New Discover Card Awards 3 Percent Rebate on Travel

Earning miles and points with credit cards has become a key part of travel-rewards seekers’ repertoires. The sign-up bonuses can be huge, and for many infrequent travelers, the points earned for everyday spend outstrip those earned from actually flying.

Accordingly, the competition among card issuers for the business of travel-focused cardholders has become intense, with card companies constantly upping bonuses and adding benefits to keep their products competitively relevant.

The latest entry in the travel-rewards credit card universe is the new Miles card from Discover. Its chief selling point: an effective 3 percent rebate on travel purchases. But getting that requires some delay in gratification.

Miles cardholders earn 1.5 points per $1 charged to the card. After the first year, Discover will double the cardholder’s accumulated points, increasing the earn rate to 3 points per $1. Then the points can be redeemed for a statement credit toward any travel purchases charged to the card.

In the end, if you stick with the card for a full year and use points to offset travel charges, the rebate amounts to 3 percent. That’s very solid value. Adding additional value:

• The card has no annual fee.
• There are no foreign transaction fees for overseas charges.
• Cardholders receive free FICO scores.
• Cardholders receive an annual $30 credit for inflight Wi-Fi purchases.
• Late fee waived for the first late payment.

For infrequent travelers who earn most of their points from credit card use with an eye to earning travel rewards, the new Discover Miles card has a lot to recommend it. And the price is right.

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This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.