You get the discover card, and you 'discover' no one takes it.
amirite?

"Hey Lois, this guy here is trying to pay with a Discover card!"
"Oh, they're in an exclusive club called Anybody!"
"Sir, I would rather take two bits of string than your credit card. I would rather take a jar of pennies who's value is less than that of your bill"
"You don't have to insult me"
"No no, you are going to sit here and listen to all the things I'd rather take than your fly by night credit card"

Sorry Subby but I know a lot of people that have a Discover Card and it is the only card they use because of their liberal cash back policy.

Just don't take a trip to Vancouver with a Discover Card and expect it to work

Made that mistake a couple of years back. Maybe that's changed now?

ongbok: Sorry Subby but I know a lot of people that have a Discover Card and it is the only card they use because of their liberal cash back policy.

The liberal cashback policy is why they are not accepted in a lot of places. They fund the cash back program with fees they charge the merchants. Same with American Express.

When I started working for Big Blue back in 1998, they issued me a corporate credit card that was impossible to abuse. Because nobody accepted it.

Diners Club.

As a consumer, I love my Discover Card.
As a business owner, I hate your Discover Card.

The cash back on Discover isn't really that attractive, when you compare it to the dollar value you can get on other rewards-type cards.

I got a Discover in the late '90s when the CC companies were on a binge of getting new customers with 0% interest and no transfer fees. Used it for that, and never charged a thing with it. They decided to purge their customer rolls after the banking mess started, and sent me a note that they were closing my account. I've recently started getting transfer offers from them again saying they want me back.....go figure.

Discover's regular rewards are mighty meh. But, I do usually get the $15 each quarter for whichever 5% program (restaurants, gas, groceries) are running.

Oddly enough, since Discover has network agreements with JCB, BC Card (Korea), and China Unionpay among others, there is a decent chunk of the world where Discover has a higher merchant acceptance rate than V/MC. Not much higher, but a little.

I have one because... why the fark not? I have one of every type of card (doubled up in some cases if you count debit that works as credit). There was a pretty sweet Discover cashback 20 gets you 40 in Shell gas cards deal earlier in the year.

Personally, I love my Discover card. Great cash back and great customer service. You really can't beat 2% cash back on everything and 5% cash back on their quarterly categories.

Gaseous Anomaly: When I started working for Big Blue back in 1998, they issued me a corporate credit card that was impossible to abuse. Because nobody accepted it.

Diners Club.

Worked for UTC from '89 to '94 we had to each apply for a Diners Club card, member of the board ran Diners Club. Never had a chance to use it in five years.

If you ever sit down to figure out what you spent all your money on, the tools Discover provides are great. Better than the one or two other cards we own.

/Still wondering where some of the money went

I live in Florida, so I could care less about a $1200 snow blower that can be purchased for $800 on a Discover card. I could really care less about their high interest rates, as well.

Sweet, I love that channel. Especially their "The Universe" series hosted by Neil Degrass-Tyson.

M-G: The cash back on Discover isn't really that attractive, when you compare it to the dollar value you can get on other rewards-type cards.

I got a Discover in the late '90s when the CC companies were on a binge of getting new customers with 0% interest and no transfer fees. Used it for that, and never charged a thing with it. They decided to purge their customer rolls after the banking mess started, and sent me a note that they were closing my account. I've recently started getting transfer offers from them again saying they want me back.....go figure.


The marketing, retention and maintenance groups at credit cards don't seem to talk to each other.

CSB time... A long time ago, I gave my mom a credit card of mine for emergencies. She always paid it, but was a few days late a couple of times. (yeah yeah, I shouldn't have done that, but it's my mom).

I got a letter from their maintenance group that tripled the interest rate and gave a number to call with questions. I called the number and that group was rude and nasty - I was treated like a deadbeat - and they could only send me a letter explaining it. The letter came and it was because of those late payments.

I watched the mail for a few days and got a offer that was better than the other card's original rate. I transferred the balance over for free.

I called to close the first card and their retention department gave me the hard sell. I obviously wanted to ditch them and the best rate they could offer wasn't even close to my new card.

Then I started getting mailings from them offering low interest rates and free balance transfers.

They have no idea that they would have been better off if they hadn't been dicks about it in the first place.

Gaseous Anomaly: When I started working for Big Blue back in 1998, they issued me a corporate credit card that was impossible to abuse. Because nobody accepted it.

Diners Club.

Oh, my.

I had no idea Diners' Club existed in 1998.

I have a card that's welcome anywhere . . . Tahoe, Reno . . . Players' Club. I told 'em Telly sent me.

As someone who reviews card volumes daily subby is spot on.

atomic-age: I have a card that's welcome anywhere . . . Tahoe, Reno . . . Players' Club. I told 'em Telly sent me.

I LOL'ed. Thanks

Maybe it is a regional thing but in the 10 years of having a Discover Card I can't think of a single time that I was not able to use it.

Gaseous Anomaly: When I started working for Big Blue back in 1998, they issued me a corporate credit card that was impossible to abuse. Because nobody accepted it.

Diners Club.

One of my previous employers gave me a Diners Club as a corporate credit card. I carried it everywhere, but I don't remember actually using it.

Once I took a few people out to dinner. When the bill came, I asked if they accepted Diners Club. Obviously they didn't, so I handed the waitress my personal card. Everybody made fun of me and my Diners Club the rest of the night. Good times.

I pay my balance in full every month, so there's no interest charge, and I get cash back. No annual fee or other bs charge, either. What's not to like?

thenateman: Gaseous Anomaly: When I started working for Big Blue back in 1998, they issued me a corporate credit card that was impossible to abuse. Because nobody accepted it.

Diners Club.

One of my previous employers gave me a Diners Club as a corporate credit card. I carried it everywhere, but I don't remember actually using it.

Once I took a few people out to dinner. When the bill came, I asked if they accepted Diners Club. Obviously they didn't, so I handed the waitress my personal card. Everybody made fun of me and my Diners Club the rest of the night. Good times.

I hardly ever used the physical card either. It got used automatically by the corporate travel agent to book flights and hotels. Though I did very little business travel in my tenure there (2 total trips, IIRC).

"In other news, there are people that still use Discover"

Only the ones who don't like to hand over their cash in chunks to Visa/MC. Use Discover and keep one of those crappy cards handy just in case.

/I just can't understand why America is broke