Discover it® Miles review: The card for beginner travelers

The Discover it® Miles credit card stands apart from every other Discover card as the only travel card in the issuer’s portfolio. Yet, it still works remarkably similar to its cash back siblings. Rather than using your miles to book travel, you can redeem them for statement credits that can cover various travel purchases.

While the Discover it® Miles is a solid low-cost travel card option, its 1:1 value for all redemption options, including cash back, is what gives it a competitive edge over rival cards. If you want a backup plan for your rewards for when your future travel plans are uncertain, this card’s rewards program would be perfect for you.

However, frequent travelers may find that the Discover it® Miles’ streamlined structure can’t make up for the card’s lackluster travel perks.

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: Unlimited 1.5X miles on all purchases
• Welcome offer: All miles earned within the first year will be matched
• Annual fee: $0
• Purchase intro APR: 0 percent intro for 15 months
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent intro for 15 months
• Regular APR: 16.99 percent to 27.99 percent (variable)
   

Current welcome offer

Instead of a traditional sign-up bonus, Discover will match all the miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year.

While this may seem like a clear disadvantage compared to an upfront welcome offer, cardholders who spend highly in their first year could potentially get more value out of this offer than they would with a traditional sign-up bonus.

For example, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns 20,000 miles after you spend $500 on purchases within your first three months, worth $200 if you redeem Capital One miles for travel through the issuer’s portal. By comparison, spending just over $13,000 by the end of your first year with your Discover it® Miles card would earn you about 20,000 bonus miles, worth at least $200 in rewards. Discover would match those miles, giving you a total of 40,000 miles in your first year, worth $400 in travel.

As you can see, you’ll certainly need to maintain a decent spend over the first year to make the Discover it® Miles card’s welcome bonus comparable to other card offers, but the earning potential is unlimited.

Rewards rate

You’ll earn unlimited 1.5X miles on all purchases. Although this is Discover’s only travel card, earning and redeeming Discover miles may be familiar if you’re used to flat-rate cash back cards.

How you earn

Given that the Discover it® Miles is a no-annual-fee travel card, its 1.5X bonus mile rate could be hard to beat if you’re sticking to flat-rate rewards. One of Discover it® Miles’ closest rivals is the Capital One VentureOne card, since it doesn’t have an annual fee, but it only earns a flat 1.25X miles. Although other flat-rate rewards cards earn at slightly higher rates, the Discover it® Miles stacks up pretty well as a middle-of-the-road option. Plus, it has the added benefit of retaining the value of your points across a range of different redemption options.

How to redeem

Rather than using your miles to book travel accommodations such as flights, hotels, vacation packages or rental cars, you use miles to reimburse yourself for travel purchases via statement credits.

Discover’s definition of travel is very broad, and you can earn credit to cover purchases including airfare, hotel stays, car rentals, travel website bookings, travel agents, commuter transit and gas stations — as long as they’re made within the past 180 days. You can’t get much more flexible than that.

Since miles are used for reimbursement and not for booking, you won’t have to worry about seat restrictions or blackout dates when you can’t use travel rewards to book accommodations. For this flexibility, you will have to sacrifice the ability to transfer miles to other loyalty travel programs.

The upside to Discover’s program is that it offers a unique 1:1 value for all redemption options. With many other cards, your mileage value usually plummets when you redeem for anything outside travel, but with the Discover it® Miles card, you’ll still get a value of 1 cent per mile when you redeem at checkout on Amazon.com or PayPal.com and for cash back via direct deposit. Plus, Discover now allows you to pay your credit card bill with your miles — even the minimum payment.

Unfortunately, you can’t redeem miles for gift cards like you can with Discover's cash back credit cards, which add an additional 5 percent to 20 percent value to the gift card balance. But the big takeaway is that you can use this card as  a flat-rate cash back card if you’re unsure when you’ll travel next. That’s an excellent backup option to have if you’re looking for a starter card.

Discover miles are always worth 1 cent apiece across all redemption options, including cash back. This is a great perk since it’s rare to find a travel card that lets you opt for non-travel redemptions without sacrificing point value. However, the Discover it® Miles card may not measure up to other cards that let you transfer points to partnering airlines or hotels to achieve a boosted point value (depending on the issuer and travel partner).

Unfortunately, the Discover it® Miles card’s versatility comes at a price. Discover uses its own credit card network, so you won’t receive basic perks — like rental car damage insurance or travel and purchase protections — available to Visa and Mastercard members. Instead, Discover trims these extras to focus on value, security and customer service.

Customer service

Discover has long stood as a leader in credit card customer service and has proved it with its high ranking in the prestigious J.D. Power Credit Card Satisfaction Survey. Discover is only second to American Express in customer satisfaction, earning 841 out of 1,000 points.

