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Discover It Miles offers 3X on all spending! Worth getting?

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Via Doctor of Credit I learned about the latest and greatest offering from Discover: the new Discover It Miles card. It’s essentially a 1.5% card, except Discover is currently offering double points (I’m not going to call them miles) your first year. That makes this a 3% card, and that is most definitely worth a look. All this with no annual fee and a $30 in-flight wifi credit!

Doc and Milenomics had a discussion about this card on Twitter. Milenomics is of the opinion that you’re better off sticking with the regular Discover It and maxing out the bonus categories. Doc says this in his review:

Personally this is my plan:

  • Sign up for new Discover it Miles card. I’ll put all my non bonus category spend on this card for the first year.
  • I’ll then try to downgrade it to another Discover it card, that way I’ll have two cards that can earn 5% in rotating categories. Doing product changes with Discover has not been an issue in the past.

I think I am an exception to the rule though. Most people would be better off not signing up for this card. How much do you really spend in non bonus categories? Keep in mind you’re often meeting minimum spend requirements and the like.

I think this deal would be great for a lot of people if they’re willing to wait for the bonus points (you don’t get them until you’ve had the card for a year). Keep in mind there are plenty of people who don’t max out their bonus categories for various reasons. There are some who don’t have many (or maybe even any) good MS options in bonus categories (which reminds me, I need to put up a “MS is dead!” post). And there are some people–you may want to sit down for this–who don’t know anything about credit cards and who do not want to swap various cards in and out of their wallet.

All of those folks could benefit from a card like this. I think 3X on everything is a great deal from a consumer standpoint, which is why we don’t see it too often. I hope this is enormously popular for Discover and it eats into the competitors’ business, prompting them to come back with good offers of their own. Will I get this offer? No, but only because I currently have two other cards which are about as good. As always, YMMV.

A list of credit cards that earn 2% on all purchases

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(Note: I have no credit card affiliate links whatsoever, so click away on the links below! If you’re feeling generous, I will ask you, in the spirit of Travel Blogger Buzz, to click on my Amazon link. Or click on TBB’s. Whatever.)

Unlimited 5% credit card rewards are far and few between these days, but there are still a healthy number of cards that will give you 2% on all your purchases. Let’s have a look, shall we?

Merrill Lynch just unveiled its new invitation-only Octave card, which earns 2.5 points per dollar spent. You can actually get as much as 5 cents per dollar out of these points when redeeming for flights, though even if you can get an invitation to apply the annual fee is $950. If you want to know more, MileCards has all the details on this new product.

The Bank of America machine has other options as well, and in fact boasts more 2% options than anybody else. Best of all, none of them (aside from the Octave) have annual fees. The Fidelity Amex and its 2% cash back has long been a favorite default card for many savvy credit card users. You can also get 2% cashback on your Fidelity Visa, but that only kicks in once you’ve spent $15,000 in any given year, so you’re better off with the Amex. The Bank Americard Travel Rewards offers 1.5 points per dollar, but you can move that above 2% if you’re a member of B of A’s Preferred Rewards program.

The Citi Double Cash offers 2% cash back on all purchases plus no annual fee, and is also considered to be the most underrated credit card out there by yours truly. The Barclaycard Arrival Plus offers 2.2%, but also has an $89 annual fee. The fee is waived the first year; many folks are therefore fond of getting the 40K sign-up bonus and enjoying 2.2% for a year before cancelling. I approve of this behavior since Barclaycard takes such a hard line against humorous blog posts.

Did you know that Capital One has not one but two 2% cards? Most of you probably know about the Venture Rewards business card and its uncapped double miles ($59 fee, waived the first year), but did you know Cap One’s GM Card also offers 2% rewards with no annual fee? Of course, GM has limits as to how much you can redeem for each vehicle, plus they apparently like to top off your earnings every now and then, so it’s best not to go all out on that card.

The JCB Marukai credit card is a mystery to those of us on the east coast. Supposedly you can get 3% cash back, but only if you live on the West Coast or in Hawaii. Even more obscure than that one is the NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Cash Rewards card, which offers 2% cash back once you hit $2,000 in purchases.

Some folks may argue for a card like the Hilton Amex Surpass, which offers 3 Hilton HHonors Ppoints on all spending. That’s a little more subjective, as the value there depends on how you redeem your points. Likewise for the Club Carlson Visa (5 points per dollar) and even the Starwood Amex (1 point per dollar).

That’s all I have… did I leave out anything?

EDIT: The Carolinas Telco Visa offers 2% cash on all purchases with the rebates being credited automatically every quarter. Blispay from First Electronic Bank of Utah also offers 2%.

New Vanilla Reloads in stores

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Last month, news broke that Vanilla Reloads are being discontinued, sort of. Vanilla Reload will still be around, but you won’t be able to get the ones with the scratch-off PINs. You’ll be able to load at the register when you buy one, though.

I recently went to a certain establishment which, as of last week, was willing to let me purchase Vanilla Reloads with a credit card. Today, all the Vanilla Reloads we’ve come to know and love were gone. There was a new version of the card, though. On the front, it looked like the old ones but on the back there is no longer an area to scratch to reveal the PIN.

Instead, there was a barcode and instructions to take the card to the register. I took it to the register, they consulted a sheet, and told me it was cash only. I tried another store and got the same result.

Frequent Miler noted that Incomm is increasing its retail network for loading these things. He wrote:

So, InComm has signed one or more major new partners.  And, InComm is going out of its way to say that these products are not just for the poor anymore.  I believe this means that there’s at least one major new partner that typically serves middle and higher income households.  Starbucks, perhaps?  And, whoever they are, will they take credit cards?  I’m hoping and betting that the answer is yes.

I’m still holding out hope for something like this. Maybe there is indeed a new partner, or maybe this new method of loading will reduce fraud so they’ll allow credit card purchases again. But in my case, it’s another option lost.

Is Chase overhauling its credit card lineup?

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Strange things are afoot in Chase’s credit card department. Consider:

What say you, folks? Is this a harbinger of good things to come, or of bad things?

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Saverocity is Journalistic in Nature, please obtain Professional Representation prior to attempting anything discussed herein. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.