Discover It Cash Back Credit Card

[RSG89]

Hey!

I'm just starting to look into optimizing credit card rewards. I'd like to focus on cash back cards. Credit score is 800+

Does anyone have experience with the Discover It Cash Back Credit Card - https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cash-back/it-card.html#q1 ?

We are relatively low spenders, but are planning on around 10k of home renovations in the next 6-12 months.

Thanks!

Another I'm considering -
- https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/citi.action?ID=citi-double-cash-credit-card

[Rocky Mtn FI]

I have the Discover it card.  Pairs well with the Chase Freedom card, as both have rotating 5% categories and neither has an annual fee.  Some quarters I use it a lot and some hardly at all.  This quarter is restaurants, so it'll probably get used relatively frequently; last quarter was gas stations and rideshare services, and I don't think I used it once.  YMMV, but I find it to be a useful card with no annual fee.

That being said, I don't think it'll be especially helpful to you re: the home renovations.  There's no home improvement store category this year (last quarter was home improvement for the Chase card, I think), so the best you'll do on those purchases is 2% back (1% on non-5% spending, doubled for the first year) unless it has home improvement as a category next year (which you won't know until later this year).

If the home reno is your major driver, there may be other cards out there that will generate a better return on that spending specifically.  If you just want a useful card to kickstart your cashback optimization, the Discover it and DoubleCash are both good options.

[Saving in Austin]

Discover It has 5% cash back on specific categories each cycle: (1% on all other items)
5% good on up to $1500 of spending per quarter

Jan - Mar  Grocery Stores
Apr - Jun  Gas Stations Uber and Lyft
Jul - Sep   Restaurants and PayPal
Oct - Dec  Amazon, Target and Walmart

They will also Cashback Match during the first year of card membership = 10% on up to $1500 per quarter.

You can buy gift cards to max out the $1500 per quarter. I bought Amazon gift cards in December and I just bought $1300 worth of Shell gift cards in June. The cashback match was credited properly both times.

[Duke03]

With a little bit of reading/research and asking the right questions you will soon find out that all credit cards ie even travel cards can be cashed out as a cash back bonus....  So my question to you is why would you sign up for a discover IT card that has no sign up bonus when there are several cards that will pay you $500 to $800 in cash back or points that can be converted to cash just for signing up for the card....  FYI discover offers shit products if you truly are thinking about churning or optimizing credit card rewards look to Chase, Barclay, Amex ect

[seattlecyclone]

The Discover card can be a good choice for someone who isn't really into churning cards over and over again for the signup bonuses. A consistent 5% back on some category isn't a bad rate at all, provided you only use that card for the 5% stuff. As mentioned above, it pairs well with the Chase Freedom (5% back on a different set of rotating categories). Use Citi Double Cash (2% back on everything) for whatever isn't covered at 5% by the other two cards.

If you travel frequently, one of the Chase Sapphire cards can be a good addition as well. Not only does it give a nice cash back rate on travel-related purchases all the time, but it also increases your earnings on Chase Freedom when you redeem the points for more travel.

That's basically what I carry right now. Discover and Chase Freedom for the rotating categories, Chase Sapphire for travel and restaurants, and Citi Double Cash for everything else. I get a pretty predictable and generous rate of cash back, without the hassle of filling out credit card applications all the time.

[RSG89]

@jwharki @Saving in Austin @Duke03 @seattlecyclone Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I don't think (for now) i'm really interested in churning cards over and over - really just trying to maximize cash back for some high dollar purchases I'm already planning on making.

I went ahead and applied for the Discover it. This quarter's 5% category includes PayPal, which I convinced one of my contractors to accept so wham - that work results in 10% cash back. Not bad!

I appreciate the other advice and will come back to it down the road for sure. Thanks again!

[economista]

I have the Discover It card and I don't know if they are still doing it or not but they double your cash-back bonus in your first year. So after 12 months, you get a "bonus" cashback equal to the total cash back you earned in the previous year. So you don't get a sign-up bonus at the beginning, but in my case the double cashback after that first year was more than any sign up bonus I've ever gotten. I actually had an older Discover cashback card that I'd been using for years when they came out with the It card a few years ago and they called me to let me know that they would be switching my account over since they were phasing out the old card. Even though the matching cashback was only supposed to be for new members, they enrolled me in that as well and sure enough 12 months later I got the extra credit in my account.

[seattlecyclone]

Yeah I've had a Discover card for quite a few years. Last year they gave me a double cash back year out of the blue. Their statistics must have shown I wasn't using the card much. I respond to incentives, so it worked! (at least for that one year)

[frugaliknowit]

I really like Citi Double.  It's my "go-to" for everything except overseas, since they charge a fee for foreign exchange.

I really don't care for rotating categories.  I used to participate in that with Chase Freedom and Discover and "discovered" it gave me a headache with minimal gain.  I dumped my Discover a few years ago, after being tired of saying "do you take Discover?"...

[economista]

I really like Citi Double.  It's my "go-to" for everything except overseas, since they charge a fee for foreign exchange.

I really don't care for rotating categories.  I used to participate in that with Chase Freedom and Discover and "discovered" it gave me a headache with minimal gain.  I dumped my Discover a few years ago, after being tired of saying "do you take Discover?"...

That's weird. I've never had my discover card turned down.

[Samuel]

I really like Citi Double.  It's my "go-to" for everything except overseas, since they charge a fee for foreign exchange.

I really don't care for rotating categories.  I used to participate in that with Chase Freedom and Discover and "discovered" it gave me a headache with minimal gain.  I dumped my Discover a few years ago, after being tired of saying "do you take Discover?"...

Citi Double Cash has also been my go to for years but they recently announced big changes to the card benefits that have me in the market for a different card:

Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, Damage & Theft Purchase Protection, and Extended Warranty will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date.

Boo.