Money Tips: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer Discontinued (cont’d.)

Posted On: March 23, 2006

Guest: stevejk
Post subject: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer Discontinued
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:37 am

Well, I understand they can change the interest rate (if fixed) or change the interest calculation (e.g, fixed to float) with 15 days notice. I may be wrong on the number of days but they have to give some notice. But what I don’t know is if the mandatory notice is only for interest rates or for any change in the terms of the agreement, which the rewards structure would supposedly be a part of.

I agree that for customer service reasons, they would/should give SOME notice to cardholders to prevent a lot of angry calls from surprised customers. I know I would notice if it was obvious that I got 0.25% cash back instead of the expected 5% cash back and I would call and complain.

Guest: quiznut1
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:44 am

Sorry to spoil your hopes guys, but I just called a CSR and they initially told me that they never heard of the restaurant program going away, but then I asked to speak to the supervisor, whom the CSR claimed, “just walked by, so let me talk to him.” The CSR came back on the line and said that the restaurant program is indeed going to be phased out for current cardholders in June, according to her manager.

I kindly asked the CSR to convert my card to the standard platinum cash back program, since my statement closed today (I otherwise couldn’t do it till next month). I decided I will only be using this card for gas purchases from April-June, in the special 5% get more promotion. I have like $1.56 in cash back that I can’t redeem till I hit $20, and then when I hit $20 and redeem my cash back bonus, I will lock this card up until another Get-More promotion comes. That or I will, as some are doing already, cancel the card.

So I guess I’m now gonna search for another restaurant card.

Guest: georgee
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:34 am

“The restaurant program is indeed going to be phased out for current cardholders in June, according to her manager”

Yes, but other “supervisors” have said that the program is NOT going away for current cardholders.

SOMEONE is wrong !!

Guest: XeroK00L
Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:38 am

Oh well, so few restaurants (about only 1 out of 4) that I frequent take Discover cards anyway that I probably won’t miss the program too much, though it sure is nice to get 5% CASH back.

Guess I’ll just stick to my Citi mtvU VISA card that gives me 5% in reward points AND is accepted at everywhere I want to be.

Guest: georgee
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:26 am

My cousin just called, and he told me that he got his formal ‘notice of change in terms’ in the mail last night.

As of July billing statement, Discover Restaurant Card is no more, for anyone. The rebate terms revert to the standard Discover cashback (.25% for first $1500, .50% for next $1500, and 1% over $3000.

Supposedly, they are having quarterly 5% promotions on different products which you can check on their website, but so what?

My advice is to reach your next $20 tier, get your check, and then sock-drawer the card.

Guest: stevejk
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:03 am

georgee wrote:
Supposedly, they are having quarterly 5% promotions on different products which you can check on their website, but so what?

My advice is to reach your next $20 tier, get your check, and then sock-drawer the card.

It depends on the promotion.

Since my Discover card is my oldest (first) card, if I sock-drawer it, I do have a small monthly charge on the card, just to keep it active they can report to CRAs.

Money Tips: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer Discontinued (cont’d.)

Posted On: March 20, 2006

Guest: shooter
Post subject: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer Discontinued
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:41 pm

National City’s everyday rewards card has 2% cash back at restaurants. It also offers higher percentages on movie theatres, groceries, and gas. The problem with this card is that it offers less cash back than the Dividend or Cash plus cards etc. and rebate checks are only redeemable in $100 increments and points expire in 24 months. The only thing I would use this for is eating out and movies but since I would never spend enough on those to get the $100 in rebates in two years I use my other cards which have a lower rebate. I don’t earn as much with those cards on restaurant purchases but I use them for all my other expenses so I can actually acheive the rebate amounts necessary to redeem.

Maybe someone else who eats out more would benefit with this card though. It doesn’t have any stellar intro offers. When I signed up 4 years ago I got a 1.9% rate for three months but nothing great. National City was my introduction the the wonderful world of credit card rebates. I’ve since moved on to bigger and better cards however. I just keep this one cuz it’s my oldest one.

Guest: db619196
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:14 am

quiznut1 wrote:
db619196 wrote:
Man this does stink. Well, they only give $75 back per year anyway…

The Discover Restaurant card gave $75 cash back on the first $1,500 in annual purchases (5%, if every one of them was a restaurant purchase), from there it was 3% cash back on the next $1,500 of annual purchases (3% restaurants, .5% everywhere else)

It still is a disappointment to see this card go.

