessories. As a wearer of contacts, Walgreens has your everyday necessities like eye drops, cleaning solutions and storage cases, much like 1800 Contacts and Discount Contact Lenses.
But it also has a range of vitamins and supplements specifically chosen to support eye-health. Most vitamins and dietary supplements only have anecdotal outside of actual deficiencies, but it might be something to give yourself an extra degree of reassurance if you’re worried about your optical health.
Should you buy from Walgreens?
Walgreens is a familiar name, and a reliable brand with a track record of supporting family health. Its transition from bricks-and-mortar store hasn’t been seamless, but it has done a pretty good job. It still relies on coupons and offers to provide you with the best discounts, and when combined with the contact lens rebate system, this makes pinning down your regular prices a difficult task.
The site is quite wordy, but those words are often sound advice and useful information. Walgreens takes FSA and HSA cards, and has the knowledge and connections to advise you about your FSA eligible spend. If you value reliability and pedigree over style, gimmicks and price, Walgreens is a solid choice.
