Discover Platinum Gas Card: 0% APR + 5% Back on Gas
The Discover Platinum Gas Card is currently offering no-fee 0% APR balance transfers and 0% APR on purchases for 12 months. The fine print clearly says “If you make a balance transfer with this application, there is no balance transfer transaction fee.” I remember looking at this card before, and there was a fee back then.
On top of that you can get 5% cash back on gas and auto maintenance purchases for the first $1,200 of gas you buy in the first year. The beauty of this card is that you can actually take advantage of both the balance transfer and the cashback at the same time since both purchases and balance transfers are at 0% APR. Just wait until after your first minimum balance payment, and you should have room under the credit limit to buy that gas. Finally, even after the 0% promotional period is over, you’ll still have a useable 5% back gas card.
See here for a detailed explanation on how to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfer offers (read all 3 parts). Also check out this example on how I got my money for a similar Discover card offer.
Here is the rewards fine print:
Earn cash rewards on every purchase made with your Card. Each year, earn a full 5% on your first $1,200 in gas purchases. In addition, earn a full 1% on other purchases in excess of $3,000; your first $1,500 in other purchases earns .25% and your second $1,500 in other purchases earns .50%. Gas purchases in excess of $1,200 earn Cashback Bonus at the same rate as other purchases. Purchases made at select warehouse clubs, discount stores and their affiliates earn .25%…. Increase your Cashback Bonus when you redeem your cash rewards for gift cards or certificates from our partners. Rewards are redeemable in $20 increments.
To summarize, the only special thing about this card is the 5% back on your gas purchases. Otherwise, the rewards program is pretty mediocre even though there are no caps on cashback.
I’m not sure how good the “Increase your Cashback Bonus when you redeem your cash rewards for gift cards or certificates from our partners” program is. I think you only get a $25 giftcard in the place of $20 cash now. So unless you have a purchase at one of their partners already planned, I’d take the cash.
I still like these 0% deals alot because as interest rates rise, these offers get even more lucrative. I would bet the average interest rate over the next year would be over 5%. That means, for each $10,000 in balance transfers you get, you’d get over $500 a year. It’s definitely more work than a simple signup bonus, but it’s also more money! As always, print out and save the Terms and Conditions for later when you apply.
Find more in Deals & Offers | 4/5/06, 11:33am | Trackback
April 6th, 2006 at 7:47 am
For the Discover card bonuses, there are different lists of “partners” with different levels of bonuses. There are about 25 partners that allow doubling ($40 value for $20 in bonus points), a handful of $30 for $20, and another 25 or so with $25 for $20.
There are also a few charities where you they will add 20% to your donation.
Like you said, if you are going to use one of the double partners (ftd.com, a bunch of cruise lines, Sprint, Hollywood Video, Lawn-Boy, a couple hotels, Sharper Image, among others), it’s a good deal.
April 6th, 2006 at 9:38 am
Well, not exactly because of your costs of carry. You still have to make minimum payments every year. Back when ED was paying 4% APY and CC mins were 2% of the balance, you had to pay about 44 basis points to do the 0% transfer making your effective APY 3.56%
Now that ED is paying 4.5% and CC mins have increased to 4%, your effective APY is 3.51%. So you can still make money, but it’s costing you more.
April 6th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Oops, forgot I had set up my excel sheet to calculate the APY if you pay the first amount instead of the exact minimum. The actual APY is 3.62%. Sorry for the confusion.
April 6th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Hmmm. I buy gas at Costco and AM/PM. Costco doesn’t accept credit cards, but normally has a .15 premium over major gas stations so it’s probably about a wash. I don’t believe that AM/PM accepts credit cards, so that’s out. I guess I’ll just keep on keeping on. (Not that I’ve really done the balance transfer thing anyway)
April 6th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Have you attempted a second (or more) balance transfer on either the Citi Professional card or the Citi Simplicity card? I mean within the 9 or 12 month period where there are no fees and the APR is 0%. The offer still shows up when I log in which makes it appear as if it’s possible. I transferred an amount less than my limit and am considering a second transfer of the difference (plus the payments I’ve made).
April 6th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Tim - Thanks for the tips.
Frank - you’re right, I’m definitely estimating, there are alot of variables in this game, I just choose to ignore them to keep it simple since it’s all free money. I also just like round numbers
My minimum payments are still 2% - when are they supposed to go up?
