Q: I was thinking about applying for a Discover card but have never had one before and am unfamiliar with their benefits. Can you explain please?

A: Sure, I’ll be happy to. Because I advertise their cards on this site I know quite a bit about them. The Discover card benefits vary depending on the exact product you choose, but here’s a brief overview of the main ones…

ShopDiscover

This is one of my favorite things about their credit cards – they give you access to the ShopDiscover program. What is it you ask? It’s an online shopping portal that offers a 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus at many popular online retailers – nearly 200!

This screenshot shows a few of the websites participating as of Feb. 2011 in the “Fashion” category but there are several others, including electronics, jewelry, travel, beauty/health, books, and more.

I know you’re probably used to credit cards offering these bonus malls for online shopping but what sets Discover apart from the crowd is that overall, they offer the most generous rebates compared to the other guys.

American customer service

I’m sure you’ve seen those Peggy commercials where they poke fun at credit cards that use foreign customer service. One of the best Discover card benefits is that they use American-based service centers. I’ve been a member for years and have called during late night hours, holidays, as well as more normal times and never once have I received a foreign call rep. Not once!

No annual fee

Most of the Discover cards have no annual fee. In fact, when they first launched in 1986, they really shook up the credit card industry by offering rewards and no annual fee (unheard of at the time).

Discover only has one card with an annual fee and that is the Escape card, which is $60. But the reason for that is because the Discover Escape card offers additional benefits and gives an unlimited 2% rewards on all spending.

Great website for cardholders

It really boggles my mind… the credit cards are such a big money maker for the banks, yet some of them have websites that look like a 5^th grader made them 10 years ago!

I know over the past few years the Discover card website has won awards for being top in the credit card niche. But more importantly, I’ve heard that same sentiment echoed on Credit Card Forum and I personally also like the design and layout of their site the best. It’s easy to navigate and there are useful tools to analyze spending by category and month to keep your budget in check.

Insurance benefits

Like many credit cards, one of the Discover card benefits is Collision Damage Waiver Insurance on car rentals, which is secondary to your normal auto insurance. There is also Scheduled Air Travel Accident Insurance. But let’s hope you never have to use these two Discover benefits!

With the Discover Escape, the card benefits you in a few other ways too: trip cancellation insurance, trip delay insurance, primary car rental insurance (not secondary), and lost/damaged luggage insurance.

But whether you have one of the no annual fee Discover cards or the Escape, it’s important to read cardmember agreements so you understand the rules, limitations, and exclusions to the Discover card insurance benefits. What I mentioned above is only a very brief summary!

Great cash back

Ever since day one, Discover has branded themselves as a premium choice for rewards, so it’s no surprise that’s the benefit they are most well known for today. The most popular is their More card, which offers 5% cash back. Here is Credit Card Forum’s current sponsored offer for it: