Discover It Cash Back Review 2024 (2024)

Discover it® Cash Back vs. Chase Freedom Flex®

The Chase Freedom Flex® also offers rotating 5% bonus categories but adds a few fixed bonus categories as well. Cardholders earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in categories that rotate quarterly (requires activation), 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on dining and drugstores and 1% cash back on all other purchases. The Freedom Flex also doesn’t charge an annual fee. The welcome offer on the Freedom Flex is more traditional, so you can’t maximize it in the same way as the Discover it® Cash Back: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Similar to the Discover it® Cash Back, the Freedom Flex offers a 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 20.49% - 29.24% applies. Balance transfer fee of up to 5% (min. $5) of the amount of each transfer applies.

When paired with a premium Chase card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, points earned from the Freedom Flex are even more valuable as they can be transferred to partners like World of Hyatt and United’s MileagePlus or redeemed with a bump in value through Chase Travel℠.

The Freedom Flex is a much stronger offering when it comes to additional card perks. It has purchase protection, extended warranty protection, trip cancellation/interruption coverage, cellphone protection and a secondary auto rental collision damage waiver. Between the two cards, you can likely earn more cash back using the Freedom Flex and have greater flexibility when it comes to redemptions, especially if you have a Sapphire card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.

Discover it® Cash Back vs. Citi Double Cash® Card

The Citi Double Cash® Card is a great cash-back card for those who value simplicity. It offers 2% cash back on all purchases—1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off, without charging an annual fee.

The Citi Double Cash card offers a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the standard variable APR will be 19.24% - 29.24%, based on creditworthiness. An intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, applies to transfers completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5). If you are looking for a simple way to earn unlimited cash back, the Citi Double Cash is an attractive option. Plus, you can earn 5% cash back on select Citi Travel℠ bookings through 12/31/24, allowing you to earn even more for a short period.

Outside of earning cash back and a low intro APR period, the Citi Double Cash card doesn’t provide many benefits so you might get more value out of the Discover it® Cash Back. As we mentioned before, these cards could work very well in tandem so you might not need to choose between them.

Discover it® Cash Back vs. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express (Terms apply, see rates & fees) has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. Some may find that the rewards structure more than makes up for the cost after year one. Cardholders will earn the following rewards: 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more) and 1% cash back on other eligible purchases. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.

The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers a welcome bonus: Earn a $250 statement credit after spending $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months. Plus, it offers a 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers requested within the first 60 days of account opening, followed by a variable APR of 19.24%-29.99% variable. A balance transfer fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, applies.

To help justify the annual fee, the Blue Cash Preferred offers a $7 monthly statement credit after spending $9.99 or more on an auto-renewing subscription to the Disney Bundle (enrollment required). In terms of insurance coverage, you can enjoy car rental loss and damage insurance¹, purchase protection², return protection² and extended warranty². Blue Cash Preferred cardholders can also benefit from Amex Offers.

Between the two cards, you can likely earn more cash back from the Blue Cash Preferred without having to worry with activating quarterly categories. Plus, you can mostly offset the annual fee with the up to $84 annual Disney Bundle credit. However, if you don’t want to subscribe to the Disney Bundle, you might find it hard to justify the annual fee, even considering the elevated earnings.