Author Topic: Discover IT card  (Read 5355 times)

bballfreakunc

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Discover IT card
« on: August 04, 2016, 07:37:54 AM »
I'm looking to expand my credit card lineup and am contemplating the Discover IT card. I already have a Fidelity (2%), BOA (none), chase freedom (5% rotating, 1% otherwise)and capital one venture (1.25%, no fee) visa. I also have 2 other cards that I'll be dumping in the next 6 months because of annual fees.

Looking at the Discover IT card, it appears that for the first year one can earn 10% (2*5%) on rotating categories and 2% (2*1%) on everything else with no annual fee. Does anyone else have this card and what are their thoughts?

Jack

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2016, 07:46:33 AM »
I have one, and use it for the rotating categories. If you like Amazon.com, it's worth noting that 5% back there is included in two quarters.

My wife recently received an offer for it advertising a zero-interest and zero-fee balance transfer, which is also pretty nice. (We actually have a $5k balance on another card at a soon-to-expire 0% rate, but I had been planning to just irrationally pay it off for simplicity's sake instead of rolling it over. Maybe I'll change my mind; maybe I won't. Mathematically, rolling it over would be better, but having two of the same credit card -- one in my wife's name, and one in mine with her as an authorized user -- would be confusing.)

mskyle

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2016, 07:56:42 AM »
I have the Discover IT, and it's great if you use it for the 5% back categories, especially for that first year. Right now I'm getting 5% plus 5% back at Amazon and Home Improvement stores. That's not bad! There are lots of other little deals and things, like extra cash back if you buy things through their portal, etc. For example, I bought a sewing machine from Bed Bath and Beyond through the Discover portal and got 5% + 5% back, IIRC.

They had an amazing deal at the end of last year where you got 10% back (plus 10% at the end of the year) on anything you bought with ApplePay - that's why we originally signed up for the card (my oldest card is also a Discover, so I just opened up a new one, which was very weird). The grocery stores we go to take ApplePay, so we stocked up on food and booze at the end of the year to the tune of 20% off! We only just ran out of olive oil. I also bought a new iPhone (unnecessary but much-wanted), again with 20% cashback.

I doubt they'll do that one again, though.

Discover is a little weird compared to some other credit card companies - like, if you add an additional user, their card has the same number as your card, which I don't love. They're more widely accepted than they used to be but still pretty useless for travel outside of North America, and they don't have as many perks as the fancy cards. But for that first year in the 5% categories it's really great (and the categories are announced in advance and pretty predictable, so you can plan your spending pretty easily).

Jack

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2016, 08:03:50 AM »
(and the categories are announced in advance and pretty predictable, so you can plan your spending pretty easily).

Maybe it's not guaranteed, but for the time I've had the card (2 years) the categories have repeated annually:

Jan-Mar: gas
Apr-Jun: restaurants & movies
Jul-Sep: department stores, home improvement stores, Amazon.com
Oct-Dec: department stores, clothing stores, Amazon.com

FIREdancer

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2016, 08:09:30 AM »
I have the Discover It card, and I like it.  I mostly have it as a backup credit card and mostly only use it for the 5% cash back categories...but since I don't spend much money anyway, I don't get that much back.

They tell you your credit score every month, which is kind of fun.  And I don't know if this is just me or what, but they have been regularly raising my credit limit.  In the past few years since I've had it, they've automatically raised it multiple times...of course I don't use that extra credit, but hey more credit available boosting my score, which helped me get a nice rate on my mortgage refinance.

FIREdancer

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2016, 08:12:36 AM »

Maybe it's not guaranteed, but for the time I've had the card (2 years) the categories have repeated annually:

Jan-Mar: gas
Apr-Jun: restaurants & movies
Jul-Sep: department stores, home improvement stores, Amazon.com
Oct-Dec: department stores, clothing stores, Amazon.com

They have changed.  Sometimes they add or remove something.  But they are usually the same categories just at different times.  So for example, I think one year gas was in Jul-Sep and Jan-Mar was something else like restaurants.

Inaya

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2016, 08:14:44 AM »
The double bonus works for ALL cash back, not just the categories. So categories, shopping portal, referral bonus. And they still double if you stack them; although opportunities to do so are pretty rare. I think the 10% ApplePay bonus and the 5% category for department stores coincided last year--so if you had bought something at Nordstrom with ApplePay, you would have gotten 15% then and then 15% again at the end of your first year. (I don't have an iPhone, so I can't confirm.)

Also a note on the 5% Amazon: I tested this extensively last year and the cash back works for Prime subscriptions and gift cards. For instance, I paid for a year of Netflix via gift card and netted 10% cash back. I also paid for my mom's holiday flight via Southwest gift cards and got the net 10% there as well.

My first year just ended to the tune of almost $500 cash back, and my annual spend wasn't particularly high. My husband just applied for his, so we'll be putting all our spend on it for the next year.

