Discover offers a variety of different credit cards such as the Discover it, Discover it Miles, Discover it Chrome & Discover it Secured. One card that most people aren’t familiar with is the Discover Premium & Discover Premium Plus, these are Discover’s premium product offerings and are only available by invitation. These cards were released in late 2011.
Contents
Discover Premium Benefits
- No pre-set spending limit
- 24/7 live customer service with a team that caters to Premium Plus cardholders
- 24/7 MyConcierge service
Discover Premium Plus Benefits
There is no annual fee on the Discover Premium Plus, which is in keeping with all of the Discover cards which are also no annual fee. It also comes with the following benefits:
- Access to over 350 airline lounges
- MyConcierge Plus (Access to VIP events and special experiences. For example, special seating at events like the Kentucky Derby, sailing events on Lake Michigan and “meet the chef” tours) and also regular Concierge services (e.g booking restaurants)
- Enhancements to existing benefits, for example roadside assistant costs $49.95 instead of $69.95
Requirements
To be eligible for the Premium Plus you need to:
- Spend more than $40,000 within a card member year on your existing Discover it/More card (I don’t believe this upgrade is currently available for Discover it Miles or Chrome cardholders – but both cards have been released within the past twelve months – so it’s possible upgrades will be made available)
Spending $40,000 or more in a single card member year does not guarantee you an invitation though, there are other factors that come into play such as: your credit score, income and presumably your profitability for Discover. The Premium card has a similar, but lower (and unknown but probably $20,000+ – although there is at least one report of somebody being bumped up to Premium with only $5,000 in spend) spending requirement and also no guarantee of an invitation.
Why Does Discover Offer These Increased Benefits?
Discover are able to offer these increased benefits because they charge merchants a higher rate to accept Discover Premium & Discover Premium Plus cards (this is usually the standard with all higher end cards and most merchants are happy to pay these increased fees due to purchases usually being larger and more profitable from these lucrative cardholders).
Helcim shows the following chart:
Final Thoughts
I don’t think the benefits of the Premium Plus warrant spending $40,000 on the card, although I suspect quite a lot of people will hit that spending threshold due to the Double Cash promotion, as earning 2% cash back on base purchases, 10% on rotating categories and double Discover deals is quite a good deal. I don’t think the airport lounge access is completely free, but rather a Priority Pass membership.
If you’ve received an upgrade, then please let us know more about it in the comments below.
