Decent Rewards if there aren't other options
Written: Jul 28 '04 (Updated Jul 28 '04)
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Pros: Cashback, Good Service
Cons: none yet
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend the card, especially if you don't take advantage of other rewards cards offers.
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| jmp69's Full Review: Discover Card |
I've had a Discover card for 6 years now. At first it was the cashback offer that sparked my interest. I charge everything that I can to my Discover unless the merchant doesn't accept it (I've only been to a couple of places where this is true). I pay the balance each month, this reduces the number of checks I have to write and I can easily see how my budget was spent.
CAVEAT
Most Rewards cards have higher interest rates. If you carry a balance, you'll probably get a better interest rate from a non-rewards type of card. The rewards are nice, but you're probably paying more for them in interest than what they're worth.
CASHBACK
The cashback offer isn't really very much and it is on a tiered system, so you get a fraction of 1% until you've charged $3000. It also resets every year on your "cashback anniversary". You can only redeem when your cashback balance is greater than $20 and you can spend it in multiples of $20 ($20, $40, $60, etc.) You can get cashback in many ways such as a credit to your account, a direct deposit into an existing bank account, a check, or you can get gift cards from many vendors, or donate it to charity. Many of the gist cards are worth more than the $20 that you redeem (most of them are worth $25, but some such as Blockbuster are worth $40 for redeeming $20 worth of cashback bonus).
CASHBACK PARTNERS
You can link to some merchants websites that have special offers through Dicover Card's website. One of the best for me lately has been the BN.com 7% back, I have purchased most of my textbooks (even used books) and gotten the extra cashback. The prices were great on the website. Discover also runs other promotions, I believe in June they ran a 10% cashback for groceries. There were many restrictions, like food purchases from Super Walmart didn't count, and you actually had to go to Discover's website and register your account (registration was 1 click of a button), which was kind of lame, but better than nothing.
SECURITY
I have received calls from time to time to make sure that I have made certain purchases and that my card hasn't been stolen.
CARDS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS
When I got married, I had my wife added to the account. The only bad thing, and maybe this is standard, but my wife's card number was the exact same as mine (not like ATM cards where many times the card numbers differ, but are tied to the same account). This was no big deal until last year when we went on vacation, my wife couldn't find her card, so I called Discover and I could either cancel the cards and reissue or have a hold placed on the account until we got home to see if it was somewhere at home. We opted for the hold, but that meant that since the numbers were the same, I couldn't use my card either. Luckily, when we got home, we found the card in another purse.
LIMIT INCREASE
I've only requested one limit increase, and it was a snap. I just called and asked for it, they got some information from me and the increase was fast.
OTHER OPTIONS
There are many other cards out there with great rewards programs, but I don't really use them because I don't travel much (for those cards with rewards miles, etc.). I also don't know what brand the next vehicle I buy will be (i.e the GM card). So, I'm just happy with the Discover Card.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Every time I have called about my account, the call has gone through quickly and the customer service was very efficient and helpful. We have moved several times and there have been a couple of times when our bill got delayed in forwarding to us. We have just called and everything was taken care of quickly.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jmp69
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Location: Malden, MA, USA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Grad student - MBA at MIT
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