Discover It Miles vs. It

[Anonymous]

For those who have either card or both, which card is better for everyday spend? 

I realize you can't convert the It to the Miles card at this time, but people will be able to in the future, at least according to Discover. 

I'm talking about the It with 5% rotating categories. Is the 1.5 miles per dollar card more valuable do you think? 

How is the redemption with the Discover It Miles? Like for cash redemption vs. travel redemption? 

[kdm31091]

Don't think of the Miles as a travel card. It's just a 1.5 percent card where you can either offset travel purchases or just get cash but either way it's the same rate of return. So it's a cash back card.

As far as which is better, if we're talking about all spend on one card, most people will probably average a similar return on the normal card if at least some spend falls into the 5 percent. You may even do better than 1.5 overall, depending on your habits.

However most people aren't just dumping all their spend on one product. I have the regular Discover and use it for the categories. The Miles seems like a great card in year one (you get your miles doubled so it's 3 percent on everything), but beyond that, nothing about it really stands out.

[Anonymous]

$30 on in flight wi-fi purchases is nice, and that's not included with the regular IT cards. 

However, since I have a Citi Double cash that offers a 2% rate of return, I guess it really wouldn't be worth getting the miles card if you can't redeem the "miles" through partners do get more than 1 cent per mile value for travel.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Don't think of the Miles as a travel card. It's just a 1.5 percent card where you can either offset travel purchases or just get cash but either way it's the same rate of return. So it's a cash back card.

As far as which is better, if we're talking about all spend on one card, most people will probably average a similar return on the normal card if at least some spend falls into the 5 percent. You may even do better than 1.5 overall, depending on your habits.

However most people aren't just dumping all their spend on one product. I have the regular Discover and use it for the categories. The Miles seems like a great card in year one (you get your miles doubled so it's 3 percent on everything), but beyond that, nothing about it really stands out.

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Right, in can be great for the first year, 3% on everything, then S/D

[RonM21]

I have a regular Discover and like the categories also. For me, I don't think there would be too much difference. May depend more on how you would use them.

[Anonymous]

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@RM21 wrote:
I have a regular Discover and like the categories also. For me, I don't think there would be too much difference. May depend more on how you would use them.

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Well, CERTAINLY depends on how you use them.    IT has two advantages:

5% bonus categories (doubled the first year).   These are nice, but are capped low, maxing out at $300 per year ($600 if doubled)

Discover Deals:  Much better on the IT than on the Miles card, and also doubled the first year

If you do a lot of heavy spend that is uncategorized on ALL your cards, Miles wins.   If you spend only the bonus categories, and/or Discover Deals, the IT will win.

The IT card is useful to some extent after the first year, the Miles really isn't