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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The benefits of this card more than offset the $60 annual fee, especially when you take the 25,000 (~$250) point signing bonus into consideration. However, if you plan to hold the same card for more than 4 years, it may be better to go with something like the American Express Blue Cash.
Is 25000 the req for round trip? How difficult is it to get airlines to allot the tickets. When you use these miles they always seem full?
Nope, even though they’re called “Miles”, Discover’s rewards don’t work that way. Rather than earning miles with a very specific airline and only being able to redeem them for a limited number of flights, Discover gives you a $100 travel credit for every 10,000 miles. You can then use that travel credit on any hotel, flight, or rental car you want.
And remember, you’re earning 2 miles per $1 spent, so that means you get $100 off travel whenever you spend $5,000. This plus the 1,000 miles (or $10) per month for the first 25 months.
So all in, it’s a great deal!
I like your website a lot!
But there is a problem with what you say about this Escape card. Based on your rankings, I applied for and got the card, and a brochure that accompanied it documents that the only way to get 2% cash back is to accumulate 10,000 miles (i.e.spend $5,000) and then apply the miles (worth $100) as a credit against a travel-related purchase made with the card. If you purchase a gift card or redeem for cash, the reward is only 1%. Regarding cash redemption: the brochure states that you must accumulate 5,000 miles (i.e. spend $2,500), and only then can you redeem for $25 cash.
I don’t blame you for not knowing this, because only after you get the card do they tell you the truth! If you look at Discover’s long list of FAQ’s about the Escape card at
http://www.discovercard.com/escape/faqs.html?cmpgn=NCM_N_016M&ekey=999999995184424&emailstat=open&edate=20100405#q110 , it answers the question “How do I redeem my miles?” as follows: “You can redeem your Miles how you want, when you want—select a gift card from more than 90 brand-name Partners, choose a Discover Gift Card, make a charitable donation, apply a travel credit to your account, or receive cash.” There is absolutely no distinction made here (or anywhere else in the FAQ’s) between the reward for the red-highlighted method (2%) and the reward for all the others (1%).
I will probably still use the card because of the 1,000 mile per month bonus during the first two years. But I’ll cancel the card just before being billed for the annual fee two years from now.
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the feedback! We have updated our review to try to make the distinction between cash redemption and travel expense redemption obvious, per your experience.
Tim
Hello,
I'm flying one-way from the states to Africa in January, with the intention of flying elsewhere later in the year, and eventually flying back to the US. Is a travel rewards credit card worth getting, especially if I only have another 4 months to use it in the states? Is a Discover card a good choice for overseas? My research indicates it might not be; are there better alternatives in terms of rewards and ability to use internationally?
Thanks,
Jimmy
A travel reward card is best if you plan to do a lot of travelling, and use a ton of frequent flyer or hotel miles. The Discover Escape is better than many travel rewards cards because the "cash-like" rewards can be used to offset travel expenses on any airline, hotel, or car rental.
Most other cards are restricted to a single rewards program and would only be worth it if you knew you'd be flying the same airline to Africa and wherever else you end up going.
As for whether Discover is accepted overseas, it's actually accepted at 90% of the places that accept Visa (see here: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2010/discover-acce.... While I can't speak for specific countries in Africa or elsewhere, I can say that Discover is a reasonable choice.
And your best bet, regardless of where you are travelling, is to take two cards. Some places only accept Visa, or MasterCard, or AmEx. So if you take a Visa/MasterCard and an AmEx/Discover, you'll be pretty well covered.