topic Re: Is Discover worth it in Credit Cards

Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:23:33 GMT

I am trying to round oapplication spree spree for the weekend and thought about a discover more card. Should I wait or go for it now. I am going to the garden for sure after that and will not apply until after I apply for my mortgage in June 2013

Re: Is Discover worth it

iMacDrew — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:39:35 GMT

what are you scores and recent inqs? I think it can be worth it, do you have the chase freedom? ive only had it for a month but Discover seems solid id go for it.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:00:59 GMT

My last scores were 639 eq and 671 tu on Aug 1 but I am boot sure today because in the last week I got the ciri diamond and BB store card. Lost with Barclay and chase based on not having my current cards for on,y 2 months

Re: Is Discover worth it

jamesdwi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:06:47 GMT

Personally I don't think the rewards are worth it, the whole 1/4 percent rewards for the first $3000 in purchases just seem too low, then to compound it, you get a 1/4 percent all the time at warehouse stores. Sure the 5% is great,

Then compare to Chase freedom, 5% categories, and 1% on everything no limit on the 1%

Just don't see the point of the card, I got a pre-approved offer from first Omaha bank for a discover network card and got an awesome limit, 6k and they are supposed to be great with CLI's but I'm good for now, no interest for 12 months. Rewards suck but a high limit card (matched my highest limit) its a great member in my card portfolio.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Open123 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:11:04 GMT

Discover is ideally suited as a complimentary cash back card for modest spending on specific "shop discover" categories with cash back bonus ranging from 5% - 20%. For example, use Discover for Groupon purchases to receive 15% cashback. The cashback accrued can be redeemed for gift cards at an additional bonus, i.e. Brooks Brothers $100 gift card only cost $80 Discover dollars.

If used as referenced above, I think Discover can have an extremely high return on spending.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:19:51 GMT

You can use the money messenger service.

It's free and you get cash back for sending money.

Though there's $1000 limit per month, you can reach the $3000 easily every year.

Maybe that's why they set the first $3000 as 0.25 cash back.

I'm not sure if other CC provides such a feature.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:20:07 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
Discover is ideally suited as a complimentary cash back card for modest spending on specific "shop discover" categories with cash back bonus ranging from 5% - 20%. For example, use Discover for Groupon purchases to receive 15% cashback. The cashback accrued can be redeemed for gift cards at an additional bonus, i.e. Brooks Brothers $100 gift card only cost $80 Discover dollars.

If used as referenced above, I think Discover can have an extremely high return on spending.

+1.

I don't think the More is an everyday spend card. Discover also runs promotions throughout the year. Right now you get 2% cashback on everything until the end of August up to $250, and that stacks with the 5% categories. You also get 2% cash back on your birthday month. If used well, I think it's a great card to have.

Re: Is Discover worth it

mmduluth — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:39:16 GMT

I can only send $200/day up to $500/Month with discover. Perhaps because I just got the cars and haven't made the first payment yet.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:11:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You can use the money messenger service.
It's free and you get cash back for sending money.
Though there's $1000 limit per month, you can reach the $3000 easily every year.
Maybe that's why they set the first $3000 as 0.25 cash back.
I'm not sure if other CC provides such a feature.

for some reason tells me i am not eligible not really wanting to just saying

Re: Is Discover worth it

LionLaw — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:22:39 GMT

Discover has its pros and cons. The 5% categories are great, but otherwise the cash back is pretty meager. But, their customer service is the best in the business.

One thing to note: their limits are pretty small, and grow very slowly. I think if you wait until after you get your mortgage (and after all your recent inquiries age off), you'll get a better starting credit limit.

Re: Is Discover worth it

bostonte — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:51:30 GMT

I dunno, so far this year I'm averaging 4.8% cashback on ~$13,300 worth of spending.

That does not include any special sign up bonus promotion, just normal promotions availalbe to all cardholders. It DOES include Shop Discover though, so that obviously makes a big difference and would vary widely based on a particular cardholder's spending pattern.

Most often I find Shop Discover to be higher than any other cash back site, so I do really enjoy having access to it.

I suppose if I was a bit more OCD I would have adjusted my spreadsheet to only track the difference between Shop Discover and what the next highest cash back site offered (i.e. so I could put a number on just the extra cashback I get from having the Discover card) -- but that's more time consuming than the datapoint is worth... I think... humm... perhaps something for year two?

The number gets better yet more cloudy when you consider I've redeemed my cashback for giftcards at stores I would otherwise still have been spending it, but for a 20% bonus. So is it more proper to consider that $640 cashback as ~$760 since that was the value of the gift cards I spent? If yes, that makes it 5.7% rewards.