Hazzard - Doesn’t Costco take AmEx? I have no Costco gas, so I don’t know about at the pump.
Scott - I haven’t, but I’m pretty sure you can for Citibank, especially for the wording of the terms on those two cards. I get that offer too. Hmmm… no fees… maybe it’s worth it? =)
April 6th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Costco accepts AmEx. I believe they also accept ATM/debit cards, but I think they were trying to phase that out.
Not sure about the 15 cent premium. In my area they are generally about 10 cents cheaper than the alternatives.
I used to buy gas at Arco (BP/AM/PM), but it is such a hassle to pay with cash I gave that up. Plus now generally Costco is cheaper than Arco by a few pennies I charge it to my Costco Amex.
April 6th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
All Discover cards now give a bonus 5% cashback now
through June if you sign up.
At one unbranded gas station that has the cheapest gas in my neighborhood, Discover lists the store as a Grocery purchase, so I don’t get the discount unless I go to a big brand station.
April 6th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
You can call them if they get the purchase classification wrong. I always buy gas at a 7-11/Citgo, and during the last gas “Get More” offer they classified it a grocery. But when I called them and they corrected it and adjusted my cashback bonus.
April 6th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
I have had a Discover Card for years, and changed it to the gas card last year. Then, even more recently, after I got the Citi Dividend card (which already gives you the 5% on gas), I changed it to the restaurant card. Now I get 5% on all restaurant purchases - and that includes fast food.
However, I believe they are phasing this out. I got a letter this week saying that in July, the card will change to a blend similar to that of the Citi Dividend card (though different enough to still be worthwhile I think). I am not sure if this applies to the gas card as well, but the link that SanDance supplied makes it appear so.
As for changing the card from gas to restaurant or vice versa - just call them up and tell them.
One last thing - the crummy rewards percentage schedule can be changed. I changed mine so that I get 1% on the FIRST $1,500, and then less on amounts thereafter.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:19 am
That sounds like a pretty decent deal. You always seem to find good ones.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:16 am
Doesn’t this just amount to earning $60? 5% of $1200? That just doesn’t seem worth it for the hassle of using a credit card.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:54 am
DISCOVER CARD sucks, they are a fraud. Well its not litteraly true. The fact is there is always a portion that is screwed over and discover card is one that will screw over a lot of people. Talking from my past expiernces and of others u can google and find out what they do….
April 7th, 2006 at 9:23 am
Everyone has their own preferences, but getting back $60 year for something I buy anyways sounds good to me! To me, using credit cards is less of a hassle then worrying about cash, and I have a record of what I spent and where.
If you already have credit card debt at high rates or otherwise know you can’t control your spending when using credit cards, that’s another story.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Jonathan. Thanks for the linky in the blog, but when I go to the website and apply, they dont ask me for any balance transfer to credit card information (at least not in the first page). so, if we do not do transfer with the application there will be a transaction fee right. how did you do it? plz. help me.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
The very next page after the first page will ask you about Balance Transfers. It will not go straight to processing after the first ‘Submit Application’ button, not to worry.
Remember, I would ask for the maximum balance transfer you want. For example, you could ask for $20k, and they’ll give you $15k if they don’t want to give you all $20k. But if you would’ve just asked for $10k, you would’ve only gotten that $10k.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Interesting deal: link
Citi now gives you points each month for using ordinary services. I figure that with the Citibank Account and six extra services, that nets about 10,000 free points per year. Combined with Citi Diamond Rewards card (which also uses ThankYou points), it should be easy to earn regular trips to Hawaii.
April 8th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Yeah Jonathan..it did ask for balance transfer option in the second page. Thanks!
April 10th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Hey Jonathon,
I thought that had already gone up. Not too sure when there are suppose to increase to 4%.
July 29th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Beware of Discover Card and their 0% interest offers. I got one of those introductory rates for 0% interest for 1 year. About two weeks ago, I noticed that they started charging me interest. This was only 7 months into my no interest period. I called and asked what was going on, they said the computer said it was only for 7 months. The problem is now I can’t find my original application. So as John 16424 in Salt Lake city said, we have to go by what the computer says. Word of advice keep ALL your documentation or Discover will try and bait and switch you.
So ya. Discover Card SUCKS!