J.D. Hodges

I try to stay abreast of the best credit cards for getting the most cashback and the least fees/problems. For many years Discover card was my primary card, but recently the Chase Freedom cards have begun to offer WAY more perks and benefits than Discover.

Here are a couple prime examples of why Chase Freedom can save you more than Discover:

Get 5% back on MORE purchases with Chase Freedom…

The Chase Freedom card gives you 5% back on up to $1,500 in purchases in select categories
= up to $75 in cashback ($1,500 * .05) at the %5 rate…

The Discover card gives you 5% on up to $300 in purchases in select categories
= only up to $15 in cashback ($300 * .05) at the %5 rate…

Get 1% on everything else (Freedom) vs. only some purchases (Discover)

For all other purchases, Chase Freedom gives you a full 1% cashback

For other purchases, Discover gives you up to 1% cashback
I believe if you read the fine print you’ll see that a lot of transactions only get 0.25% 🙁 I was pretty shocked when I found this out!

More info from the credit card companies themselves:

Chase 5% Cashback

If you have Chase Freedom® already, you can Register for 5% Cash Back on the new categories starting June 15, 2011.

You’ll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent between July 1st and September 30, 2011, on Gas, Hotels, and Airlines.

Once you signup (for free) for the 5% cashback you see the following info:

You now automatically earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent between July 1st  and September 30th, 2011 on: * GAS    * HOTELS    * AIRLINES
Get 1% Cash Back on all other purchases without limits on what you can earn. No matter where you shop or what you buy, you always get a full 1% cash back.

Discover: July–September

Earn 5% Cashback Bonus* on up to $300 in purchases July through September at: Gas Stations, Hotels, Movies, Theme Parks