Discover It 2nd Quarter Bonus Category
About a month ago I did a roundup of the 2016 5%/5X bonus categories for the Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend and Discover It cards. While Chase and Citi released their calendars for the entire year, Discover seems to only be releasing their calendar in chunks. Thankfully they have now released the 5% categories for Q2 2016.
Restaurants & Movies
Discover It cards will earn 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in spend in the categories of restaurants and movies from April 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016.
Key Terms
- Restaurant purchases are those made at merchants classified as full-service restaurants, cafes, cafeterias and fast food locations.
- Movie purchases are those made at merchants classified as movie theaters, video rental stores, and online movie ticket services.
- Purchases made at warehouse clubs, wholesale distributors and discount stores are not eligible.
- Purchases made using tap-and-pay, mobile or wireless card readers, virtual wallets or similar technology may not be eligible.
- Rewards are added to your Cashback Bonus account within two billing periods.
Analysis
What is nice, is that the restaurants and movies categories don’t overlap with any of the 2Q categories for the Dividend or Freedom cards. Given that the Discover It will earn 5% at restaurants (10% if you have Double Cashback), it will probably be the card to use for eating out during the period from April-June.
I also want to point out that the 2nd quarter is fantastic when you analyze the bonus categories across all three cards. The Freedom will earn 5% at grocery stores, the Dividend will earn 5% at drug stores and the Discover It will earn 5% at restaurants. Overall, many of people’s everyday expenses should be covered by bonus categories on these cards in the 2nd quarter.
Conclusion
I really wish Discover would release their entire calendar for 2016, but I assume they are still looking at the numbers to see how generous they should be with the categories. Ever since the launch of their double cashback promotion, the company has tightened. Still, restaurants and movies are a fine category and one I am happy to have in the 2nd quarter.
HT: Doctor of Credit
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[…] is a good offer considering it comes in addition to the normal 5% bonus categories this quarter. This really only makes sense if you have Double Cashback on your account, since you […]
Puzzled as to why your so excited about this promo — 5% for restaurants….? Ok, even IF (huge IF), I’d use the discover card for purchases at restaurants and got the 5% 2nd quarter to actually be registered by end of my first year in mid July (and thus be doubled), again, IF that were to happen…
how’s that better than buying gift cards for restaurants from say Kroger during their 4x fuel points cycle (like the one just ended)….. from that deal, I get upwards of 26% discounts off restaurants. …. (shawn you already know that drill) Then too, there’s the extreme discounts available on most restaurant gift cards available on-line (thanks to the 5+2 model at work)…. In short, 10% is far, far less than discounts to be had at most restaurants…
Ok, for those who don’t go to restaurants where you can use gift cards, this discover quarter might be “exciting.” Maybe you’re thinking of another ms angle you’re not spelling out here. Either that, or ya’all still are getting promo ads from Discover.
Restaurants are an expense I have and I do frequent a lot of local restaurants where gift cards cannot be purchased at a discount. You are correct that for many chains it is better to purchase gift cards if a discount is available.
Does anyone know if Netflix counts for movies with the Discover card?
Dude… where is the CC that lets you choose your own MCC!? That would be so awesome. I guess US Bank comes close, but would be cool to input your own code with a $1500 quarterly max spend.
What a lurid image.
For your travel purposes… how do you mix in cash back when working towards your travel goals?
I was so upset (if that’s the right word) that the Q1 bonus for the Freedom and Discover cards overlapped with gas purchases. I usually spend a fair amount on that and would have liked to get the 5% back at two different times. But I am much happier that they will be separate for the second quarter, and presumably the third now.
I am also very upset that the Q1 bonus for the Freedom and Discover cards overlapped with gas purchases. I am upset because both cards Q1 bonus are useless to me. I have Sallie Mae card with 5% gas back, I have OBC with 5% gas back. Along with various Amex gas offer and Kroger fuel point discount, I pay about 60 cent per gallon now, I don’t really need gas as a bonus category.
I guess it all depends on where you live. The gas stations tied to our biggest grocery store chain are separate fromthe groceries and code as gas stations. Their gift cards work at either gas or grocery. I can buy gift cards for other stores with the gas/grocery cards and earn discounts on gas. So, I’m thrilled and will max out both cards on Hubby’s and my accounts.
I AM SO DAMN JEALOUS of all you gas station GC people! So lucky!