The Discover cash back perks went down quite a bit, at least from my perspective. The categories I used to use come on way less frequently now.

yup just easier to use my bofa card which is 2.625% on everything (due to platinum honors preferred rewards which is "easy" to obtain with some >100k in a brokerage account - could be equities, CDs, money market.. whatever)

Also your 401k and IRA count.

And they hard-capped the 5% categories so it's really just 1% plus a little.

I find the mental overhead of tracking categories to be extremely irritating and I have just stopped using the discover card.

Write the category name on a piece of paper, tape said paper to the card.

Repeat every quarter.

There are at least two cards with useful quarterly bonus categories.

Exactly.

The overhead is no more than swapping out the cards in the wallet every 3 months and try to remember what the categories are. That's not even necessarily if you regularly use digital payments (and of course if the merchants support that).

(And I believe most people never hit that $1500 cap in specific category. If you do, like, spending $500 on restaurant/Amazon/Costco a month is like nothing to you, ignore everything I say)

I'd say the overhead is much much lower than things like "digital coupons" offered by grocery stores -- those are truly aimed at low income shoppers who are willing to spend time doing that.

Is this because the discover card is otherwise less ideal to use?

Lots of places don’t take it. Their fees are higher than Visa

I’ve got an Amazon Visa that gives me 5% back on Amazon purchases, 2% on gas and restaurants, and 1% on everything else. Rewards redeem on Amazon so effectively as good as cash.

Ironically, you're demonstrating why Amex has higher status or "perceived value." The stereotypical Discover cardholder is extra frugal, micromanaging small cashback percentages (and bragging about it), something the stereotypical Amex cardholder doesn't have time for. It's kind of the same way a cheap Holiday Inn will make a big deal about offering free breakfast while the Four Seasons, costing 10x as much, does not. Now, stereotypes may not be reality, but that's what 60 years of very effective marketing can do.

Funny enough, Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts (of which most Four Seasons properties are in) often includes free breakfast, late checkout, and a $100 credit alongside other perks.

I don’t know that I am a stereotypical Amex cardholder (member since 2012) but I certainly love perks like that and will always check for FHR listed hotels when booking travel.

AMEX uses perks like this to give you and ROI to get your spouse's approval for pay for the card.

Reality is that you want a couple of benefits, maybe airport lounge or late checkouts. That's not worth the Platinum card fee -- but if you are saving $25/month with Uber, getting your free Four Seasons breakfast, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, etc, suddenly you're making money by paying $1000 for a charge card. For me, I pay for a Hilton and Delta card. I basically end up with a completely $0 3-5 day getaway annually, with a value that is well above the baseline 2% cash back.

Other brands charge lower fees, but make you use captive portals for travel. Sometimes that hurts your earnings with the hotel and airline programs, which is meaningful to some folks. Personally, I find value in having airline and hotel "status" for preferred boarding and little perks.

Well I'd say you are definitely a stereotypical AmEx card holder.

My salary is decent enough compared to the general population (>$200k yr), so does my SO. But when we travel it never occur to us to check FHR -- those places are too expensive, and we didn't see value in those "perks".

Chances are that your income is much higher than mine, or at least you are much more willing to spend even at the same income level.

I've stayed away from AmEx cards specifically because of the level of micromanaging you need to get the expected value out of them. With something like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Venture/Venture X, for contrast, the only thing you really need to keep in mind to get the face value of it is to book flights through their travel portal.

Yes, and that is Amex's selling point to merchants who are concerned that its fees are too high -- that it delivers exclusive, high-margin, free-spending customers rather than the other cards' value-oriented masses.

Those 5% cashback categories only apply to the first $1500 spent that quarter. Basically if you were to regularly use your discover card you’d instantly hit the cashback cap within a week.

No, I've never hit the cap. I don't spend (for instance) >$1500 on gas in a 3 month period. And these are all purchases I'd be making anyways - why not put them on my Discover card for higher cashback than my "default" card?