Originally Posted by
captaincool
Without going in-depth....The Chase UR points will always be better than discover's "cash back". The chase points can be transferred out to airlines/hotels, or if you prefer can be a straight 1point=1cent conversion applied directly to your statement. Discover makes you redeem for gift cards IIRC.
Basically, UR points have no downside and can do everything the Discover card can do (except 5% cash back, but that's what the freedom card is for
)
I can't speak for UR but I love my Discover card Cashback is great. You CAN redeem for gift cards yes... but I can also get $ to $ statement credit or direct deposit to my bank. A new thing that came up recently is if you link your card to Amazon you can use $ to $ on purchases at amazon.com. I have an Citi HH and and Citi AA, I would rather have the 5% cash back on purchases the 2X HH points or $/mile on spending. I have have my spending set for the rest of the year on discover and by taking advantage of all the 5% quarterly categories and doubling up ( buying fandango GC through Discover shopping portal during %5 cash back on movie tickets) I will come out with over $600.
My plan is to either deposit the money or buy an Ipad. Heck forget about the miles, I could purchase 2 rt tickets for that amount of money.
I'm new so my opinion may not matter. But what I do is buy on my discover card until I max out my limit on cash back bonus. Also making sure to double dip. If I can't make my max lets say for the gas promo, then I just buy a gas gift card for the remaining amount. Then use the card when the gas promotion is over. I'm earning %5 on my purchases on gas right now lol even though the promotion ended last month. I use HH at the Grocery store and I use AA to buy Gold on ebay.
To answer the OP question, I value cash back over mile/points there's no comparison. Strategic buying to get money back is best