Quiznut,
When I signed up the terms were different. They nixed the whole 5%, 3%, 1% deal, and after the first 1500 dollars my card defaulted to the regular rewards tier, which isn’t that great. I even called them and tried to get the 5%, 3%, 1% tier like folks on here were talking about, but they wouldn’t give it to me. They said that was an older promotion. Soon after they discontinued the card.

So for me, I can earn $75 in a year with the 5% back, since after $75 in restaurant rewards, I am on Discover’s regular tier, and I will be better off using another card at this point. Either way, it is disappointing. I still have the Citi Professional Card which has no spending limit for their 3% back.

David

Guest: stevejk
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:35 am

I called and emailed Discover but they didn’t give me the same information they gave to others. The CSR on the phone said she could not find any information about the rewards going away for current cardholders. I then sent an email from the Discover website asking about it. Their response did not indicate that the rewards were going away, other than no new restaurant rewards cards issued.

Maybe it is was an internal memo that has not been made public yet?

Guest: georgee
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:52 pm

My cousin called Discover again and talked to a crs who said current cardholders ARE NOT being canceled from the program.

This is contrary to what he was told before.

So, how do you figure? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Guest: georgee
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:33 pm

Just out of curiosity, if Discover does cancel the restaurant program for current cardholders, how much notice do they have to give?

Guest: Ira
SENIOR MEMBER (Member for 2 yrs.+)
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:55 pm

None, but they’ll probably give 30 days as a courtesy.
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Ira

Money Tips: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer Discontinued (cont’d.)

Posted On:

Guest: sammy262
Post subject: Discover Restaurant Credit Card Offer DiscontinuedPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:31 am

The Citi Professional Card offers 3 Thank You points per dollar on restaurant and office supply store purchases, 1 point on all other purchases. Periodically Citi offers bonus Thank You points (usually 5000 or 10000) for first use after cardmember approval. I’d prefer cash, of course, but 5000 points gets you a $50 gift card at some of my favorite restaurants and gas stations, so that’s 99% as good, imho.

Guest: db619196
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:41 am

Man this does stink. Well, they only give $75 back per year anyway, so whenever I eat out until June, I will be using this card, so I will probably hit $75 anyway. I am disappointed in Discover. They have gotten rid of their good cards. I have 0% APR until November, and may use it for that reason, but getting rewards at less than 1% just seems like an anachronism these days, with some cards getting over 1% on all purchases.

For those looking for a replacement, I have the Citi Professional card, and it gets 3% back at restaurants like someone else here has said. The Thank You Network is very extensive, so I don’t mind that the rewards aren’t cash. Plus, I got 10,000 bonus points ($100) just for signing up. Just make sure that if you are getting a gift card that you wait until you get 5,000 points, because at that point 5,000 points= 50 dollars. Otherwise, it is 3,000 points=25 dollars.

David

Guest: Ira
SENIOR MEMBER (Member for 2 yrs.+)
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:47 am

Folks, nothing lasts forever. Promotions can change at a moments notice. I’ve lost count of the number of great promotional offers that I’ve seen come and go. You take advantage of them while they’re around, but never stop looking for something else that’s a little better, or mabe even not quite as good, but which lasts longer.

Eternal vigilance is the watchword.
_________________
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Ira

Guest: TomfromCT
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:01 am

Ira wrote:
Folks, nothing lasts forever. Promotions can change at a moments notice. I’ve lost count of the number of great promotional offers that I’ve seen come and go. You take advantage of them while they’re around, but never stop looking for something else that’s a little better, or mabe even not quite as good, but which lasts longer.

Eternal vigilance is the watchword.

and thats why Ira has 50,00 credit cards!!!! but hey give him credit,,,it works (pun intended)
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Guest: quiznut1
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:35 am

db619196 wrote:
Man this does stink. Well, they only give $75 back per year anyway…

The Discover Restaurant card gave $75 cash back on the first $1,500 in annual purchases (5%, if every one of them was a restaurant purchase), from there it was 3% cash back on the next $1,500 of annual purchases (3% restaurants, .5% everywhere else)

It still is a disappointment to see this card go.

Guest: maddybeagle
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:05 pm

There are several cards with 2-3% at rest. Fat Wallet has a good discussion.

Guest: Board Monitor
Board Monitor/ Administrator
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:26 pm

Quote:
Guess I’ll need to buy the restaurant gift cards at the grocery store (5% cash back at grocery stores) once my restaurant rewards go away. Yeah, that sucks. Oh well, it was a good thing while it lasted.

Interesting tip. I guess this would work!
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Board Monitor
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