Many rewards credit cards give you 1 to 2 cents in rewarded value for every dollar charged, according to current TPG valuations. That’s a lot better than earning no rewards, but you can do better.
There is a rewards credit card on the market that ultimately gives 3 cents in travel rewards for each dollar spent across all purchases at the end of the first year, once your miles are matched. You don’t have to keep track of rotating categories, nor do you need sticky notes to remember what type of purchases to put on the card.
The Discover it® Miles credit card has no annual fee, awards an unlimited 1.5x miles on purchases and — most importantly — matches all of the miles earned at the end of the first year. The card even gives you an intro 0% APR on purchases for the first 14 months (then a 13.99% to 24.99% variable APR applies). If your family wants a rewards credit card that is affordable, simple to use and rewarding, this may be it — no pun intended.
Earn 1.5 miles on all purchases
Once upon a time, I tried to get my husband to use one credit card for this type of purchase, another for that, a third for something else. It worked with mixed success, but it really wasn’t the best scenario for someone who isn’t as into maximizing rewards and purchases as I am.
These days, he will rotate to a new card if I ask, but for the most part, he uses one card at a time. If you or your partner fall into that category, then you want to be darn sure that the card you are using does well across all categories.
The Discover it® Miles is a fantastic choice for streamlined wallets because it is so simple — just swipe and earn 1.5 miles per dollar over and over again.
All miles matched the first year
I’m a tough critic, so while 1.5 miles per dollar is pretty strong, I need something better to get me interested in pulling the trigger on a new card. One of my favorite things about the Discover it Miles is that you don’t just earn 1.5 miles per dollar charged for the first entire year — you actually earn twice that much.
New Discover it Miles cardmembers get all of the miles they earn in the first 12 consecutive billing cycles matched and the bonus is applied to their accounts within one to two billing cycles after the 12th month. Assuming your account is still open after that 12th billing cycle, you ultimately earn 3 miles per dollar back on everything purchased at the end of that first cardmember year.
So if you charge $2,000 a month on the Discover it Miles, you earn 3,000 miles a month, at 1.5x. Once your miles are matched at the end of the year, that amount becomes 6,000 miles earned per month during year one. Multiply those monthly numbers out by 12 months, and you have 72,000 miles worth $720 in travel at that $2,000 per month spending rate. Of course, since there are no minimums or maximums, you can earn as much or as little as you want in that first year.
Use Discover it Miles to cover travel charges
This card calls its currency miles, but they aren’t miles in the traditional sense of airline miles. In some ways, they are better than airline miles, because there are no award charts, blackout dates or secret handshakes necessary to book travel. The miles are worth a fixed 1 cent each toward travel. To use the miles, simply charge travel (defined as airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, travel agents, online travel sites, commuter transportation and more) to your Discover it Miles card, and within 180 days of the charge, you can use your miles to offset the charges as a statement credit.
This simple approach to rewards means you can maximize any available travel discount, flash sale, direct booking perks and more and still use your Discover it Miles down the road to offset the charges. For families who often need to travel during peak holiday seasons, and can’t always get award availability to line up with their schedules, this is a great flexible type of mile to have on hand.
An important family-friendly detail of Discover it Miles is that unlike with some other similar cards, there is no minimum travel charge redemption. This means you can redeem miles against that $19 airline ticket, a $30 checked bag fee or a $15 train ticket without a problem. Heck, you could even charge a $5 Uber tip to the card and use your miles to offset that charge, too.
Discover perks
Since it is a Discover Card, the Discover it Miles comes with some other good benefits for family travelers such as the ability to quickly freeze (or unfreeze) your account via FreezeIt, no extra fee on your first late payment, no foreign transaction fees and no over-the-limit fee. Basically, Discover makes it pretty easy for you to enjoy traveling with your family instead of closely tracking every due date back at home.
U.S.-based customer service
I don’t call credit card companies frequently, but when I do it is usually because there is a problem. In those cases, I want prompt and empowered service from a real person. The Discover it Miles card has 100% U.S.-based customer service with actual live people. That sounds simple, but it is actually a tangible benefit when you need help in a hurry.
Bonus perk: Pick a color, any color
If you like to use a rewards card that is fun to look at, you might care that Discover lets you pick the color and style of your Discover it Miles card. My kids would like this part — and I bet they would pick pink, though green, blue, dogs, beaches and so much more are also options.
Bottom line
Whether your family just wants one simple-to-use credit card for almost everything or is looking to add a fixed-value point card to its larger miles and points strategy, the Discover it® Miles card is a very strong rewards credit card. Earning a total of 3x points on all purchases at the end of the first year, once all of your miles are matched after 12 months, is a virtually unheard-of earning ratio and ranks as one of the top reasons to consider adding this card to your wallet.
Additional reporting by Benét J. Wilson
Featured image by Bady Qb via Unsplash
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