You can apply here and get a $150 Restaurants.com Gift Certificate after your first purchase.
With the Discover® Open Road Card you can earn 2% Cashback Bonus automatically at any gas station and any restaurant. (You can earn 5% Cashback Bonus on up to $300 in gas, hotel, theme park, and movie theater purchases now through September.) You can also earn up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases. In my opinion, Discover currently has the best rewards programs out there and the Open Road card is no exception.
It’s important to note that you get locked into the 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases after you spend your first $3,000 annually with the card. If you are looking to earn up to 1% right off the bat, I recommend paying a few bills with your card that you would have otherwise paid for with cash and then paying the card balance off immediately.
Cash back amounts are automatically credited to your bank account, alleviating the stress that comes with many rewards cards. Once cash back rewards have reached the minimum level of twenty dollars, the transfer can begin! Alternatively, these funds can be debited to the credit card account.
Instead of choosing cash back, redeem for gift cards from your favorite retailers and double the rewards that are being earned. This allows the cardholder to create a rewards credit card that works for them – creating the ability to choose between cash back, or great deals on retail gift cards. This is probably my favorite option for redeeming points – ShopDiscover is a huge online mall available only to Discover cardholders that offers great discounts (generally 5% – 20% off) at hundreds of top retailers.
In addition to the mentioned rewards, this card offers some additional perks. These include the following:
- Points never expire
- Travel assistance is available 24/7
- $25,000 worth of secondary collision damage coverage on auto rentals
- $500,000 worth of flight accident insurance
- No liability for fraudulent purchases
- $1,000 in cash and credit monitoring is available if your wallet is stolen
- 24 hour customer service via the Internet or over the phone
The Discover Open Road Card does not have an annual fee. If you are planning on traveling abroad the card currently has a 2 percent foreign transaction fee.
This card has many positive features. However, it has a few drawbacks. They are as follows:
You’ll only receive 2 percent cash back on the first $250 spent monthly on restaurant and gasoline purchases. This won’t hurt those who drive fuel efficient cars for reasonable distances and those who don’t dine out frequently, but those who are on the road and dine out frequently will probably not receive 2 percent on some of their purchases. You’ll still get 1 percent back on purchases over $250 in a given month.
The first $250 spent each month on gasoline and restaurant purchases does not count towards the $3,000 spending tier.
Warehouse purchases always earn 0.25 percent cash back and do not count toward the $3,000 spending tier.
You’ll only earn 0.25 cash back percent until you reach the $3,000 spending tier, which is not all that great for purchases that are not made at restaurants or gas stations.
Discover Open Road vs Chase Freedom
In terms of the gasoline and restaurant rewards of each card, the Discover Open Road card wins out for most people. The Discover Open Road card offers 2 percent cash back year round in these categories for the first $250 spent monthly and 1 percent thereafter. The Chase Freedom Visa card, on the other hand, offers 5 percent cash back for gasoline from July through September and on restaurants from October through December. Basically, unless you take an extremely long summer road trip, you’re probably going to get more cash back by using the Discover Open Road card.
As for the other categories, it is generally up to your specific circumstances as to which is better. The Chase Freedom Visa card offers 5 percent cash back on rotating categories, so you could end up better off if you kept up with them. Each card offers 1 percent on most other categories.
Discover Open Road vs Shell MasterCard
Sometimes people don’t want to go through the process of signing up for a traditional credit card. Gas station specific cards, such as the Shell MasterCard, tend to involve an easier process and a quick approval or denial. How does the Discover Open Road card compare to the Shell MasterCard?
Users of the Shell MasterCard earn a 5 percent rebate on purchases at Shell stations. They also earn a 1 percent rebate on purchases everywhere else. On the surface, this appears to make this a better gas card than the Discover Open Road card. However, the rebates are only good at Shell, so if their prices are high or you’d rather get cash back to spend at your discretion, it would be better to have the Discover Open Road card due to it’s flexibility. Essentially, if you live in an area that has a lot of Shell stations and you prefer to use their gasoline, then the Shell Card may be better for you. However, if you are looking for a more comprehensive card with greater flexibility, then it may be best to go with the Discover Open Road card.
This card is very useful for road warriors, as it’s name implies. You’ll be able to find better cards for purchases that are not gasoline or restaurant related, but that is not what this card is all about.
Overall, the fact that you earn 2% back on gas and restaurant purchases year round, combined with up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on all other purchases makes Discover Open Road a fantastic credit card. Another thing I love about this card, and Discover in general is how easy they make it to redeem points and the options and perks that go along with their cards.
Apply For The Discover® Open Road Card – $150 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate
- Credit RequiredGood Credit
- Rewards Program2% Cashback at any gas station and restaurant. 1% unlimited cashback on everything else.
- Signup BonusFree $150 Restaurants.com Giftcardafter your first purchase.
Kevin Fleming founded CreditShout in 2008 to help people manage their credit and finances. Kevin wants to make it easy for anyone, regardless of their level of financial knowledge to understand credit cards and what may seem like the complex world of personal finance. | 
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