Small update: This offer is now being reported on the homepage of Discover.com, it makes it seem that this promotion is only for new cardholders but it’s available to existing cardholders as well.
Two days ago we were the first to report a new deal offered by Discover, they will be doubling the the cash back bonus for Discover it cardholders for their next 12 statement cycles. Keep reading to better understand the full details of this offer.
The Offer
To enroll in this offer you can call 800-347-3085 and request to be enrolled in this offer, hopefully they will also let you sign up online at some stage.
- Discover it cardholders will receive double the cash back for the next twelve statement cycles, this means that the card will earn at the following rates:
- 10% cash back in rotating categories
- 2% cash back on all purchases
I was told that Discover Deals would also be doubled by the representative. But I have a query with the Discover media team to confirm this as it sounds too good to be true and the Discover it Miles also offers double cash back for the first twelve months and Discover Deals is not doubled (reps also thought this would be doubled and it’s not).
The Fine Print
- Must enroll in this offer to be eligible
- Available to new and existing cardholders
- You have until July 31st to enroll
- You’ll receive your double cash back bonus with your 13th statement after you’ve enrolled in this offered
- This offer does not begin until your next statement period begins (when you call, they’ll be able to tell you when this period begins). It’s possible to change when your statement cuts out by calling Discover as well
- No earning caps
Full fine print from credit card application page:
After the first 12 consecutive billing periods that your new account is open, we will double all the cash back rewards you’ve earned and apply them to your account in the next billing cycle. You’ve earned rewards when they have posted to your account by the end of the 12th consecutive billing period. You will not receive Double Cash Back if your account is closed or no longer in the cash back reward program as of the award date. This promotional offer may not be offered in the future.
Discover It Sign Up Bonuses
Discover usually offers a sign up bonus of $150 once a year on this card, unfortunately that offer is only available to some people via targeted means at the moment. The best sign up bonus is a $100 Amazon gift card has been reduced to $50 (although the official site is also offering an introductory APR of 0% for 14 months). Also keep in mind that it’s possible to have more than one Discover it card.
Having multiple Discover it cards could be very useful for people who spend more than $1,500 per quarter in any of the rotating categories. You can have a maximum of two Discover credit cards and your first card must have been opened for a period of one year before you’ll be eligible to open a second.
Our Verdict
I’m glad to see that the 5% cash back categories will be doubled, this means that it’s possible to earn 10% cash back in those categories. If your statement cut out before June 30th you could receive 10% cash back for 2015: Q2, Q3, Q4 and 2016: Q1 & Q2 for a potential of $750 in cash back per Discover it card. Obviously some people will have already have maxed out Q2 2015 but that’s still a potential of $600 in cash back. Below is a list of the current, future and past rotating categories for the Discover it:
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Gas Stations & Wholesale Clubs | Grocery Stores | Restaurants | Amazon & Wholesale Clubs |
2017 | Gas Stations, Ground Transportation & Wholesale Clubs | Home Improvement & Wholesale Clubs | Restaurants. Some cardholders targeted for Amazon | Amazon and Target |
2016 | Gas and Ground Transportation | Restaurants & Movies | Amazon, Home Improvement | Sam’s Club, Amazon, and Department Stores |
2015 | Gas Stations & Ground Transportation | Summer Spruce Up? | Home Improvement Stores, Department Stores, and Amazon.com | Amazon, department stores, and clothing stores |
2014 | Restaurants and Movies | Home Improvement Stores, Furniture Stores and Bed Bath & Beyond | Gas stations | Department Stores and Online Shopping |
2013 | Restaurants and Movies | Home Improvement Stores | Gas stations | Online Shopping |
2012 | Gas stations, Movie theaters and Museums | Restaurants and Movies | Gas stations, Movies and Theme parks | Department Stores and Online Shopping |
2011 | Travel and Restaurants | Home and Fashion | Gas, Hotels, Movies and Theme Parks | Restaurants and Fashion |
*2011 had a limit of $800 in spend per quarter rather than the $1,500 currently offered.
