Discover Escape Card Review (discontinued for new applications)
Updated November 25, 2013.
The Facts
The Math
This is essentially a 2% rewards card with a $60 annual fee. One of our favorite cards FIA Fidelity Amex offers 2% cash back without an annual fee.
Discover Escape vs. Capital One Venture: They are almost identical (well Escape is $1 more). However considering places that don't take Discover and Venture's waived foreign transaction fees, Venture is a better card generally. For people who value Discover's customer service or primary rental car collision coverage, on the other hand, Escape could make a lot of sense.
The Conclusion
Very similar to Capital One Venture, Discover Escape can be very valuable. In terms of rewards, Fidelity Amex still trumps both.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $60
- Signup Bonus: 25,000 miles
- Rewards: 2x everything
- Best Use of Discover Miles: First of all, these miles are what I call "fake miles" since they are not associated with any frequent traveler programs. This is rather a rewards program by Discover and there is also no transfer feature (into frequent traveler miles/points). For your information, please see three most popular programs with transfer feature in our featured review SPG vs. MR vs. UR. You can redeem your miles for travel, gift cards, merchandise and cash back at up to 1 cent per mile.
- Other Benefits: Primary rental car insurance - while most credit cards provide rental car insurance, they are secondary, meaning your personal insurance's collision damage coverage kicks in before the credit card's. Please see our featured review on credit cards that come with primary rental card insurance for details.
The Math
This is essentially a 2% rewards card with a $60 annual fee. One of our favorite cards FIA Fidelity Amex offers 2% cash back without an annual fee.
Discover Escape vs. Capital One Venture: They are almost identical (well Escape is $1 more). However considering places that don't take Discover and Venture's waived foreign transaction fees, Venture is a better card generally. For people who value Discover's customer service or primary rental car collision coverage, on the other hand, Escape could make a lot of sense.
The Conclusion
Very similar to Capital One Venture, Discover Escape can be very valuable. In terms of rewards, Fidelity Amex still trumps both.