So the blogosphere went nuts yesterday when Discover announced that they would be giving 10% cashback up to $10K in purchases with the new Apple Pay service in the iPhone 6, 6S, and Watch. Full story and details here. This was my contribution to the deal:
Then there was a brief convo on Twitter from Matt who didn’t think it was wise for me to have asked them. I am all about ‘DON’T CALL’ for stuff like mistake fares or clearance items, but for this, it was inevitable that someone was going to ask Discover. And since I was around, I figured I may as well ask. A couple of things here – first, let’s not think Discover is stupid. A business case was done on this 10K promo and it was run through with a Marketing executive who signed off on the business case, fully knowing there is an existing offer already out there of ‘double cashback for the first year to new customers’ and existing customers who got in on it back in June/July. That’s why they capped it at $10K and not unlimited. My point is, Discover KNEW ABOUT THIS scenario already.
Here are the 4 options that could have happened:
- I ask, they say NO. Result – Everyone will be happy with their 10% and go about their merry ways.
- I ask, they say YES. Result – We all get 20% and well now they are kinda stuck to their word and it’d be a bit of a PR blunder if they retracted the offer
- I don’t ask [and no one else asks]. Result – It’s a gamble at this point. We could all slip through the cracks and get the 20% OR they could quietly retract the offer and throw it in the terms and conditions w/o us knowing
I mean, you decide which option would give us the best result. Regardless, number 3 wouldn’t have happened anyway since someone was bound to ask.
So now I’m going to be even more blatant. If you need to sign up for a Discover It card and need a referral, here’s my link. – http://bit.ly/1Mz0e8W
As for getting a compatible iPhone, I hope you got in on T-Mobile’s JUMPONDEMAND program. If not, if it was me and I didn’t have an iPhone, I would ask a good and trustworthy friend who has an iPhone 6 and load my card to their account. Then go with them to do an MS run for a couple of days to meet the $10K spend requirement, and then delete the card off their phone.
I’m new to Discover cards…is the Miles version better b/c it’s 1.5% back? Is your link the standard It version that’s 1%?
David, my link is for the IT card. The miles card has no referral link. Plus, the IT card gives you access to the Disc Deals portal, which is huge. I suggest you get IT now and Miles down the road.