Our Verdict
The Discover it® Miles card may not be the most generous travel card when it comes to earning rewards, but it’s a hassle-free way to earn miles on all purchases. Cost-conscious consumers looking for a way to earn miles without having to keep track of bonus categories or remember to activate quarterly bonuses will do well with this card. Customers automatically earn unlimited 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase. Discover also matches the miles earned during the first year of new membership at the end of the first year.
Pros
- Miles earned during the first year are matched at the end of the year in place of a traditional welcome bonus
- Miles can be redeemed for travel or cash back at the same rate
- No foreign transaction fee
- No annual fee
Cons
- Discover is not accepted widely abroad
- No luxury travel perks
Current Discover it® Miles Offer
- UNLIMITED BONUS: Unlimited Mile-for-Mile match for all new cardmembers—only from Discover. Discover gives you an unlimited match of all the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year. You could turn 35,000 Miles to 70,000 Miles. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match.
- Automatically earn unlimited 1.5x Miles on every dollar of every purchase
- No annual fee
- Turn Miles into cash. Or redeem as a statement credit for your travel purchases like airfare, hotels, rideshares, gas stations, restaurants and more.
- 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. Then 17.24% – 28.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR will apply.
- Discover could help you reduce exposure of your personal information online by helping you remove it from select people-search sites that could sell your data. It’s free, activate with the mobile app.
- Discover is accepted nationwide by 99% of the places that take credit cards.
- Terms and conditions apply.
Alternatives to the Discover it® Miles
Table of Contents
- Discover it Miles Introduction
- Quick Facts
- What Is the Discover it Miles Best For?
- Discover it Miles Credit Card Rewards
- Introductory Rates
- Other Discover it Miles Credit Card Benefits
- Fine Print
- How the Discover it Miles Credit Card Stacks Up
- Is the Discover it Miles Credit Card for You?
- Methodology
Discover it Miles Introduction
To earn serious miles from credit card spending, you need to dedicate serious effort to juggling multiple credit cards, tracking bonus categories and activating categories that change each quarter. For those interested in a simpler option, the Discover it® Miles is a solid credit card to consider. It’s a cash-back card in a travel card’s plastic.
The card offers unlimited 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase. Spending doesn’t have to be maximized in specific categories, but it also doesn’t come with the luxury travel perks and more generous rewards offered by some of its rivals.
Discover does make up for a lack of perks with a bonus received at the end of the first year as a cardholder. All the points accumulated throughout the year are matched at the end of your first year as a cardmember, doubling the rewards earned during the first year. For those who aren’t the traveling type, rewards can be redeemed as cash at an equal value, which is somewhat unusual for a card marketed as a travel rewards credit card.
Quick Facts
- Automatically earn unlimited 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase
- Miles can be redeemed for travel or cash back at the same rate
- Miles-for-Miles Match®: Unlimited match of all the miles earned at the end of the first year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Free FICO Score access
- $0 annual fee
What Is the Discover it Miles Best For?
The Discover it® Miles card is best suited for individuals seeking a card without the complexity of bonus categories and transfer partners. It appeals to those who prefer simplicity over bells and whistles.
It may not be the best choice for international travel due to Discover’s limited acceptance outside the U.S. But its mile-for-mile match at the end of the first cardholder year is particularly valuable for big spenders, as there’s no cap on the miles earned and matched during this initial period.
Discover it Miles Credit Card Rewards
Earning Rewards
Discover makes earning rewards easy with the Discover it® Miles credit card. Cardholders will automatically earn unlimited 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase. This is equivalent to earning 1.5% cash back on all purchases after redeeming miles toward travel purchases or for cash back. There’s no limit to the number of miles that can be earned.
While it’s unlikely to be the best card for everyone’s spending habits, the simple rewards structure that doesn’t require keeping track of or activating bonus categories will be ideal for those who don’t want to go to all that effort.
Cardholders also get a welcome offer: Unlimited match of all the miles earned at the end of the first year. This can greatly benefit those who plan to use the card heavily in the first year. Closing the card before the end of the first year will disqualify the cardholder from earning the mile-for-mile match.
There are no blackout dates on flights, and miles never expire with this card. Rewards can be used toward travel or redeemed as cash. Miles aren’t even lost on account closure—just automatically redeemed as cash.
Redeeming Rewards
As soon as 1 mile has been earned, it can be redeemed for cash as an electronic deposit into a bank account or as a statement credit for a travel purchase. Both methods are worth a penny per mile.
