Discover Open Road Credit Card Review
April 12, 2011
The Discover Open Road credit card, as the name suggests, is for those credit cardholders who want to get cash back on gas. Who isn’t looking for a good gas rewards card with the high gas prices we’re seeing these days?
Unfortunately, as gas prices have risen, the cash back rates on gas cards have fallen across the industry and the Discover Open Road card was hit as well. Even though it’s not as easy as it used to be to earn as much cash back on gas purchases - if used correctly the Open Road card rebates can still pay off.
Spending Rebates
The Open Road card gives you 2% back on gas and restaurant purchases, as well as 1% cash back on other purchases once you’ve met the annual spending tier. However, there is a monthly cap on earnings, we’ll talk about the spending tier and monthly cap in a minute.
The upside to the Discover Open Road card is that you can begin earning double cash back immediately on gas and eating out so it works even if you’re a low spender. There’s no yearly limit on rebates and your rebates do not expire. You can also trade in your rebates for double Cashback Bonus with Discover partner merchants, like you can with the Discover More and Discover Miles cards.
To qualify for the gas rebate your purchases must be made at merchants classified as gas stations. You won’t get the gas rebate if you buy fuel at warehouse club. In terms of eating out, it’s considered a restaurant purchase if it falls under the classification of fast food, cafeterias, cafes, and formal restaurants.
Downside to the Open Road
The drawbacks to the Open Road card are the two I mentioned above, the monthly cap and the annual spending tier.
Open Road pays you 2% cashback on the first $250 you spend on fuel and eating out each month. Once you hit that monthly cap, your gas purchases earn anywhere from .25% to 1% cash rebate. If you’re wondering where the .25% comes from, it’s based on the annual spending tier. Purchases on your card that aren’t for gas or restaurants earn .25% cash back until you’ve spent $3,000 for the year. Once you crosss that tier, all non-gas/restaurant spending earns you 1% cashback.
Since there are other rewards cards where you can earn higher cash rebates than .25% on your spending, this doesn’t make the Open Road card ideal for purchases other than gas. However, if you use this card just for gasoline then you can earn some decent cash rewards.
Open Road Fees and APR
For a rebate card, the Discover Open Road card has a realitively competitive APR, with a 0% introductory offer for both purchases and balance transfers. Pay attention to the table at the bottom of this article for exact information on current offers. Another nice thing about the card is that it doesn’t charge you an annual fee – so you can earn rewards without paying.
Credit Card Balances
The Open Road card is most recommended to applicants with good credit or better who are most likely to secure the card’s lower rate. The card does use the two-cycle balance to calculate finance charges, which is more expensive than calculating based on average daily balance. Because of that it’s best for people who choose not to carry a balance on their cards.
How to Use the Open Road Card
The wisest way to use this card is purely for gas and restaurant expenses, because if you use the card for general purchases, your cash back rebates won’t be as high. It’s probably easiest to use it just for gas, once you’ve spent your $250 for the month you can switch over to one of the other top gas rewards cards or cash back cards.
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