Is the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card the best cash back credit card? With a popular 4% cash back category it’s definitely worth looking into. We’ll go through all the details of the card and dissect whether it competes for the King of cash back credit cards or not.
The Features & Benefits of Capital One Savor
Capital One Savor  |
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| INTRODUCTORY OFFER You’ll earn $300 cash back rewards after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. |
| REWARDS You’ll earn 4% cash back at dining and entertainment. You’ll also earn 2% at grocery stores. |
| BENEFITS Premium experiences in dining, entertainment and more. |
| FEES $95 Annual Fee. No foreign transaction fees. |
| TRAVEL FREEDOM THOUGHTS This is a great cash back card with a large introductory offer and a waived annual fee in year 1. |
| [earnist_link ref="capital-one-savor-cash-rewards-apply" id="10373"]LEARN HOW TO APPLY NOW >>[/earnist_link] |
The Capital One Savor Introductory Offer: Cashback vs Travel Points
The Capital One Savor comes with a very good introductory offer, especially from a [earnist_link ref=”cash-back-category-table” id=”6246″]cashback credit card[/earnist_link]. You will not get as much value as you would with travel points, but travel is not always for everyone. With cash back, every point is essentially worth one cent. It makes redemption a brainless process. It doesn’t matter how you use the points, they’ll still be worth one cent.
The other good part about this introductory offer is the fact that the annual fee is waived in year one. That means that you get at least $500 of value without having to pay any sort of fee in year one. I personally think that the introductory offer is the only part of this credit card offer that is good. I’ll explain more about why below when we discuss the annual fee.
Earning with the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Card
The Capital One Savor has a couple of very good bonus rewards categories. Savor means to taste food or drinks and enjoy them completely, so it makes sense that the Capital One Savor earns 4% on dining (an industry leader). The card also earns 4% on entertainment and 2% on groceries.
For this reason and this reason only, the Capital One Savor is a good option only if you are someone who spends a lot on dining and entertainment. Your food might even taste better, knowing that you’ll be earning 4% back on your meal. If you spend hundreds of dollars dining out each month this is a great credit card for you. If you never eat out, it’s not such a great option.
SAVOR – To taste and enjoy completely.
Here is what Capital One considers to be included in the three bonus earning categories:
Dining: (4X Rewards)
- Restaurants
- Fast Food
- Cafe’s
- Bars
- Bakeries
- Lounges
Entertainment: (4X Rewards)
- Movies
- Concerts
- Plays
- Sporting Events
- Tourist Attractions
- Theme Parks
- Aquariums & Zoos
- Pool Halls
- Dance Clubs
- Bowling Alleys
- Record/Video Rental Stores (ummm, do these still exist?!?)
Grocery Stores: (2X Rewards)
- Supermarkets
- Dairy Product Stores
- Specialty Markets
- Meat Lockers
Benefits of the Capital One Savor
Obviously, the dining and entertainment category bonus of 4% is the biggest benefit of the card. Other than the spending bonuses, this card doesn’t offer much in terms of valuable benefits. Especially when compared to other credit cards that come with an annual fee of around $100.
The biggest other benefits are no foreign transaction fees, secondary car rental insurance, roadside assistance, purchase protection and extended warranty, and concierge services. Honestly, I wouldn’t use any of these. When I purchase something, I’m typically OK with the price I paid. I don’t shop much outside of the United States. As far as rental car insurance, I have other [earnist_link ref=”chase-issuer-table” id=”6247″]Chase credit cards[/earnist_link] that give me primary car rental coverage.
Capital One Savor Rewards Card does not bring much to the table (besides dinner). Outside of the introductory offer and the earning bonuses on dining and entertainment, there are no benefits that fit having an annual fee.
Competitors to the Capital One Savor
There are a few competitors to the Capital One Savor card that I want to bring up. They compete in two different ways. First, if you are interested in travel you should look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It touts the same annual fee but comes with much more value if used towards travel. If it’s cashback that you’re truly interested in, there are no fee cards that are very similar and will save you nearly $100 per year.
Chase Sapphire Preferred [earnist_link ref="chase-sapphire-preferred-card" id="6313"] |
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| INTRODUCTORY OFFER You'll earn 60,000 points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months. |
| REWARDS You'll earn 2X points on travel and 3X on dining. |
| BENEFITS Points are worth 25% more when used in the Chase travel portal. No foreign transaction fees. 1:1 point transfer partner hotels and airlines. |
| FEES $95 No foreign transaction fees. |
| TRAVEL FREEDOM THOUGHTS This is the best first travel credit card to get. It has a valuable signup bonus with easy to redeem points. You also get a boost to your points value in the Chase travel portal. |
| [earnist_link ref="chase-sapphire-preferred-card" id="6313"]LEARN HOW TO APPLY NOW >>[/earnist_link] |
Chase Freedom [earnist_link ref="chase-freedom" id="6315"] |
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| INTRODUCTORY OFFER You'll earn $200 (in the form of 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after spending $500 in the first 3 months. |
| REWARDS You'll earn 5% on rotating quarterly categories. (up to $1500 in purchases per quarter) |
| BENEFITS Points can be transferred to primary Chase cards for better redemptions. Free credit score. |
| ANNUAL FEE No annual fee |
| TRAVEL FREEDOM THOUGHTS This is one of the best "cash back" cards for earning rewards. You can earn up to 5X per dollar and those points can be transferred to a primary Chase card for better redemptions. It's a perfect card to pair with either of the Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred. |
| [earnist_link ref="chase-freedom" id="6315"]LEARN HOW TO APPLY NOW >>[/earnist_link] |
As I mentioned above, the benefits of the Capital One Savor card don’t seem to fit the annual fee, but it may still be worth applying for. That’s because it is possible to convert the Capital One Savor into a Capital One SavorOne card before your annual fee is due in the second year.
Is it Worth Paying the Annual Fee?
No. Paying the annual fee for the Capital One Savor is not worth it. I’ll tell you why, and I’ll also tell you why it’s still worth applying for the card. Get the $500 introductory offer and then enjoy almost as good spending bonuses, but without an annual fee. How? Convert your card over to the Capital One SavorOne card before your annual fee is due.
The only major difference between the Savor and the SavorOne is 1%. The Capital One SavorOne card earns all the same cash back except it earns 3% on dining and entertainment instead of 4%. Does that 1% make the Capital One Savor worth the extra $95 expense each year? Well, unless you spend $9500 on dining and entertainment on the card, NO!
That’s how much spending it would take on dining and entertainment to make up the difference of the $95 annual fee. I doubt you spend that much on dining and entertainment, so it might make sense to consider converting your Capital One Savor into the no-fee version.