They also have a referral program where the referrer and referree get $50 each--and that'll double as well at the end of the first year.


ETA: Oh and they have a commercial that says anyone can get their FICO from them, even if they're not a customer? So that's neat.


ETA2: Oh my... I just looked at their website, and Q4 is going to be Sam's Club. AFAIK nobody gives cash back on warehouses.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2016, 08:18:13 AM by Inaya »

afuera

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2016, 08:18:13 AM »
My husband and I both have Discover IT cards mostly for the Amazon perks.  We are prime/pantry users so it saves us quite a bit of cash.

slappy

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2016, 09:26:37 AM »
The double bonus works for ALL cash back, not just the categories. So categories, shopping portal, referral bonus. And they still double if you stack them; although opportunities to do so are pretty rare. I think the 10% ApplePay bonus and the 5% category for department stores coincided last year--so if you had bought something at Nordstrom with ApplePay, you would have gotten 15% then and then 15% again at the end of your first year. (I don't have an iPhone, so I can't confirm.)

Also a note on the 5% Amazon: I tested this extensively last year and the cash back works for Prime subscriptions and gift cards. For instance, I paid for a year of Netflix via gift card and netted 10% cash back. I also paid for my mom's holiday flight via Southwest gift cards and got the net 10% there as well.

My first year just ended to the tune of almost $500 cash back, and my annual spend wasn't particularly high. My husband just applied for his, so we'll be putting all our spend on it for the next year.

They also have a referral program where the referrer and referree get $50 each--and that'll double as well at the end of the first year.


ETA: Oh and they have a commercial that says anyone can get their FICO from them, even if they're not a customer? So that's neat.


ETA2: Oh my... I just looked at their website, and Q4 is going to be Sam's Club. AFAIK nobody gives cash back on warehouses.

Warehouses have been the quarterly 5% cash back category for the past two quarters on my Chase Freedom card. I was suprised to see them there, since like you said, warehouses are generally excluded.

Inaya

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2016, 09:31:30 AM »
Warehouses have been the quarterly 5% cash back category for the past two quarters on my Chase Freedom card. I was suprised to see them there, since like you said, warehouses are generally excluded.


Ah, thanks for the clarification. I'm in a situation where warehouses aren't worthwhile, so I hadn't kept track (and I don't have Chase). Actually, now that you mention it, I think BofA has warehouses at 2%. I wonder if it's related to AmEx's split with Costco.

jeromedawg

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2016, 11:48:26 AM »
The double bonus works for ALL cash back, not just the categories. So categories, shopping portal, referral bonus. And they still double if you stack them; although opportunities to do so are pretty rare. I think the 10% ApplePay bonus and the 5% category for department stores coincided last year--so if you had bought something at Nordstrom with ApplePay, you would have gotten 15% then and then 15% again at the end of your first year. (I don't have an iPhone, so I can't confirm.)

Also a note on the 5% Amazon: I tested this extensively last year and the cash back works for Prime subscriptions and gift cards. For instance, I paid for a year of Netflix via gift card and netted 10% cash back. I also paid for my mom's holiday flight via Southwest gift cards and got the net 10% there as well.

My first year just ended to the tune of almost $500 cash back, and my annual spend wasn't particularly high. My husband just applied for his, so we'll be putting all our spend on it for the next year.

They also have a referral program where the referrer and referree get $50 each--and that'll double as well at the end of the first year.


ETA: Oh and they have a commercial that says anyone can get their FICO from them, even if they're not a customer? So that's neat.


ETA2: Oh my... I just looked at their website, and Q4 is going to be Sam's Club. AFAIK nobody gives cash back on warehouses.

I converted my standard Discover card to Discover IT, then I referred my wife for the $50 bonuses. I've already gotten my $50 referral bonus and she should be getting hers soon. She also was able to take advantage of the double-cashback offer as a new member. It's too bad I didn't do this a year ago, as we both would have gotten double cashback on that.

jeromedawg

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2016, 11:51:19 AM »
BTW: are you guys just cashing out on your cashback via statement credits or deposit? Or is there a better way to capitalize on the CB like via discounted GCs, etc?

Inaya

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2016, 12:05:13 PM »
I do gift cards. Most of them give you bonus credit. So you get a $25 gift card for $20 cash back (just an example; the bonus varies). I think that's the most efficient way. And their selection is pretty good (and stuff you'd actually want to get). They'll also let you spend it at Amazon check out, but you don't get any bonus or anything. Another option is to donate your cash back, but they only have a few charities who participate in that.


I plan on saving mine for the holidays and giving friends and family gift cards.

Tiger Stache

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Re: Discover IT card
« Reply #13 on: August 04, 2016, 12:15:04 PM »
i use the cash back to help pay the bill each month, which i think is a great perk that they added within the last few months. GCs are generally just parking your own money unless they're things you use them for within a short time frame. The discounted GCs aren't as discounted as they used to be, but if you're wanting to save a few bucks they're worth while.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!