Eligible travel purchases include a purchase made within the last 180 days on commercial airline tickets; hotel rooms; car rentals; cruises; tour operators; vacation packages purchased through airlines, travel agents, online travel sites; local and suburban commuter transportation, including ferries; passenger railways; taxicabs and limousines; and charter and tour bus lines.
The miles never expire with this credit card. Discover will credit the account with the rewards balance if it is closed or hasn’t been used in 18 months.
Rewards Potential
To determine the rewards potential of the Discover it® Miles card we look at what an average household might spend. Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th-percentile of wage-earning households brings in $118,438 annually with $39,337 in expenses that can reasonably be charged to a credit card. We base spending on these numbers.
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Category
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Earning Rate
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Estimated Annual Spend
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Estimated Annual Earnings
|
|
All Purchases
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1.5X
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$39,337
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59,005
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|
Total: 59,005 miles
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|||
The 59,005 miles earned for the year would be worth $590.05 toward travel or as cash back. This number would also be matched at the end of the first year in place of a traditional card welcome bonus, for $1,180.10 in total value.
Introductory Rates
The Discover it® Miles card offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months of account opening. After that, a variable APR of 17.24% - 28.24% applies. A balance transfer fee of up to 5% of the amount transferred applies.
Other Discover it Miles Credit Card Benefits
- FICO Score access. Get free access to the Credit Scorecard, which includes your FICO Score, each month.
- Online privacy protection. Discover helps regularly remove your personal information from some people-search websites that sell data.
- $0 fraud liability. Cardholders are never liable for unauthorized purchases.
Fine Print
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 17.24% - 28.24% Variable APR
- Purchase intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 15 months
- Balance transfer intro APR: 0% Intro APR for 15 months
Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Balance transfer fee: 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*
- Foreign purchase transaction fee: None
How the Discover it Miles Credit Card Stacks Up
Discover it® Miles vs. Discover it® Cash Back
The Discover it® Cash Back and the Discover it® Miles cards are two of Discover’s most popular credit cards. They have many similarities: No annual fee, Cashback Match™ or miles-for-miles match at the end of the first year and rewards that can be redeemed in any amount and at any time.
The big difference between the two is how rewards are earned. The Discover it® Miles card offers unlimited 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase (equivalent to 1.5% cash back when redeemed for travel or cash back) where the Discover it® Cash Back offers 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter up to a quarterly maximum of $1,500 in spending when activated. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases – automatically.
The Discover it® Cash Back’s rotating categories change each quarter but have included gas stations, restaurants and Amazon.com in the past. The 5% cash-back category is capped at $1,500 in purchases during the quarter for a maximum of $75 cash back when activated.
Depending on a cardholder’s ability to remember to activate the categories and willingness to track spending, they may come out ahead with the Discover it® Cash Back card, especially when it’s paired with another card that earns higher than 1% on other purchases. If simplicity is the goal, the Discover it® Miles card is a better bet.
Discover it® Miles vs. Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees) also doesn’t charge an annual fee, but it only offers 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25 miles per dollar on every other purchase (equivalent to 1.25% cash back when redeemed toward travel). But, the VentureOne’s mile program can offer more value for those willing to dig into its transfer partners.
Miles can be transferred to more than 15 travel partners. The value of miles will vary significantly when redeemed through a partner program, so it’s best to compare options before completing a transfer.
For those who aren’t big spenders, the VentureOne’s traditional welcome bonus might be better compared to the Discover it® Miles card’s mile-for-mile match at the end of the first year. With the VentureOne, a cardholder can earn a welcome bonus of 20,000 miles after spending $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel.
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card also doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees (rates & fees), and as a Mastercard, it will be more widely accepted internationally.
Discover it® Miles vs. Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card is another no annual fee option. Like the Discover it® Miles, the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card offers 1.5 points per dollar on all purchases. This is equivalent to 1.5% cash back when your rewards are used toward eligible travel.
The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card offers a traditional welcome bonus of 25,000 online bonus points after spending $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. There is no foreign transaction fee. After opt-in, cardholders can obtain free access to their FICO Score each month.
Evaluate Credit Cards Side By Side
Is the Discover it Miles Credit Card for You?
The Discover it® Miles card is a solid option for a simple credit card without bonus categories to track. The biggest downside to the card is that, as a Discover card, it’s not going to be a great option for international travel despite it not charging a foreign transaction fee.
The mile-for-mile match at the end of a cardholder’s first year in place of a traditional welcome bonus is a huge upside for big spenders, because there’s no limit to the number of miles that can be earned and matched at the end of the first year.
Methodology
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
- Annual fees
- Welcome bonus offers
- Ongoing earning rates
- Value of individual points or miles
- Included travel or merchant credits
- Additional cardholder benefits
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors come together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards
