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Pete Snaps
Is the Discover It Miles credit card a good card? The short answer is, yes.
The long answer is, Discover It Miles is an excellent choice for a first-time travel credit card because it comes with a host of travel and cash back perks and has no annual fee.
The sign on bonus is unlimited and the APR* is 0% for 15 months on purchases or balance transfers (including 3% balance transfer fee).
Current perks:
- 1.5x points per $1
- Unlimited bonus – Discover matches all points earned in the first year
- $0 annual fee
- Redeem points for travel
- Redeem points to pay your bill or for cash
- Miles never expire (even after the account is closed)
Signup for the Discover It Miles credit card here.
*As a necessary disclaimer, the goal with any credit card (and especially credit cards used for the purpose of travel hacking) is to NEVER carry a balance. Paying credit cards off in full each month is the only way to use them as tools that benefit your finances.
Discover It Miles Unlimited Bonus
Only Discover offers this unique bonus. New cardholders will automatically get all points earned over the first year matched by Discover.
This bonus is unlimited. There is no minimum or maximum amount.
Compared to other cards on the market, this bonus stands out against both no annual fee cards and annual fee cards.
Most no annual fee cards give a max $200 value sign on bonus, like the Capital One VentureOne.
Compared with the ever-popular Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which has a 60,000 point sign on bonus, Discover can hold its own as well.
Provided you can make $20,000 in purchases with Discover over the first 12 months (20,000 x 1.5 = 30,000 points plus the additional 30,000 matching points = 60,000 points).
Essentially, with this bonus, cardholders get 3x points for purchases in the first year.
Points are worth 1 cent each.
Bringing 60,000 points to a $600 value.
This unlimited bonus is a big perk of the Discover It Miles card. Just keep in mind cardholders don’t get to use the matching bonus until after the 12 month mark.
So, while this bonus is top notch, it is one to plan to use for next year’s trips.
Also, keep in mind your ability to spend is directly related to what kind of bonus you can get.
As a result, this card can benefit those with more bills and expenses compared to those who may still be eating ramen packets in college.
In that case, the Capital One VentureOne card may be the one for all my students out there.
Credit Score Needed for Discover It Miles
To be approved for the Discover It Miles credit card, you’ll need a good or excellent credit score. This can range from 639 – 740 and above.
Keep in mind your credit score is not the only deciding factor.
Your annual income and employment status also plays into approval.
How to Redeem Points
Cardholders can redeem points in three main ways:
- Travel purchases
- Cash back
- Statement credits
There are also ways to redeem points using PayPal or Amazon.
Overall, redeeming points with Discover is easily done through the app.
Just log on > scroll down to Miles > click Redeem > and choose from the redemption options > following the steps to collect your rewards.
Point Value
It is important to note that all points redeemed through Discover It Miles maintain the full point value no matter how you choose to redeem points.
Meaning, if you haven’t made any qualifying travel purchases in the last 90 days, you can simply choose to pay your bill with points redeeming them as a statement credit or by simply cashing points out by transferring the cash value to your bank of choice.
Compare this perk with other similar no annual fee cards, and you’ll find this is another reason Discover It Miles stands apart from its competition.
Most other no annual fee travel cards will award the full point value for purchases coded as travel, but will not award the full point value for other things like gas or paying bills or buying things on Amazon.
This redemption feature gives Discover It Miles cardholders full freedom with using points.
Whether you choose:
- a plane ticket
- a rental car
- a memorable vacation
- a new designer bag
- groceries for the week
- gas on the way home from work
- a diamond ring
- a wedding
- or cash to your bank to help pay off student debt
Point value stays the same across the board.
Who is This Card For?
The Discover It Miles card is for people with good to excellent credit scores looking to sign up for a long term or first time credit card. The sign on bonus, travel perks, and points flexibility make this a great starter card and one you’ll want to keep for years to come.
A fact that will help solidify your credit score over the years. This is because credit history length plays a role in how trustworthy of a borrower you are.
This is why keeping your first credit cards is a good move. And also why I recommend starting out with a no annual fee card.
Of course there are ways to bump down an annual fee card to a no annual fee card with fewer perks, but this is just another step and not something I know a ton about.
