Discover 2018 5% Bonus Categories Released and a Look at the 1st Quarter
Every year we wait in anticipation for Discover, Chase and Citi to release the next year’s bonus categories for their various rotating 5%/5X cards. Ok, maybe it isn’t the biggest news in the world, but it’s kind of exciting. Thankfully, Discover decided to release the categories for the whole year and the news is mostly good.
Here’s a look at the upcoming 5% Calendar for the Discover It Card
| OCT-DEC 2017 | Amazon.com & Target |
| JAN-MAR 2018 | Gas Stations & Wholesale Clubs |
| APR-JUN 2018 | Grocery Stores |
| JUL-SEP 2018 | Restaurants |
| OCT-DEC 2018 | Amazon.com & Wholesale Clubs |
Discover it Best Offer
If you don’t currently have a Discover it card, then you can get all of your cashback DOUBLED the first year. The public offer doesn’t come with a sign-up bonus, but referral links give $50 after first purchase. That $50 is actually doubled to $100 for the first year. You also essentially earn 10% back in bonus categories the first year as well.
2018 First Quarter Categories- Activate Now
The 5% Cashback categories for the 1st quarter are wholesale clubs and gas stations. You must activate this offer before you make qualifying purchases, you can do so by clicking here. You will earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Gas Stations & Wholesale Clubs from January 1–March 31, 2018, on up to $1,500 in purchases, when you activate.
- Gas Stations – The terms state stand alone gas stations only. This means those affiliated with superstores and supermarkets may not be eligible.
- Wholesale Club – Be sure to use the actual card to pay for your purchases because the terms state purchases made using tap-and-pay, mobile or wireless card readers, virtual wallets etc may not be eligible.
Analysis
The Q1 categories are similar to past years with one exception, they’ve removed the ground transportation category. Wholesale clubs are incredibly popular and between that and gas, it should be fairly easy for most people to spend the full $1500 over three months for the max cashback bonus of $75.
The removal of ground transportation kind of stinks for a lot of big city folk. I know from living in a big commuter city that these categories may not be easy to maximize. First, people in many major cities rely on public transportation, so gas is a non issue. Additionally, wholesale clubs are few are far between in those same areas. In NYC for example, I don’t remember ever seeing a BJs, and even if I did, was I going to lug 40 lbs of cheese and 90 rolls of toilet paper on the subway? Ummm, no. Luckily, many gas stations sell a variety of gift cards, so they can still have a chance to take full advantage of the offer.
2017 4th Quarter Categories
Don’t forget to make the most out of this years 4th quarter categories, Amazon.com and Target. For full details and ways to maximize, click here.
Conclusion
I’m looking forward to seeing the rotating 5x categories for Citi and Chase so that I can plan out my 2018 strategy. For now, I’m pretty happy with Discover’s categories and it’s great that they’ve added grocery stores for the second quarter. 5% Cashback is a great return and I plan on taking full advantage. Just don’t forget to activate bonus categories before you make any qualifying purchases or you won’t earn the bonus cash!
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