Up to 10% Cash Back With the Discover It Card for the 1st Year!

Million Mile Secrets

9 years ago

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Like the Discover it Miles card, new cardholders can now earn double cash back with the Discover it Cash Back card at the end of your 1st year.

With this card you earn 5% cash back in rotating categories each quarter. And when your cash back is automatically doubled at the end of the year, you’ll effectively earn a total of 10% cash back in these special categories.

Emily and I don’t earn a commission on the Discover it Cash Back card, but we always tell you about the best deals!

Double Your Cash Back With the Discover It Card During the 1st Year

Find out if this is the right card for you!

What’s the Deal?

Link: Discover it Cash Back Card

When you sign-up for the Discover it Cash Back card and make a purchase within the 1st 3 months of opening your account, you’ll earn a $50 cash back.

Other card perks include:

5% cash back in rotating categories (on up to $1,500 in spending) each quarter
1% cash back on all other spending
No foreign transaction fees
No annual fee

Plus, all the cash back you earn will automatically double at the end of your 1st year!

So if you spend the full $1,500 in the select categories each quarter, you’ll get 10% in cash back for a total of $600 in cash back ($6,000 in spending in the 5% bonus categories, then doubled at the end of your 1st year with the card).

Note: This deal is for new Discover It cardholders only.

Discover It Cash Back Vs. Discover It Miles

Link: Discover It Miles Card

Link: My Review of the Discover It Miles Card

Let’s say you have $10,000 worth of spending you can put on the Discover it Cash Back or Discover it Miles card. Now that your earnings with both cards double at the end of your 1st year, which card should you choose?

You’ll earn 5% cash back (on up to $1,500 in spending) in select categories and 1% cash back on everything else with the Discover it Cash Back card. And then at the end of your 1st year with the card, your cash back will be doubled.

So if you spend $1,500 at restaurants during the 5% bonus period that ends June 30, 2015, you’ll get $75 cash back ($1,500 x 5%). Then at the end of the 1st card year, you’d get another $75 back!

If you spend the full $1,500 in the select categories each quarter, you’ll get $600 total in cash back ($6,000 in spending x 10%) at the end of your 1st card year.

And another $80 in cash back for the other $4,000 you spend outside of the bonus categories ($4,000 on everyday spending x 2% cash back by end of 1st card year), for a total of $680 in cash back.

$10,000 Worth of Spending Could Get You $680 Cash Back After the 1st Year With the Discover it Cash Back Card!

With Discover it Miles, you’ll earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent. And at the end of your 1st year, the miles you’ve earned will double. So you’ll effectively earn 3 miles per $1 spent during your 1st year with this card.

And 1 mile is worth 1 cent in statement credits towards travel purchases or 1 cent in cash deposited into your bank account.

If you spend $10,000 on this card, you’ll earn 300 miles that you can use as a $300 statement credit towards travel purchases or $300 in cash deposited into your bank account.

You’ll Earn More With the Discover It Cash Back Card

But for folks who don’t want to worry about categories, and don’t plan on doing a lot of spending in the Discover it 5% cash back categories will do better with the Discover it Miles card.

That’s because an effective 3 miles per $1 on everyday spending is better than 2% cash back on everyday spending.

And some folks will enjoy the $30 Discover it Miles reimburses you for purchasing in-flight Wi-Fi each card year.

That said, you’d probably do better with the sign-up bonus from Discover it. Because it’s $50 to spend at Amazon!

Bottom Line

The Discover it Cash Back card will now double all of your cash back earnings at the end of your 1st card year. So you’ll get 10% cash back in certain bonus categories each quarter and 2% back on everyday purchases.

So you’ll earn more cash back during your 1st year with the Discover it than the Discover it Miles card. Plus, you’ll get $50 cash back when you make a purchase in the 1st 3 months of opening the Discover it card, which is better than $30 towards in-flight Wi-Fi you get with the Discover it Miles card.

But folks who already have the Discover it card might want the Discover it Miles card too!

Emily and I don’t receive a commission for the Discover it card, but we’ll always tell you about the best deals!

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)