How LendingTree Rates Credit Cards?
Our experts rate credit cards based on several factors including card benefits, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers do not influence or have a say in our card ratings. Read our credit card methodology here.The Discover it® Miles is a good credit card that lacks solid travel benefits. It has a $0 annual fee and earns a flat rate of 1.5 Miles per dollar on all purchases. This means it won’t cost you anything to earn rewards that you can use for travel.
However, it operates almost exactly like a cash back credit card. You can’t transfer miles — you can only redeem them for cash back or statement credits on travel purchases. Since it doesn’t offer other common travel credit card features (like travel insurance or credits), this card may be best for people who rarely travel or prefer a flat rewards rate.
Its unique welcome offer makes it a valuable card for occasional travelers to use for at least a year. But if you’re looking for a card with robust travel benefits, consider an alternate travel credit cards. The Wells Fargo Autograph® Card includes an auto rental collision damage waiver, Roadside Dispatch® and cellphone protection. Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which already comes with auto rental coverage and roadside assistance, offers further benefits like trip cancellation/interruption insurance, travel accident insurance and extended warranty protection.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Welcome Offer | Rewards Rate | Annual Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Discover it® Miles
 Apply Now
on Discover's secure site Rates & Fees |
Unlimited Mile-for-Mile match
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. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match. You could turn 35,000 Miles to 70,000 Miles.
| 1.5X Miles
1.5 Miles per dollar on all purchases.
| $0 |
Apply Now
on Discover's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
Citi Double Cash® Card
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
$200 cash back
Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
| 2% - 5% cash back
| $0 |
Apply Now
on Citibank's secure site Rates & Fees |
|
Wells Fargo Autograph® Card*
|
20,000 points
Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - that's a $200 cash redemption value.
| 1X - 3X points
| $0 | ||
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
100,000 points
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
| 1X - 5X points
| $95 |
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site Rates & Fees |
Simple flat-rate rewards
The Discover it® Miles lets cardholders earn 1.5 Miles per dollar on all purchases. Each mile is worth 1 cent, meaning you get 1.5% back on your purchases — that’s a solid rate for a $0-annual-fee card. This is one of the highest flat-rate rewards rates for a no-annual-fee travel rewards credit card.
Your miles won’t expire as long as your account is in good standing, and there’s no cap on how many you can earn. Plus, Discover makes redeeming miles easy:
When redeeming miles for travel purchases, though, you’ll need to make the redemption within 180 days of the purchase date. Travel purchases that qualify include:
Rewards match the first year
This card comes with a unique welcome offer for new cardmembers: 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. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match. You could turn 35,000 Miles to 70,000 Miles.
In the first year of card ownership, you essentially get 3 miles per dollar spent, since you’ll earn 1.5 Miles per dollar on all purchases. and another 1.5 miles at the end of your first year. So if you spend $10,000 throughout the year, you’ll earn $150 worth of miles. Then, at the end of the year, you’ll get a bonus of another $150 miles for a total of $300. Depending on your purchasing habits, your earnings will vary. However, this is a great bonus for a card that costs nothing to own, as long as you don’t carry a balance.
Long intro APR
If you need time to pay off a big trip, the Discover it® Miles can offer some help. It offers a 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases. After, a 18.24% - 27.24% Variable APR applies. Plus, there’s a 0% Intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers (then a 18.24% - 27.24% Variable APR).
Long 0% introductory APRs can be hard to come by. And when cards do offer them, they’re usually just 12 months. As such, the Discover it® Miles card’s intro period is a great option if a long introductory APR is important to you.
No foreign transaction fee
The Discover it® Miles credit card is a viable option for making purchases while traveling outside the country, as it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. However, you may have some difficulty using it as your primary card for foreign travel, since acceptance is more limited than cards that run on the Visa and Mastercard networks (more on this below).
Good customer service
Discover has a reputation for great customer service. It’s 100% U.S.-based, and their phone lines are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week — so you’re just a phone call away from assistance.
Reddit users comment that Discover’s customer service is some of the best they’ve ever experienced: generally fast, friendly and professional. Users have noted that agents are able to communicate in Spanish. Others say that Discover is one of the easiest issuers for dealing with identity theft.
No transfer partners
Some travel cards, like the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, let cardholders transfer points or miles to airline and hotel loyalty programs — this card doesn’t.
In many cases, transferring miles to travel partners can increase the value of your points. With the Discover it® Miles, however, you’re limited to redeeming your miles for either cash back or statement credits for certain travel purchases.
No travel benefits
The Discover it® Miles also doesn’t offer travel benefits like insurance, travel credits, airport lounge access or hotel elite status. While the most robust travel benefits come with premium travel cards that have expensive annual fees, you’ll find that no-annual-fee travel cards typically have limited or no travel benefits.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates & fees), however, is a notable exception, as it comes with trip cancellation and interruption insurance, auto rental coverage and travel and emergency assistance.
Not always accepted at home or abroad
While Discover has made rapid strides in the United States and is accepted at most locations that take credit cards, that’s not always the case. You may want to have a Visa credit card or Mastercard credit card in your wallet, especially when traveling abroad.
If you’re a frequent traveler, consider a card from our list of best credit cards for international travel. Many have generous earning rates, travel benefits and insurance protections that can offset the cost of the annual fee, if there’s any.
It also comes with a long intro APR on balance transfers, which is helpful if you have debt to pay off. You’ll get a 0% intro APR for 18 months on Balance Transfers, then an 18.24% - 28.24% (Variable) APR applies. Unfortunately, there’s no similar intro offer on purchases, so you’ll want to pay your statement balance in full every month. Plus, the card charges a foreign transaction fee, so you’ll want to keep it at home if your travels take you outside of the United States.
And unlike the Discover it® Miles, you have more redemption options for your points. You can redeem them for airline tickets (must be redeemed through Wells Fargo Rewards), hotel rooms, car rentals, cruises and more. Cardholders also have access to a variety of useful protections, including an auto rental collision damage waiver, Roadside Dispatch® and cellphone protection.
Further, while not as impressive as the Discover it® Miles card’s introductory APR, the Wells Fargo Autograph® Card does offer a 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases (then a 19.24%, 24.24%, or 29.24% Variable APR applies).
There’s an annual fee of $95, but it’s offset by the card’s earning potential and the ability to increase the value of your rewards by redeeming them for travel through Chase TravelSM.
Still, there’s no introductory APR on purchases or balance transfers, so you’ll want to pay off your balance every month. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also lacks the higher-end benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which has a $550 annual fee (see rates & fees).
The Discover it® Miles is an overall good choice for the occasional traveler. It offers a solid flat-rate rewards program and makes it easy to redeem miles for cash back or past travel purchases. Plus, its rewards match in the first year makes it a great deal for new cardholders.
However, due to its lack of credit card travel benefits, consumers who would like to have protections such as an auto rental collision damage waiver will likely want to consider other credit cards, like the Wells Fargo Autograph® Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Both offer more in the way of earning potential and useful credit card benefits.
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For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply
The information related to the Wells Fargo Autograph® Card and Chase Freedom Unlimited® has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
