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Review: Is the Capital One Savor the best credit card for you?
If you spend a lot on food and entertainment, getting rewarded for your purchases with a credit card that earns strong rewards in those categories can save you money. The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card
is a great choice because it earns 4% cash back on dining, entertainment, and eligible streaming services, 3% back at grocery stores, and 1% back on everything else.
It’s currently offering a solid welcome bonus, too: Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months. The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card also comes with useful benefits like travel accident insurance and extended warranty, plus no foreign transaction fees so you can use it overseas without incurring extra charges.
The card has a $95 annual fee, but it can be well worth it if your expenses in the bonus categories are high. If you’re not sure you’ll spend enough to justify paying the annual fee, there’s a no-annual-fee version of the card the Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card
that offers a lower welcome bonus and earns 3% back instead of 4% back on dining, entertainment, and streaming, and the same 3% back on groceries.
Read more: The best cash-back credit cards of 2021
Depending on your spending habits, you’ll also want to look at other rewards credit cards to see if they’re a better fit. For example, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express earns 6% back on your first $6,000 in U.S. supermarket spending each year (then 1% back), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming services, 3% back on U.S. gas stations and transit, and 1% back on all other eligible purchases (cash back is earned in the form of Rewards Dollars).
Be sure to check out our guides to the best credit cards for groceries, dining, and streaming services for more ideas, too.
Bottom line: The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card is worth considering because of its high earning on dining, entertainment, streaming, and grocery stores and because it earns cash back, you can redeem your rewards for whatever you’d like.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
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Comparison: Capital One Savor vs other Capital One cards
Capital One Savor vs other cash-back credit cards
* With the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 spent per year, then 1% back
****eligible 5% cash back categories on the Citi Custom Cash Card are restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment
How to earn cash back with the Capital One Savor card
The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card is straightforward to use, and you’ll earn cash back as follows:
- 4% cash back on dining
- 4% cash back on entertainment
- 4% cash back on popular streaming services
- 3% cash back at grocery stores
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
The dining category includes eat-in and takeout purchases at restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, fast-food chains, and bakeries. Food delivery services like Seamless and GrubHub should count as well, even though Capital One doesn’t explicitly mention them.
Read more: The best credit cards for food delivery
Entertainment is a very broad category and includes movie theaters, sports promoters (professional and semi-professional live events), theatrical promoters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, record stores, pool halls, and bowling alleys.
Eligible streaming includes services like
Netflix,
Hulu, and Disney+, although some services like Prime Video, AT&T TV, and Verizon FIOS On Demand are excluded. Audiobook subscription services and fitness programming don’t count, either.
Grocery stores include most supermarkets and smaller grocers, meat locker, freezer, dairy product stores, and specialty markets but keep in mind, superstores like Walmart and Target, and big-box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, don’t qualify.
Read more: The best grocery credit cards
There’s also a limited-time promotion through January 31, 2023, to earn 8% cash back on Vivid Seats purchases, like tickets to sporting events, concerts, and theater performances.
How to redeem cash back
The great thing about cash back is that you can use your rewards for anything there are no award charts or complicated redemptions to navigate. Capital One makes it easy to redeem your cash back in any amount, either in the form of a check or statement credits directly applied to your account. Your rewards never expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
You can also set up automatic redemptions at a set time each year, or when you reach a certain threshold of cash back in your account ($25, $50, $100, $200, $500, or $1,500). It’s also possible to redeem rewards for gift cards or merchandise through Amazon or PayPal, but the redemption rate varies.
Read more: The best Capital One credit cards
There’s another redemption option if you also have a Capital One credit card that earns miles, like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. You can transfer rewards from your Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card to your miles-earning account, but the transfers are only allowed one-way (you can’t transfer miles to your Savor account).
Benefits and features
Capital One issues different versions of the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card which come with varying benefits. For example, I have the World Elite Mastercard version, which offers a broader range of benefits but there are some benefits that come with any version of the card.
Extended warranty
Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card cardholders receive extended warranty protection on eligible items purchased with the card.
Travel accident insurance
The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card comes with travel accident insurance for covered losses when you use your card to purchase the fare for your trip.
Read more: The best credit cards with travel insurance
24-hour travel assistance service
If your card is lost or stolen while you’re on the road, you can get an emergency replacement and a cash advance if needed.
Complimentary concierge service
When you have the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card, you’ll get access to a complimentary 24-hour concierge service that can help you with things like dining reservations, hard-to-get event tickets to events, or travel bookings. The service itself is free, but you’ll have to pay for any third-party costs.
Event access
The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card gets you access to VIP experiences, discounts, and on-site perks at sports and concert events, and access to curated dinners and chef collaborations as long as you use the card to pay for your ticket.
Read more: Your credit card number could get you presale ticket access to concerts, sports games, and more here’s how
Account and security alerts
If Capital One detects suspicious activity or unusual charges on your Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card, you’ll get an alert via text, email, or phone call.
$0 fraud liability
Capital One won’t hold you responsible for unauthorized charges made to your account, such as if your card is lost or stolen and someone tries to make purchases with it.
Virtual card numbers
Capital One lets you can generate a virtual card number for more security when you pay for online purchases that way you don’t have to reveal your actual card number.
Card Lock
The Card Lock feature allows you to quickly freeze your card and prevent unauthorized charges if it’s lost or stolen, or even if you temporarily misplace it.
Credit report alerts
Capital One cardholders receive alerts when information on their Experian or TransUnion credit report changes including things like new account inquiries, address changes, or credit score updates.
Read more: Identity theft is a major problem, but these 5 credit card protection programs can help keep you safe
Fees and costs
The Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card has a $95 annual fee, but you won’t pay foreign transaction fees, so it’s a good card to use for international purchases.
Be sure to run the numbers on your own spending to find out if paying the annual fee is worth it for you. Again, the no-annual-fee Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card might be a better fit if your expenses on dining, groceries, and entertainment aren’t that high.
Read more: The best credit cards with no foreign transaction fees
Like most other cards, the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card charges fees for balance transfers, cash advances, and late payments.
Jasmin Baron is an associate editor at Insider, responsible for credit card coverage on Personal Finance Insider. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).
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