Discover Open Road Card - The Ultimate Gas Rebate Credit Card!
Written: Aug 28 '07 (Updated Aug 28 '07)
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Pros: 5% ANY GAS STATION... PERIOD. And this is not an introductory offer.
Cons: 5% on First $1,200 Annually, Not Widely Accepted, Smaller Credit Lines
The Bottom Line: The Discover Open Road Card card offers unparalleled gas rebates compared to other cards. Using any station is great. But the credit lines are smaller and it's not accepted everywhere.
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Discover Card |
The Discover Open Road Card, also previously known as the "Platinum Gas Card" (and later "Drive for 5") is a gas rebate card offered from Discover. Since I drive quite a bit, I wanted a credit card that would help ease the pain of high gas prices. I initially wanted the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card since it offers five Thank You Points (equivalent to 5% cash back). I wanted the card since it's a Mastercard, therefore widely accepted. Unlike the Discover card, it also offers five points for supermarkets and drug stores. So at first glance, the Citi card looked far better than the Discover card. But there's one catch, and one big one... After a year, the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card will offer only one point for gas and these other purchases. The Discover Open Road Card will offer 5% cash back year after year, as long as you stay with in your annual $1,200 5% reward limit each year. Therefore, if you spend a considerable amount of gasoline and do not have an alliance towards a particular brand, then you should consider the Discover Open Road Card.
-How To Get The Card-
You can apply through the Discover website. You may have also received an offer in the mail, that you can apply with over the internet through the website. Discover generally takes customers with better credit. I have heard that many gas rebate cards generally have a higher APR rate for carrying balances. The Discover Open Road Card has up to 18.99% initially, so you should be aware of this high rate if you carry your balances. Thus, if you pay your balances off in-full and on-time, then this would be a great card for you. If you carry balances, the high APR will undo the reward benefits of the card.
-Rewards-
The Discover Open Road Card offers unparalleled rewards, and by far the best in its class.
*5% cash back at any gas station! You also receive 5% back at auto parts stores and at the mechanic. Therefore, if you are getting work done on your car, you will receive a nice discount thanks to the cash back reward. The Discover Open Road Card goes beyond the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card since it offers cash back on auto parts stores and the mechanic/body shop which can save you more money.
Unlike the Citi Diamond Proffered Rewards Card, the Discover Open Road Card will continue to offer 5% cash back year after year. This is a major advantage to the card. However, Discover will only offer 5% on the first $1,200 you spend annually, and then a very small rate thereafter. Therefore, if you are spending greater than $1,200 annually on gas, you may want to look into getting an additional gas rebate card to use in conjunction. Unfortunately, those will limit you to a single brand of gas, unlike the Discover card.
You also receive 1% cash back on all other purchases, which is equivalent to most typical cash back rewards cards.
Also, the cash rebate can only be redeemed in $20 increments. But since a typical fill up will give over $2.00 cash back on average, then you will be able to redeem you earnings rather quickly. A nice perk that Discover offers is the ability to double your cash back bonus if you redeem a gift card from any of their partners.
The rewards will add up quickly, and as long as you pay your balances in full, you will find it to be a little less painful filling up.
-Other Perks-
Discover allows you to pay your credit card bills online and manage your account. I am going to switch to this, but have been paying Discover by sending checks in the mail and still using paper statements. Therefore, I have not encountered the online account management yet, but am sure that it should be efficient to use.
-Other Things You Should Know-
The biggest downside to the card is that it is... Well... A Discover card. Discover is not as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard credit cards. I have not had any problems using it at any gas pumps. So that is good. I would probably stick to using a Visa or Mastercard for other purchases since they are afterall more widely accepted.
Discover also does not appear to be as generous with their credit lines as other banks. Discover usually starts off with lower credit lines, and when I called to request a credit line increase, they only increased it by $1,000 and did not ask me by how much I wanted to increase the credit line, which is what other banks do.
Just remember that gas rebate cards usually have a higher APR which defeats the purpose of having the gas rebate since carrying balances becomes rather pricey.
-Conclusion-
The Discover Open Road Card is a great card that will save you plenty on gas purchases, auto parts purchases, and stops at the mechanic and body shop. Luckily, the card's 5% cash back bonus does not expire, though it is limited to $1,200 annually. Therefore, if you spend more than that, I would definitely tie the Discover Open Road Card to another gas rebate card, such as a Shell Mastercard from Citi. If the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card offered 5% throughout the life of the card, I would have most likely taken it over the Discover Open Road Card since it is a Mastercard that is more widely accepted, and I find Citi to be a bit more generous with its credit line. So if you can live with a Discover card that will have a lower credit line and not be accepted everywhere, then this would be a great card since in the long-run, it does make the pain at the pump seem... Well... Not as bad.
You can apply for the card at Discover.com.
Recommended:
Yes
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soupcraze
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
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