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Corporate roadwarriors, leisure travelers and roaming gnomes alike will enjoy the Miles by Discover card. This flexible card lets you rack up miles on all of your purchases and redeem them for credits towards travel. And because it’s a credit, rather than a redemption for a plane ticket, you can choose whichever travel agent, airline or resort you choose. Travel perks begin at just 1,000 miles and can be applied ecumenically – no blackout dates, no restrictions and no advanced booking required. Read the full Miles by Discover Card review below for the full details.
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Overview: Discover Miles Card
Miles by Discover comes with the same competitive introductory interest rates you’d expect from any Discover Card. After your 6 month interest-free honeymoon is up, you get a variable APR that’s based on your credit rating. Here are the facts:
These methods give you a great deal of flexibility. While the greatest rewards are reaped from redeeming for travel, as you can see, you also have a host of perks that can be earned towards everyday purchases.
Unrestricted Travel
As mentioned above, there aren’t any restrictions on where, when or through whom you travel when applying your Miles by Discover Card credit. All that’s required of you is to pay with your Miles card when you book and apply your 10,000 miles for a 0 account credit. There’s no limit to the miles you can accumulate and they won’t expire unless your card is inactive.
Double Miles
You’ll get double miles for all of your travel and restaurant purchases up to ,000 each year. After that, you’ll get 1 mile for every dollar you spend. You can also get double miles by shopping online through Discover’s website by visiting ShopDiscover.com. There are a few travel related vendors, such as Carnival, which make earning double miles pretty easy even after you’ve broken the ,000 mark.
The Nitty Gritty
Of course, there are some things you should keep in mind when using your Miles by Discover Card. For one, you’ll be paying a 2% foreign transaction fee for every purchase you make outside the U.S. – something that’s important to note for those who will obviously be traveling often. Watch for this fee to go up if credit cards start feeling the squeeze from the new CARD Act.
Currently, there’s a charge for over-the-limit transactions on balances under 0 and for those over 0. But come February 2010, there are no more over-the-limit fees (you’ll probably just be denied).
Also note that you can’t redeem any of your miles if your account is delinquent. Nothing surprising there. But more important to note is that your APR will immediately bump up to the default rate, regardless of any promotional period.
Notice also that, as pointed out above, your free 12,000 miles in your first year are spread out over 12 months. So you won’t be able to instantly cash in on a 0 credit – but if you’re patient, it’s free money.
All in all, the Miles by Discover Card is a pretty good deal. The variable interest rate (which isn’t restricted by the new CARD Act, by the way) is kind of a bummer, but as long as you pay off your entire balance each month, it’s a non-issue. But for responsible card users who want to earn some rewards without any restrictions, the Miles by Discover Card is a good way to go.