Capital One Savor Credit Card Review: 3% Back On Dining & Groceries With No Fee

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is my favorite no annual fee Capital One credit card. Despite the lack of an annual fee, the card has a great rewards structure and no foreign transaction fees. On the surface, the Capital One Savor is a cash back card offering 3% back in major spending categories and 5% back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. However, in conjunction with cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (learn more), rewards earned on this card can be converted into Capital One miles at the rate of 1.0 cents per mile. This means that the card could earn you up to 5x miles, which is awesome. Let’s go over everything you need to know about this card, from the welcome bonus, to the rewards structure, to the ability to earn Capital One miles. Let me just clarify that this is the rebranded version of the Capital One SavorOne, as that rebranding happened in late 2024. This card has all the same basic perks, plus the same earnings structure, as the old card. Link: Learn more about the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card Capital One Savor card summary & key detailsCapital One Savor Card bonus, eligibility, & feesCapital One Savor welcome bonusCapital One Savor eligibility rules explainedCapital One Savor no annual feeCapital One Savor no foreign transaction feesCapital One Savor Card rewards earningCapital One Savor 5% cash back through Capital One TravelCapital One Savor 3% cash back on diningCapital One Savor 3% cash back at grocery storesCapital One Savor 3% cash back on entertainmentCapital One Savor 3% cash back on popular streaming servicesCapital One Savor 1% cash back on all other purchasesCapital One Savor redemption optionsTrick: convert Capital One Savor cash back into Capital One milesCapital One Savor Card benefits & protectionsCapital One Savor Card intro APR offerCapital One Savor Card travel & purchase protectionsIs the Capital One Savor worth it?Capital One Savor vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited comparisonCapital One Savor vs. Capital One VentureOne Card comparisonCapital One Savor FAQsBottom line Capital One Savor card summary & key details Before I get into my Capital One Savor Card review, here’s a high level look at the important details of the product: Capital One Savor Card annual fee: $0 Capital One Savor Card welcome offer: $200 cash back after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months Capital One Savor Card rewards: 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 3% cash back at grocery stores, on dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services, 1% cash back on all other purchases Capital One Savor Card foreign transaction fees: None Capital One Savor Card perks and benefits: 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies, 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies, rental car insurance, travel accident insurance, extended warranty Best for: Those who want a simple cash back card with bonus rewards on a variety of purchase categories, people who don’t want to pay an annual fee Here are my thoughts on the Capital One Savor’s main perks and disadvantages: Capital One Savor prosCapital One Savor consStrong bonus categoriesYou need another Capital One card that earns miles to unlock transfer partnersNo foreign transaction feesRelatively few perks and protectionsIntro APR offer on both purchases and balance transfers Capital One Savor Card bonus, eligibility, & fees When applying for a credit card, the welcome bonus, card eligibility, and fees, are of course all major factors. So let’s start off by taking a look at those details for the Capital One Savor. Capital One Savor welcome bonus The Capital One Savor is offering a welcome bonus of $200 cash back after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. That’s a solid bonus for a no annual fee card that’s rewarding in the long run, and on top of that, there’s a reasonable spending requirement to earn the bonus. As I’ll explain below, that bonus could also translate into 20,000 Capital One miles. Capital One Savor eligibility rules explained The Capital One Savor Card bonus is available to those who haven’t received a new cardmember bonus for this same card in the past 48 months. Some Capital One credit cards have stricter eligibility terms, limiting you to one bonus per card per lifetime, so this is a notable exception. Eligibility for the bonus is independent of whether you have other Capital One cards, and Capital One’s general application restrictions apply. There’s no published credit score you need to get approved for the Capital One Savor Card, as it’s only one of many factors that determines your eligibility for the card. Ideally, I’d hope to have a score in the good to excellent range, hopefully 700+ points. However, people with lower scores have gotten approved, and people with higher scores have also gotten rejected. Earn a cash back welcome bonus with the Savor Card Capital One Savor no annual fee The Capital One Savor has no annual fee, not for the primary cardmember, and not for authorized users. You can’t beat a card with a solid rewards structure that doesn’t have an annual fee. Also keep in mind that holding onto cards long-term and making payments on-time is good for your credit, so there’s value to holding onto cards like this, even if you don’t end up using them all that much. Capital One Savor no foreign transaction fees The Capital One Savor has no foreign transaction fees, which is a noteworthy feature for a no annual fee card. Many people are looking for a good card to use abroad without paying an annual fee, and this card is excellent in that regard. You can even qualify for the 3% bonus categories while abroad, given that for many people, a lot of travel spending is on things like dining and entertainment. Of course purchases posting the correct rewards comes down to the merchant being correctly coded, including for dining and entertainment. Capital One Savor Card rewards earning One of the main reasons you should want the Capital One Savor is because of the rewards structure. The card offers anywhere from 1-5% cash back, depending on the category, with no caps on the earning. Let’s go over the details of that. Capital One Savor 5% cash back through Capital One Travel The Capital One Savor earns 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. If you’re already planning on booking through Capital One Travel, this is a nice rewards boost, but I don’t think it’s the main draw of the card. Capital One Savor 3% cash back on dining The Capital One Savor offers 3% cash back on dining, making it among the best cards for dining spending. Capital One defines dining as including purchases at restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, fast food chains, and bakeries. Capital One Savor 3% cash back at grocery stores The Capital One Savor offers 3% cash back at grocery stores, making it among the best cards for supermarket spending. Capital