I have this card, and it should be noted that the 5% categories have spending caps. For instance, the current one (Apr-Jun) at Department stores and home improvement stores allows you to earn 5% up to $400 in spending. After that you only get cash back at the rate of whichever tier you are in. Also, the spending in these categories does not count towards your tier spending, so that $400 does not move you any closer to the $3000 minimum for 1%.
Daniel Lenski
Here’s an interesting offer I recently received regarding the Discover More card. It seems that Discover is trying to encourage cardholders to make this their #1 go-to card:
The offer says that if I spend $1,500 in *each* month June through October, I will receive $250 bonus cash back. This is basically $250 cash back on $7,500 spent (3.3%), in addition to their usual cash back… which is quite stingy at 0.25% for most purchases, except for 5% in quarterly rotating categories.
Frankly, I’m not sure how good this offer is, since I already manage to get around 3% cash back overall by spreading my usage among a 2% card and several cards that offer 3-5% rewards in particular categories. Also, if you miss the $1,500 mark in even a single month, you don’t get the $250 bonus.
For the most part, I feel that the Discover More is a lamer version of the Chase Freedom card, which also offers 5% bonuses in rotating categories:* Smaller sign-up bonuses
* Much lower limits of quarterly 5% bonuses
* Base cash-back rate of only 0.25%, rather than 1%
* With Chase Freedom, you can redeem any amount of rewards from $20+ for a statement. With Discover More, it’s $50 minimum, and only in $50 increments.
* Less acceptance than Visa or Mastercard
So, basically, the only reason I have this card is because the 5% categories don’t always overlap with Chase Freedom.
