The Discover it Miles Card offers $100 sign-up bonus along with bonus match for all the rewards you’ve built up during your first year. This card can be more beneficial to you if you use your card wisely.
While the credit card doesn’t have an annual fee, their earning rates for ongoing rewards of 1.5% back for other expenses. There won’t be any specific categories that you would need to keep track with, there won’t be any caps for the number of rewards that you will be able to gain.
Even if this credit card is good at competing with its no annual fee Travel and Cash Back credit card competition, one setback is that Discover isn’t accepted everywhere like a Visa or Mastercard.
The Discover It Miles Rewards Match
When your first year is over, Discover will give you the rewards that you’ve gained in that specific year. In other words, one of the other no annual fee credit card would have a sign-up bonus between $100-$150.
If you have a minimum of $10,000 in the first year, you will have built up $150 of rewards with the Discover It Miles Card. When you spend at least $10,000 you will get a rate of 1.5x miles for each $1, that will net you about 15,000 miles that will be worth about $150 whenever you redeem them.
However, it’s good if your rewards match is within your control of the bonuses. You have you spend at least $15,000 in the first year with the Discover It Miles credit card. You will be able to gain 22,500 miles that will be worth about $225 for your rewards match.
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Redeeming Your Miles
When you want to redeem your miles, you will be presented with 2 choices such as:
- With the statement credits for your travel expenses made in 180 days. Your travel expenses will have additional airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, travel agents, online travel sites, and commuter transportation.
- You can redeem by electronic cash deposit directly to your account.
Before, when you redeem your cash deposit that would mean that your miles worth would decrease. Now, you will be able to gain $1 for each mile you’ve gained. Since this change there won’t be a reason to stress about tracking your travel purchases in 180 days for your redemptions. You’ll be able to see them as cash back for additional travel perks.
Discover It Miles is great at competing with other Travel and Cash back credit cards. Compared to other cards, there won’t be any redemption required so you will be able to redeem one Mile if you wanted to.
Earning Miles
Once you reach the 3% for your first year, Discover It Miles will gain you an ongoing rewards rate of 1.5%. It’s a great rate for a card that has no annual fees attached. You can compare it to a similar no annual fee card such as the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards (1.5% for a bonus) or the HSBC Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card (1.5% & also has a bonus). These credit cards will give you more options since its more accepted than using a Discover It Miles credit card.
Other Benefits
- No foreign transaction fee: Typically, it would be a good benefit for travel credit cards but, you’ll be faced with many different obstacles where Discover won’t be taken.
- FICO Credit Score: With other card issuers that are beginning to add this benefit to their cards, it would be a good way to track your credit.
- 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases: A Standard Variable Purchase APR applies afterwards.
Bottom Line
This card will be beneficial towards:
- Anyone who is willing to spend more than $10,000 for the first year of having their membership and make their rewards match that would be worth more than $150.
- Someone who spends a small amount for the ongoing basis once the first year is over (no annual fees included).
- Anyone that requires time to pay their expenses and makes use of the 0% APR for the Purchases benefits.
This card won’t benefit someone who:
- Someone who normally spends just enough annually for their annual fees. There are cards like a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will be able to gain you an increased ongoing rate.
What’s the Competition?
There are some of Discover It Miles credit card’s top competitors listed below.
 The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card offers $200 Cash Back after spending $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies You'll earn: • 1.5% Cash Back on every purchase, every day with no rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards. • Unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply. This card comes with no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees which makes this card a viable option for your go-to everyday card. |
 The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM • 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries • 2x on all other travel purchases • 1x on all other purchases • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027. Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase TravelSM This card carries a $95 annual fee. |
