Good Housekeeping Rewards vs. Shop Discover - comparison of the two rewards programs

Good Housekeeping Rewards vs. Shop Discover - comparison of the two rewards programs

Good Housekeeping has launched their own rewards program, available at their site. The Good Housekeeping Rewards program is quite similar to Shop Discover in the way it works. Here is a comparison of the two rewards programs, both of which you must shop through their links to obtain rewards.

1. Membership/Subscribership

Good Housekeeping Rewards requires you to be a subscriber to use, and non-subscribers can snag a 90-day free trial. However, subscribing to Good Housekeeping is ultra cheap and many times you can get a subscription for $10 or less. Coke offers a 1-year subscription for 140 MCRAmazoners - it is available for $10 with a $5 instant credit at checkout at Amazon.com (2 years is $15 with the same offer).

To use Shop Discover, you must be a Discover Card card holder. Discover Card users do not need to sign up separately for this rewards program (unlike their quarterly promotions).

2. Rewards values

Shop Discover clearly offers a larger percentage back at many retailers. In comparing a few of the retailers that were on both lists, I noted that, for the most part, Shop Discover offered 4% more back than shopping at Good Housekeeping Rewards. (Best Buy is only 1% at GHR and 5% at Shop Discover). Smaller purchases wouldn't yield much of a difference; however, large purchases would make the disparity quite evident. Would you rather earn $5 on a $100 purchase or $1?

3. Coupon codes/discounts

Shop Discover does not allow the use of any other coupon in connection with shopping through their site to reap the rewards. Conversely, Good Housekeeping Rewards does. When applicable, you may use a shopping code and still earn the stated percentage reward. This would be where checking both sites to determine which site would offer you the best value is encouraged. A few percentages more in reward may not be the best deal if a larger coupon amount is available on the GHR site.

4. Retailers

Admittedly, the Shop Discover list is impressive, although not as extensive as the Good Housekeeping Rewards list. There is some overlap when it comes to retailers, but a big plus for the Good Housekeeping Rewards site is that there are over 200 retailers. Not all offers are for cash back; some are discount coupon codes. Still, the Good Housekeeping Rewards site offers a variety that Shop Discover does not. If a retailer does not appear on the Shop Discover site, they may be listed at Good Housekeeping Rewards, so be sure to check before venturing to a shopping site.

5. Rewards redemption

Your purchases through Shop Discover will eventually credit to your cash back bonus availability. From there, you can redeem for gift cards once you have at least $20 accrued in cash back bonus. For gift cards, at the very least $20 will translate into a $25 dollar gift card. However, the list of reward partners isn't overly extensive. With Good Housekeeping Rewards, you redeem for a $20 Master Card pre-paid card which doesn't expire. That $20 card is good anywhere, so that is a big plus. Downside with that is that with Discover, your $20 is worth $25 in gift cards and GHR doesn't offer the same benefit of making your rewards stretch further. Still, for those wanting to just have a pre-paid card who aren't overly thrilled with the list of reward partners, Good Housekeeping Rewards may be a better fit.

Overall, depending upon your needs, it may behoove you to shop through both sites. points.