Along with its 24/7 U.S.-based customer service, Discover also provides the free FICO Credit Scorecard, a recurring charges dashboard and a year-end spending summary.

Account security

Discover it® Miles allows cardholders to opt into free online privacy protection. Approximately every 90 days, Discover searches 10 of the most popular people search sites for your personal information and submits opt-out requests on your behalf.

You're also protected if you ever lose your Discover it® Miles card. Freeze it is a feature available within the Discover mobile app or online account. With Freeze it, you can lock your card account instantly with an on/off switch. No one is able to use your card unless you turn it back on, rendering it useless if stolen.

Discover will still process recurring merchant payments, returns, credits, outstanding disputes and rewards redemptions while the account is locked.

There is no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, no penalty APR and no first late payment fee (none the first time you pay late; after that, up to $41).

You’ll also be able to keep interest at bay with a 15-month 0 percent intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. You won’t have to worry about the ongoing APR much either since it’s far below the current average interest rate — clocking in at 16.99 percent to 27.99 percent variable. This is a great deal considering other comparable cards sometimes have these charges.

The Discover it® Miles card is hard to beat when it comes to versatile and economical flat-rate miles. Considering how accessible it is for newcomers, especially since it’s obtainable with a good to excellent credit score (a FICO score of 670 or higher), rewards value isn’t the issue.

Instead, the Discover it® Miles card’s major drawback is its lack of cardholder benefits. Travel cards are known for offering perks that bring more value to the table, including travel and shopping protections, access to exclusive cardmember experiences, annual credits or upgrades that make traveling a bit smoother. 

While the best of these perks come on cards with high annual fees, some competitive no-annual-fee cards and some with low annual fees that carry a great deal of value beyond rewards earned through card spending.

The Discover it® Miles vs. Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card

If you want to avoid traditional travel miles, the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card earns an unlimited 1.5 points for every dollar spent and rewards can be redeemed for travel purchase credits, gift cards or cash. The Bank of America card also comes with Visa Signature benefits and you can boost your rewards rate by up to 75 percent as a qualifying Bank of America Preferred Rewards member. Depending on which tier you qualify for in the Preferred Rewards program, this card could boast a higher flat rate than the Discover it® Miles and its closest competitors.

The Travel Rewards credit card is a great choice for a cardholder who isn’t averse to remaining loyal to a single financial institution like Bank of America and can keep a large amount of savings in a Bank of America account. If you plan to — or already do — bank with Bank of America,  you’ll certainly want to reap the benefits of the Preferred Rewards membership as it can substantially boost how many points you’ll earn.

The Discover it® Miles vs. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one of the best beginner travel cards thanks to its elevated rewards rate for travel purchases, 25 percent value boost to Chase Ultimate Rewards travel redemptions, the ability to transfer points to partnering airlines and the card’s impressive list of additional perks. Although it comes with a $95 annual fee, it’ll be easy to find value and offset that by earning points or  taking advantage of perks like baggage delay insurance and trip cancellation insurance.

This is a more traditional travel card than the Discover it® Miles and is an ideal option for cardholders who want to really lean into travel rewards. You might steer toward the Discover it® Miles if you want to use your card for purchases outside the travel category to earn a decent flatrate, but the Sapphire Preferred card’s elevated rewards rate will quickly outpace the Discover it® Miles’ flatrate on all travel-related purchases. You’ll also have an added 25 percent for travel redemptions through the issuer’s portal and Chase points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for cash, meaning you’ll retain point value if you don’t have a trip coming up but still want to redeem your rewards.

Best cards to pair with this card

You can maximize your spending by pairing multiple complementary credit cards together for a more complete rewards strategy. The Discover it® Miles card is a great option, but other cards may offer ways to earn more rewards in specific spending categories or offer more flexible redemptions and better benefits. Pairing several cards together gives you more flexibility and allows you to enjoy the perks each card offers.

The American Express® Gold Card is an excellent travel rewards card to pair with Discover it® Miles, especially if you spend considerable money each month on dining out and groceries. The Amex Gold card earns 4X points at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets and has the option of transferring points to partnering airlines or redeeming points for travel through AmexTravel.com. Although it has a $250 annual fee, the travel protections,perks, stellar welcome bonus and ongoing rewards value should make it easy to offset the annual fee. Coupling it with a no-annual-fee card like the Discover it® Miles can be a great way to fill gaps in your rewards strategy and take advantage of some elite benefits.

If you are considering getting your first travel card, then the Discover it® Miles card has the basics to get you started in the rewards scene. Its low rates and fees plus its 1:1 cash back redemption rate make it easy for people to learn the ropes of travel rewards without annual fees or complicated rewards structure. However, its lack of travel perks make it a no-go for jet setters and frequent flyers who prefer luxury travel.