Discover it 2nd Quarter 2017 Bonus Categories
The Discover it card is one of my favorite no annual fee credit cards. Every year I earn hundreds of dollars in cashback at 5% due to the card’s rotating categories. I previously covered the first quarter 2017 rotating categories for this card and now Discover has released the list for Q2 2017.
The Discover it card will earn 5% back in the following categories from April 1 – June 30, 2017:
Home Improvement Stores – Home Improvement Stores are defined as home improvement retail stores, lumber/building material stores, paint/wallpaper stores, hardware stores and lawn and garden supply centers.
Warehouse Clubs – Certain Wholesale Club services, such as travel and cell phone purchases may not be eligible in this category.
Maximizing These Categories
Other than normal spend, both of these bonus categories are easy to maximize due to gift cards. Home improvement stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot sell a wide variety of gift cards. Additionally, Warehouse Clubs such as Sam’s Club often sell gift cards at a discount. Costco.com also accepts Discover, however you can’t use a Discover card in-club.
See which gift cards are available for purchase at Sam’s Club.
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.
Discover it $50 ($100) Sign-Up Bonus Offer
Bonus Categories Compared
The other two major no annual fee cards with rotating bonus categories are the Chase Freedom and Citi Dividend. As a comparison, those cards will earn 5% in the following categories during Q2 2017:
Chase Freedom – Grocery stores (On up to $1,500 in purchases.)
Citi Dividend – Drug stores and fitness clubs (Capped at $300 total cashback per year.)
Conclusion
I personally like that Discover is keeping the Warehouse Club category since I have found easy enough ways to maximize my cashback by purchasing gift cards. Overall the quarter is actually looking good with the trifecta of Warehouse Clubs, Drug Stores and Grocery stores earning 5% between the various cards.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Shawen, I updated my 5X chart with your information and want to note that Chase Freedom is also 5X for drugstores in the 2Q. Grocery is good for many, but drug store (CVS) is of course super good for many.