Discover Miles
What are Discover Miles worth? 1.00 cent per mile. We applaud Discover for not nickel and diming consumers with sliding scale redemption values - many other banks require you to redeem at least 10,000 points or more before your points are actually worth 1 cent each. That’s not to say that they’re the best rewards cards around: the Motiva and More both require you to spend $3,000 before the full rewards rate kicks in.
A major only knock on this point program is that if you come up short on airline miles, you can’t transfer miles to airline partners the same way you can with American Express Membership Rewards. Plus, if you’re a traveler, Discover isn’t accepted as widely as Visa and MasterCard, and tends to have coverage in, say, Slovakia rather than France.
Redemption Options.
- Cash – 5,000 miles can be exchanged for $25 deposited into your bank account. (point value: 0.5 cents)
- Travel – 10,000 miles offsets $100 in travel expenses charged to your card. (point value: 1 cent)
Expiration.
Miles do not expire, as long as you use your credit card. However, if account is inactive for more than 3 years or in default, some or all miles may be forfeited.
How best to earn them:
Your best choice is the Discover Escape, which earns 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases. It also has a pretty good signup bonus, though it has a catch: it gives 25,000 miles, worth $250, but they’re paid out at a rate of 1,000 per month to keep you using your card. You have to wait 2 years to get your full bonus. And unlike the Capital One Venture, its $60 annual fee is not waived the first year.
That said, as of October 2011, it’s got the best bonus of all the 2% rewards cards: $150 more than the Venture, and the Fidelity credit card doesn’t have a bonus at all.
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Jeff
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Wendy