I don't know exactly what the best method is, but I'm comfortable with believing that it meets or exceeds what I would have earned with my next highest general purpose (1.5%) and use it fairly regularly.

Re: Is Discover worth it

youngandcreditwrthy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:36:31 GMT

I wouldn't app for Discover... I think it would be a wasted hard pull... I didn't get approved at 674 TU, even with everything in line... I only had a paid $280 fraud account "acct info disputed by consumer" from '08.
I have the Walmart Discover, however.

I feel like Discover isn't all that great any more; credit markets are becoming much more competitive again!

I mean...seriously... .25% casback?!?!

Re: Is Discover worth it

AF_23 — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:43:17 GMT

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
I wouldn't app for Discover... I think it would be a wasted hard pull... I didn't get approved at 674 TU, even with everything in line... I only had a paid $280 fraud account "acct info disputed by consumer" from '08.
I have the Walmart Discover, however.

I feel like Discover isn't all that great any more; credit markets are becoming much more competitive again!

I mean...seriously... .25% casback?!?!

ShopDiscover is the best online shopping reward program by far. 5% categories are useful, and plentiful 0% B/T's are available. It may not be the best daily card for purchases, but its a great card for the other stuff.

FWIW i got in with mid 600's. I think the More is one of the easiest entry/prime cards to get so to speak.

Re: Is Discover worth it

youngandcreditwrthy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:51:27 GMT

Is it easy to get? I ALWAYS get denied. I have a few prime cards, and I still get denied Discover! Once your an established cardmember, it seems like they offer you great rates, but they don't seem to be BT friendly initially? I'll do anything for 5% cash back haha! It's also been a year since I apped for Discover.

Maybe I'll try for IT in another six months!

Re: Is Discover worth it

RockinRay — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:32:47 GMT

If you want a card like Discover, I would go for the Chase Freedom. Same basic reward structure, but they do not have the $3k spend in order to get the full 1%.

Maybe one day, Discover will do away with this as it would make them more competitive in the market.

I have the IT and use it from time to time, but not as a daily spender.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:36:12 GMT

I've recently learned to really love my Discover card, once I figured out it's "niche" in my wallet. I use it for the 5% bonus categories (gas primarily right now). I also use it for 2% categories (auto bill pay for TV/Cable/Satellite/Wireless right now). But my favorite thing is the ShopDiscover cash back rewards. For example, I have kids, and it's back to school time right now. Through ShopDiscover, I can go to shoes.com, get 20% off instantly with the coupon code from Discover, and then get another 20% cash back rewards, as well as the normal 1% (or 0.25%). There are similar deals for target.com, kohls.com, and tons of other retailers.

Given the crappy 1% "Everyday Cash Back", where you get 0.25% for the first $3,000 of purchases, not including 2% and 5% purchases, then 1%, I don't use Discover as my daily card. But during the July/August statement cycle alone, I earned a total of $77 in cash back rewards by using the special categories.

Discover has also been very generous to me with automatic CLIs and good balance transfer offers. My interest rate with them is also better than any of my other cards. All told, I'm very happy with them and I think they're well worth having.

Re: Is Discover worth it

youngandcreditwrthy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:00:49 GMT

Autumnslight-how long have you had your Discover?
It just seems like Discover is suupppppeeerrr hard to get.

I wanna get the Motiva in 6mos - a year!

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:14:44 GMT

I got my Discover as a college student, in 2001 or 2002, so I have had it for a long time. Unfortunately, I don't know how hard they are to get these days. When I got mine, the credit card companies were still allowed to give out free "gifts" and pay students to get kids to sign up on campus!

Re: Is Discover worth it

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:15:30 GMT

Discover is an excellent cashback card for the rotating 5% categories and shop discover. They also like to run a bunch of random 2% cashback promo's through the year, like right now I have 2% through the end of August, then 2% for my birthmonth is coming up soon as well. 2% for fathers day. 2% for the weekend before 4th of july, etc.

In all honesty the .25% cashback is irrelevant. Even if I had a full 1% instead, I would only use it for bonus categories. My airline miles card always covers my other spending because 1 mile is better than 1% cashback.

Even for people who don't travel I imagine most of you have a different card for all your other spending so I doubt much would change if Discover had a full 1% on other purchases. Might even be worse because then Discover might do away with the random 2% stuff.

Re: Is Discover worth it

Pworld — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:04:07 GMT

I dont know if it is the hardest to get, i got my Discover More with a 650-675 score across the board last week. AAoA was 6 years. I look forward to using it for the 5 percent categories, and the shop discover 10-15 percent categories.