Discover It Miles Review
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Written by
Andrew Lisa
The Discover it® Miles card is a solid choice for infrequent travelers who aren’t terribly big spenders. Its rewards structure is simple and Discover makes it easy to redeem the miles you earn.
Committed travelers or those with bigger budgets can probably do better by paying an annual fee for a card with more generous benefits, but among annual fee-free cards with flat-rate rewards and no rotating categories, Discover it Miles makes a good argument for becoming your wallet’s go-to travel companion.
Purchase and Balance Transfer APR
0% Intro APR on purchases and on balance transfers for 15 months, then 18.24% – 27.24% Variable APR.
Intro Bonus
Discover will match all the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year.
Cash Back
1.5x Miles Earn Unlimited 1.5x Miles Per Dollar On All Purchases
Recommended Credit Score
Excellent/Good
670 – 850*
Annual Fee
$0
CardCritics™ Opinion
This is a well-rounded flat-rate travel card that is a good fit for someone who does not want to pay an annual fee. With options to redeem your miles for cash or statement credits against travel purchases, it is also a good option for anyone having trouble deciding between a travel or cash back card. Your first year is especially lucrative because Discover will double all of the miles you earn at the end of your first year. It offers a generous intro APR period on purchases and balance transfers as well.
Our Critical Analysis:
Discover it® Miles
- No annual fee
- No rotating category signups or rewards maintenance are required
- The Discover Match bonus program matches your first-year rewards on a dollar-for-dollar or mile-for-mile basis.
- Introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers
- Flexible rewards you can redeem as cash or statement credits for travel purchases.
- No foreign transaction fee.
- Miles never expire as long as your account is active.
PROS
- Travel cards with annual fees pay more generous rewards.
- No high-end perks like concierge service or airport lounge access.
- Not as widely accepted abroad as cards from Visa or Mastercard.
CONS
The Discover it Miles card is a solid travel card that provides good — not great — rewards in the form of miles that cardholders can convert to cash or use toward travel purchases. It’s a solid choice for lower spenders or less frequent travelers who don’t use the card enough to justify paying for perks. Those who spend more might be better off with a card like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which pays two miles for every dollar spent and offers a longer list of travel perks but comes with a $95 annual fee.
Instead of a welcome bonus, cardholders can take advantage of the Discover Match program, which matches your earned rewards without limit for the first year. Since you earn 1.5 miles for every dollar spent, and one mile equals one cent, you’re essentially earning a hefty 3% cash back on all purchases for the first 12 months.
Generous Intro APR
Discover it Miles offers a 0% Intro APR on purchases and on balance transfers for 15 months, then 18.24% – 27.24% Variable APR. There’s a 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms)*
Flexible Rewards Redemption
Cardholders can start redeeming rewards right away, even if they’ve only saved up one mile.
You can use miles to cover travel purchases like:
- Hotels
- Rideshares
- Car rentals
- Flights
- Online travel sites
- Gas stations
- Restaurants and restaurant delivery.
After you make the purchase, simply convert miles to statement credits to cover them.
Cardholders can also claim any amount of miles as cash at any time through deposits to their bank accounts without losing any value, or they can use them to shop on Amazon or when they pay with PayPal.
Miles never expire and retain the same value no matter how they’re redeemed.
Additional Benefits
Discover is accepted by 99% of the establishments that take credit cards nationwide. Discover it Miles also comes with free FICO score access.
Is It the Right Card For You?
The Discover it Miles card may be the right fit for you if any of the following apply:
- You travel enough to require a travel card with potentially lucrative rewards, but not enough to pay an annual fee for top-tier perks.
- You don’t want to keep up with rotating categories.
- You want a versatile travel card that doesn’t tie you to a specific airline or carrier.
- You want a card that lets you convert rewards to travel comps or cash in your bank account.
Card Details From Discover
- UNLIMITED BONUS: Unlimited Mile-for-Mile match for all new cardmembers—only from Discover. Discover gives you an unlimited match of all the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match. You could turn 35,000 Miles into 70,000 Miles.
- Automatically earn unlimited 1.5x Miles on every dollar of every purchase
- No annual fee.
- Turn Miles into cash. Or redeem as a statement credit for your travel purchases like airfare, hotels, rideshares, gas stations, restaurants, and more.
- 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. Then 18.24% – 27.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR will apply.
- Terms and conditions apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
These answers to some frequently asked questions will help you decide if Discover it Miles is the right card for you.
How much is 50,000 Discover miles worth?
50,000 miles on the Discover it Miles card is worth $500.
What airlines can I use my Discover it miles on?
According to Discover, “Miles cannot be redeemed directly with a specific airline carrier.” Instead, after you make your airfare purchase, convert your miles to statement credits to pay for the fare.
Is Discover it® Cash Back the same as Discover it Miles?
The Discover it Miles card offers a simple, unlimited, flat rate of 1.5 miles for every dollar spent. Miles never expire and there are no categories to track or sign up for. In the first year, Discover matches your rewards on a mile-for-mile basis. Conversely, the Discover it Cash Back card requires you to track rotating categories to maximize rewards.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
*CardCritics™ references a FICO® 8 score, which is one of many different types of credit scores. A financial institution may use a different score when evaluating your application.
