$200 Discover Card Bonus
Yes, there is a (I believe best ever) $200 Discover card bonus offer available right now. That is kind of compelling on its own. Especially when you throw in the fact that your earnings get doubled after your first year (not including the welcome offer). That is great and all, but it is not the only reason to get a Discover card RIGHT NOW.
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Welcome Offer Details
Here are the details of the $200 Discover card bonus:
- Get a $200 statement credit when you spend $500 in the first 3 months.
- Discover will also match the cash back rewards earned in your first year.
- No annual fee
I am focusing solely on the Discover It card because I think that is the best option for the vast majority of people. (HT DoC)
Timing Is Everything
The timing of this $200 Discover card bonus is kind of everything. That is because if you apply at the perfect time then you can stretch that cash back match for the first year a bit more, at least in terms of quarters. That is why you always want to grab it around the middle of a quarter:
- You can take advantage of 5% earning for the second half of your first quarter, which gets matched
- Then 5% for your second quarter for the cardmember year, which is also matched
- Followed up by 5% for your third quarter of the cardmember year – once again matched
- Normally, you would think the 5% match ends on your fourth quarter with the card
- But, you get matched for 5% for the first half of the fifth quarter of having the card too because of the timing
Since you started in the second half of your first quarter you also get matched for the first half of your fifth quarter. It is kind of like triple dipping Amex credit card perks by applying in December.
With this set up you can bank a huge return that first year if you can maximize each 5% quarter:
- $75 matched on $1500 in spend the second half of the first quarter matched
- Another $75 matched on $1500 in spend in the second quarter
- Yet another $75 matched on $1500 in spend on the third quater
- $75 matched in the fourth quarter
- $75 matched on the first half of the fifth quarter too
That leaves you with $375 in matches at the end of the first year if you can maximize every single quarter. That may be tough for some of these quarters, but having that swing quarter gives you the ability to maybe miss on one. Then you would still end up with $300 in matches. That is true even if you hit up all five quarters but don’t quite make it to the $1,500 finish line for all of them.
The Return Is Great The First Year
Let’s assume that you maximize all five quarters in that first cardmember year. Let’s also assume that you do the $500 minimum spend required for the $200 Discover card bonus in a 5% quarterly category. That would give you a return that looks like this:
- $200 from the welcome bonus
- $375 from maximining $1500 in spend at 5% for 5 quarters
- $375 from the first year match
- That is a total of $950 in year one. It would only require $7,500 in quarterly spending, giving you a net return of 12.67% on every dollar of that spend.
Getting 12.67% back on $7,500 is nothing to shake a stick at. Did he just bust out an old as dirt saying over here? This is great, but it isn’t a reason to apply for a Discover card RIGHT NOW.
Capital One Is Why You Should Do It RIGHT NOW
The net return on the $200 Discover card bonus is reason enough to jump on this bandwagon, but it isn’t the underlying current causing the RIGHT NOW claim. The reason would be Capital One, and that is for a couple of reasons:
Capital One Is Coming
The first reason is that Capital One is coming to take over the Discover portfolio. Capital One is rolling Discover into their site at the end of July. That means we want to get this in under the wire. Who knows what the offer looks like when Capital One fully takes over Discover. Will the first year match stay? Will the card still earn 5% in rotating categories? Who knows, but my money is it doesn’t get better. Locking in this offer before anything changes is reason number one to grab it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the card is pulled from applications a little before that too, which negates the chance of grabbing that fifth quarter outside of right now.
Discover Approvals Are Easy
A Discover approval is as close to a sure thing that you can get. Capital One, on the other hand, is anything but. It is actually one of the most difficult approvals in the credit card business. Especially if you already have a few Capital One cards.
Discover Also lets you get a second card, even if you already have the same card. It must be at least 12 months since your last card approval with Discover though. That means you should grab this even if you are already have a Discover IT card (and it has been at least 12 months).
Could This Become A 5x Capital One Earner?
Currently Capital One lets you turn cash back from one card into miles with another card. As long as you have a Venture One, Venture or Venture X card you can pull this off. Hey, guess what, Discover earns cash back! It isn’t a huge leap of faith to think Discover cash back should work the same as Quicksilver cash back etc. once it is hosted on the Capital One site.
This would essentially give Capital One their 5x earner that Chase and Citi already have. You could be banking 95,000 Capital One miles for $7,500 in spend when it is all said and done if this plays out as expected.
$200 Discover Card Bonus: Final Thoughts
The opportunity the $200 Discover card bonus offers, especially when paired with the cash back match, is a compelling enough reason to grab this card. But, the long term potential that it could offer with Capital One is the reason you need to grab this RIGHT NOW.
Let me know if you are getting a Discover card before it merges over to Capital One down below, or over in the MTM Facebook Group.
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