APR
As a necessary disclaimer, I personally believe credit cards should be used as debit cards.
In the sense that you should never overextend what you can pay in full each month.
It is NEVER a good idea to get into credit card debt, no matter the rate, especially not if you’re simply looking to cash in on the sign on bonus for a trip.
Why?
Because overextending yourself to hit a minimum spend to get a bonus will always work out in the favor of the credit card company and not for you. They’re a company for a reason.
Paying off Credit Card Debt Using Discover
That being said, things happen. And the initial 0% APR for the first 15 months with Discover is a great perk if you’re looking to pay down debt quickly and need a little breathing room.
Balance transfers do cost a 3% fee, but it can allow some time and room to pay off a running balance from another card during the 15 months of 0% APR.
Following the first 15 months, the APR is 11.99% – 22.99%.
This is only a perk if you’re working to pay off debt and need a little breathing room to snowball your payments and get out from under the balance accrued on a previous card.
Not to mention, when you sign up you can get $100 after making one purchase in the first 3 months by using my referral link. Also, you’ll be able to apply all your cash back points towards paying off debt.
This is a recommendation for people who have an active track record of paying off debt.
Motivated people who are looking to stay organized and use a credit card points system to help pay off debt. If another credit card is a temptation to overspend in ANY way, this is not the strategy for you.
Pros
The pros of the Discover It Miles credit card include many of the perks discussed above.
As a summary:
- $0 annual fee
- Unlimited matching sign on bonus
- 1.5 miles per $1 dollar spent (a good rate for a no annual fee card)
- Excellent U.S. based customer service
- Redeem points for full value, no matter the way you choose
The flexibility with redeeming the full value of points for statement credits, cash, or travel is the number one biggest perk with the Discover It Miles card.
The unlimited sign on bonus is a close second, but Discover’s point redemption policy stands out as the deciding factor for me as to why someone would choose this card over other comparable cards.
It is this fact that makes it an excellent card to keep long term.
The other perk is the Salt Lake City based U.S. customer service. The times I’ve called Discover have been excellent experiences.
The customer service reps are knowledgeable, responsive, and helpful. Also, there typically isn’t a long hold time to wait to speak to an actual human.
Cons
Lack of Bonus Incentives
The biggest con with this card is the lack of special points rates or incentives.
The Discover It Miles card falls short with having travel partners or travel portals that allow users to book or shop in return for extra points bonuses. This is something most other travel cards offer.
The 1.5x points per $1 is what it is. There are no extras or flares to speak of.
This fact truly makes the Discover card a brutally simple travel card that doesn’t require extra time to read promotion emails and figure out how to book trips using credit card portals.
In that sense, simplicity is a plus, but not having the option to ever boost up your accrual rate, is the biggest downside for those of you looking to really game the system and travel hack.
How Long Points Take to Post
The second con is how long points take to post to your account.
It took a month for my points to post after booking an airbnb through my Discover card. I wanted to wait and combine my earned points with my points balance before erasing a purchase and it was just a little bit of a hassle to keep checking to see when the points were updated.
Other cards make similar claims about how long points will post after you pay off a balance, but they typically deliver sooner than 1-2 statement periods. Discover, happens to be more accurately one statement period for points delivery.
This is important to note if you have a trip planned and want to use your year-end matching bonus.
You’ll first need to hit that 12th month of spending and have paid off all balances. AND you’ll have to wait up to two months (or statements) to get your matching bonus to drop into you account.
So, if you’re looking for a quick points bonus to help pay off a trip this year, I’d suggest the Chase Sapphire Preferred card that you can then demote to the no annual fee version or cancel later.
The Discover It Miles card is a low and slow kind of card.
Bottom Line
Would I recommend the Discover It Miles card? Yes. All day long.
I’ve personally held this card for 7 years and redeemed over a thousand dollars in purchases with it.
This is a fantastic travel card for beginners and people just starting out with credit cards.
You can sign up using my referral link here and get a $100 dollar bonus (on top of the matching bonus) after making one purchase in the first 3 months–no minimum spend.
Full transparency, I will also get a $100 kick back when you use this referral link.
Otherwise, you can start earning points as soon as you open the card and wait for your 12-month matching bonus.
