Discover it Miles Card
It’s hard to forget about Discover cards, but my wife and I pretty much have. Their ads are seemingly everywhere. We each historically held online savings accounts with Discover and more recently picked up debit accounts. But that’s mostly been it. I closed my last Discover it Miles card with no plans to return (more on that in a bit) a few years ago. But in the past several weeks, we decided to look again at Discover cards, evaluating if now’s the time to return. Today, I describe the two cards we considered, why we left Discover in the first place, and which product we selected.
Another Look at Discover
Several Discover credit cards exist, all with no fee, but a couple are of keen interest to points and travel hobbyists:
- Discover it Cash Back: This card earns 5% cash back in quarterly-rotating categories on up to $1.5k spent and picks up 1% elsewhere.
- Discover it Miles: This card earns 1.5% uncapped cash back on all spend.
At first glance, these cards don’t offer anything eye-popping. Neither offers a traditional signup bonus. Indeed, the Cash Back card lines up with the same earning structure from similar products like the Chase Freedom Flex and Citi Dividend. And individuals can easily pick up 2% cash back on all spend from myriad products, so why consider the Miles card?
Each card offers a cashback match on all spend for the first cardmember year. This makes the Cash Back version a 10% card on certain spend and the Miles version 3% back everywhere. But attentive hobbyists can effectively keep those rates beyond that timeframe by annually picking up a new card. Indeed, back in the day, my wife and I each picked up a new Discover card annually without any hassle. So why did we give up?
Why We Left
We exclusively focused on the Miles card when we were hot and heavy with Discover. But maximizing the card became increasingly cumbersome for each of us. Discover has been relatively stingy with credit limits. I recall these lines became smaller with every subsequent application and approval. I was told by multiple reps that credit limit increases weren’t possible within the first cardmember year – useless for us, as year one’s the only worthy period to spend. Making things worse, Discover was very slow to release our available credit after payments to the accounts. We ultimately decided to focus elsewhere after the last Miles cardmember year one ended.
I closed my last Discover it Miles card, but my wife left her two open beyond cardmember year one, figuring we may refer from her accounts again in the future (each party receives $100). But her accounts have been dormant for years since.
Why We’re Back
My wife and I periodically reevaluate our card portfolios, and we recently decided to redouble our efforts to diversify. This applies to a variety of card issuers, from the heavyweights, to middle of the road, to smaller, more obscure banks and credit unions. Plus, much has changed in our hobby since we last significantly spent on Discover cards. Both of these reasons encouraged us to pick up new cards, including some we’ve previously held.
Enter Discover. While the Cash Back version may be the best pick for some, we quickly chose the Miles version for simple, flexible, uncapped 3% cash back everywhere. Even better, the Discover referral bonus is currently available, and my wife referred me for the Miles card, earning us each $100 after the first new card purchase. I applied for the Discover it Miles card via my wife’s referral link and was immediately approved. My approved credit limit credit limit came out how I expected – not exactly huge, but not miniscule, either.
We’ll take this easy win, even if it doesn’t grab much attention. I may actually prefer that it doesn’t. Success with the Discover it Miles card is another reminder to pay attention to the nuances of our hobby. Stacking wins like this can lead to substantially bigger things.
Discover it Miles Card – Conclusion
After stretching my legs with this new Discover it Miles account, the next step is for my wife to obtain a new one. That will entail a bit of housekeeping first, though. She must close one of her old cards to get under Discover’s two card limit.
Like Chase, I’ve found Discover quite boring over the years. Discover hasn’t created many new products, and any significant cobranding certainly doesn’t seem to be their thing. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore them. Boring can deliver, and I’ll continue betting on that.
Have you picked up a Discover card recently? Which one and why?
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
