We think it's important for you to understand how we make money. It's pretty simple, actually. The offers for financial products you see on our platform come from companies who pay us. The money we make helps us give you access to free credit scores and reports and helps us create our other great tools and educational materials.
Compensation may factor into how and where products appear on our platform (and in what order). But since we generally make money when you find an offer you like and get, we try to show you offers we think are a good match for you. That's why we provide features like your Approval Odds and savings estimates.
Of course, the offers on our platform don't represent all financial products out there, but our goal is to show you as many great options as we can.
This offer is no longer available on our site: Chase Freedom Flex℠
The Discover it® Cash Back card offers rotating cash back categories that can help you boost your rewards each quarter.
The card has no annual fee, but to maximize the rewards you can earn, you’ll still need to prioritize your spending to match those rotating categories.
The key is to always know in advance what your next spending categories will be and activate them as soon as possible to avoid missing out — otherwise you won’t earn bonus rewards on purchases in those categories.
- Discover cash back calendar for 2021
- How to activate Discover bonus cash back
- Maximizing your cash back rewards
Discover cash back calendar for 2021
| Year | Q1: January–March | Q2: April–June | Q3: July–September | Q4: October–December |
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2021 |
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How to activate Discover bonus cash back
There are a couple of ways to activate your bonus cash back categories each quarter.
- Through your online account
- Calling 1-800-DISCOVER
If you’ve had the Discover it® Cash Back card for less than a year, remember that Discover matches all of the cash back you earn during the first 12 billing cycles through its Cashback Match program.
Just keep in mind that Discover applies that cash back to your account in the following one or two billing periods after your first year.
Maximizing your cash back rewards
So how do you get the most value from your cash back rewards? Discover offers several ways to redeem your cash back, including …
- Cash or credit: You can opt for a direct deposit into your checking account or a statement credit to help pay down your bill.
- Amazon and Paypal: You can use your rewards to pay when you check out at Amazon.com and Paypal.com.
- Gift cards: You can choose from dozens of brands.
- Charity donation: You can donate your rewards to select charitable organizations.
The Discover 5% cash back bonus categories can help you get more back for everyday purchases. But if you’re not primarily spending in those bonus categories, the card’s 1% base rewards rate is nothing to write home about.
To further maximize your rewards, consider pairing your Discover it® Cash Back card with another credit card to get more rewards on purchases that don’t fall within a bonus category.
- Take a look at our picks for the best Discover cards.
- If these categories don’t make sense for you but you like earning boosted cash back in rotating categories, check out the Chase Freedom Flex℠ for an alternative.
- A flat-rate cash back card like the Citi® Double Cash Card could be a good choice for purchases that aren’t covered by the bonus categories.