I've had my discovercard for a while but I stopped using it because I calculated that I was losing $20 in rewards each year because of their tiered cashback system. For the past year and a half I've been using other cards that are a flat 1%. However, I keep my discover for three reasons. First, keeping an account open for a long time helps my credit history. Second, I still get 7% back at barnesandnoble.com using this card. Third, I really like their double cashback reward certificates where I can get a $40 gift certificate for $20 worth of cashback. The problem was that other than barnes and noble I couldn't find a reason to use this card over my flat 1% back cards.
I was reading through some other forums and saw someone mention that you can have discovercard reverse your tiers. So basically you get a flat 1% on your first $1500, then it goes down after that (to .25% I think). That is not a problem for me because I can switch to my other cards after spending that first $1500. Aside from 1% on the first $1500, you also get 5% back on the first $1500 you spend on gas. I'm pretty certain that the gas $1500 is counted seperate from the other $1500.
Long story short, I finally have a reason to use my discover card again and I can start stocking up on those double rewards certificates. All I had to do was call the number on the back of my discovercard and ask to be switched to the gas rebate card.
This isn't for everybody. Those of you that want to spend more than $2,000 on your discovercard each year should probably stay with the normal tiered system. If you have other rewards cards, like me, then this is a pretty hot deal. 5% back on gas + double rewards certificates... Mmmmmm.
- SuperShaz
P.S. - By my calculations, you only have to spend $400 on gas before you can get a $40 gift certificate to Sharper Image, Cooking.com, Blockbuster, and more. There are also a bunch of places that only do $25 certificates (for $20 worth of cashback).
I was reading through some other forums and saw someone mention that you can have discovercard reverse your tiers. So basically you get a flat 1% on your first $1500, then it goes down after that (to .25% I think). That is not a problem for me because I can switch to my other cards after spending that first $1500. Aside from 1% on the first $1500, you also get 5% back on the first $1500 you spend on gas. I'm pretty certain that the gas $1500 is counted seperate from the other $1500.
Long story short, I finally have a reason to use my discover card again and I can start stocking up on those double rewards certificates. All I had to do was call the number on the back of my discovercard and ask to be switched to the gas rebate card.
This isn't for everybody. Those of you that want to spend more than $2,000 on your discovercard each year should probably stay with the normal tiered system. If you have other rewards cards, like me, then this is a pretty hot deal. 5% back on gas + double rewards certificates... Mmmmmm.
- SuperShaz
P.S. - By my calculations, you only have to spend $400 on gas before you can get a $40 gift certificate to Sharper Image, Cooking.com, Blockbuster, and more. There are also a bunch of places that only do $25 certificates (for $20 worth of cashback).