2% cash back is nice, but there are a lot of cards that already offer that rate or higher, without having to wait over a year to get the cash back. The advantage of Discover is that they have relationships with JCB and UnionPay which means their acceptance should be better than Visa, Mastercard or American Express in places like Japan and China. You can read our tips for using Discover internationally here.
There is one thing that I don’t like about this promotion though and that’s the fact that you need to wait a full 13 statement cycles before you receive the double cash back.
If Discover Deals does also offer double cash back then this deal is out of control good. Discover Deals is often best in show when it comes to cash back shopping portals. As an example, Sears is currently 10% cash back with Discover Deals doubled would make it 20% cash back and it’s also possible to double dip making this 40% cash back. Obviously this isn’t sustainable, which is why I think Discover Deals will not be doubled. The other option Discover has is simply to reduce the rates on merchants that are being abused and possibly shut down the accounts of the abusers (again waiting 13 months for your cash back is never a good thing).
Might be a silly question… If I redeem my cash back, will it still double at the end or do I need to keep the cashback balance?
Thanks,
You don’t need to keep the balance, it’ll still be doubled.
I was planning to load up on Amazon GC using Discover. With Discover not honoring gift cards for the Apple Pay promo; I assume we can still use Discover to buy Amazon gift cards from Amazon for 10% bonus, right?
If anyone still needs a discover it card, would you mind using my referral link because I want to use it to help pay off some loans. Thanks!
Link: http://bit.ly/1MnLpZr
If anyone of you want 50$ referral bonus then do drop me an email to [email protected], I shall refer you folks and if its approved we both get 50$ each, if you apply directly with discover there is no first use bonus available. If I am not wrong, the 50$ that you earn will be doubled after 1 year which would mean u earn $100 for just using your Discover card in first 3 months.
Here’s my link:
http://bit.ly/1S8ZRVd
Will be glad to answer any questions you have about this deal or any other deal or Manufactured Spending technique.
I just used your link today. Thanks! Hope it worked. There was no bonus mentioned on the application page. I called after my online approval. They said check back in 48-72 hrs once the account is established to confirm bonus and cash back promo.
How can you double dip on Discover Deals?
You state that if Deals were to be doubled Sears would go to 20% – it sits currently at 10% – which by double dipping would make it 40%…
But how can you do that? I assume its by buying through Discover deals first GCs of Sears and then use those same GCs and use the same portal and get again the cashback…
But aren’t GCs purchases on Discover Deals excluded?
OK, I converted my old DS (circa 1995) to this “best thing since sliced bread” Discover IT.
No bonus, of course, but I do keep my 0% APR through Oct. Basically, it’s what everybody else here has noted.
Seems to me with referrals and the high enthusiasm level I noted to “transform” me into this card, there is a motivation to get peeps into this card. Isn’t the card a bit like Citi Double? That wasn’t a card I wanted.
I would much rather have points/miles than a pittance of cash? Does anyone know if I can split my CL and try for the DS Miles card, also?
Here is my referral link – we both get $50 (doubled to $100!): http://bit.ly/1IhDkkc
Thanks to DoC for letting us share!
Great find…mine will take effect just after I return from a business trip to China where I will have lots of spend on it, grrr.
“2% cash back is nice, but there are a lot of cards that already offer that rate or higher.”
Am I missing something? I followed the link and went through the post. Yes, there are some cards there that will earn 2% (some with annual fees), but it seems that most cards (even rewards cards) will struggle to offer higher.
In my experience (with Discover, as well as other cards) a request to change your statement cutoff date always takes at least two statements to process. I figured, well, Will’s the expert here, probably he knows what he’s talking about; maybe if you call up, that works faster than sending the request online, so I didn’t say anything. But I see that quite a few commenters have confirmed my suspicions…