One defines grocery stores as including purchases at supermarkets, meat lockers, freezers, dairy product stores, and specialty markets. Superstores like Walmart and Target are excluded. Earn 3% cash back at supermarkets with the Savor Card Capital One Savor 3% cash back on entertainment The Capital One Savor offers 3% cash back on entertainment. Capital One defines entertainment as including ticket purchases at movie theaters, sports promoters, theatrical promoters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, record stores, pool halls, and bowling alleys. Capital One Savor 3% cash back on popular streaming services The Capital One Savor offers 3% cash back on popular streaming services. Capital One includes Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ in this category. Capital One Savor 1% cash back on all other purchases For non-bonused categories, the Capital One Savor offers 1% cash back on all purchases. There are ultimately going to be better cards for non-bonused spending, so what really adds appeal to the card is the bonus categories. Capital One Savor redemption options As a cash back card, the Capital One Savor has the straightforward redemption options you’d expect. That includes redeeming your cash back for statement credits to cancel out purchases you made, redeeming for gift cards, and using your cash back through Amazon and PayPal. Trick: convert Capital One Savor cash back into Capital One miles Here’s an interesting angle with the Capital One Savor. While this is technically a cash back card, you can convert the rewards earned on this card into miles in conjunction with a card earning Capital One miles, including the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card (learn more). The transfer can be done directly through your Capital One account, and there are so many great uses of Capital One miles, from transferring them to Air Canada Aeroplan to book Lufthansa business class, to redeeming them with Air France-KLM Flying Blue for award flights on over a dozen SkyTeam airlines. One point of frustration people have with Capital One is that the travel rewards cards don’t have many bonus categories. The Capital One Venture X offers 2x miles per dollar spent, which is among the best return on everyday spending you’ll find on any card, by my valuation. If you paired the $395 annual fee Capital One Venture X with the Capital One Savor, you’d earn: 10x miles on hotels booked through Capital One Travel 10x miles on rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 5x miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel 5x miles on vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel 3x miles on dining 3x miles on grocery stores 3x miles on entertainment 3x miles on streaming services 2x miles on all other purchases That’s a phenomenal credit card duo, if you ask me. For those looking to get into the Capital One mileage ecosystem, I think this is an exciting opportunity. Rack up valuable travel rewards with this Capital One card combo Capital One Savor Card benefits & protections It’s always nice when credit cards have valuable benefits and perks, though admittedly these are often pretty limited on no annual fee cards. Let’s take a look at those details for the Capital One Savor Card. Capital One Savor Card intro APR offer Like many other cash back cards, the Capital One Savor Card comes with an introductory APR offer. In this case, it’s 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies. It also offers 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 12 months; 18.74% - 28.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies. Even among cards with intro APR offers, not all of them extend to new purchases as well as balance transfers. If you have a big expense coming up and you need some extra buffer to pay it off, this benefit can be helpful. Just make sure you can pay your balance off before the intro period ends. Capital One Savor Card travel & purchase protections The Capital One Savor also comes with a few other benefits that apply to travel and purchases made with the card: When you pay for an eligible item with the Capital One Savor Card, you’ll get an extended warranty at no extra charge For trips paid for with the Capital One Savor, you’re also eligible for travel accident insurance As a Mastercard, the Capital One Savor also offers MasterRental rental car insurance and Master RoadAssist roadside service The Capital One Savor doesn’t offer extensive travel protections like the more premium Capital One Venture X, but it does get you complimentary access to Capital One’s 24/7 concierge service that can help arrange travel, dining, and more For a no annual fee card, these are pretty strong perks. In particular, it’s rare to see a no annual fee card that offers concierge service, in case that’s something you value. Is the Capital One Savor worth it? There are two ways to consider the value proposition of the Capital One Savor — you can look at the value of the card independently, or you can look at the value of the card in conjunction with the Capital One Venture X. Independently, I think the Capital One Savor could be an attractive option for many types of consumers: Having a card with no foreign transaction fees that earns 3% cash back in categories like dining, grocery stores, and entertainment, is pretty awesome; however, I wouldn’t recommend using this card for non-bonused spending, since you can do better than 1% cash back on those purchases, with the best credit cards for everyday spending Personally I like earning travel rewards rather than cash back for my credit card spending, since I can get outsized value that way; however, knowing how to redeem miles efficiently takes some work, and not everyone finds that to be worthwhile In conjunction with the Capital One Venture X, I think the Capital One Savor is a slam dunk combination: You can complement the excellent return on everyday spending offered by the Venture X with the good bonus categories offered by the Savor, all without paying an additional annual fee While the Venture X has a $395 annual fee, in reality the card shouldn’t cost anyone nearly that much, given the $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles; then on top of that the card offers a Priority Pass™ membership, access to Capital One Lounges and Capital One Landings, cell phone protection, rental car coverage, and more While my priority would be applying for the Capital One Venture X if I didn’t already have it, given the much bigger bonus and overall compelling value proposition, I’d definitely consider the Savor to be an important part of a long-term strategy for maximizing rewards with Capital One. Having the card can super charge the travel rewards you earn Capital One Savor vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited comparison The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (learn more) is another card that should be on your list if you want solid cash back with no annual fee. Here’s how it compares to the Capital One Savor: The Chase Freedom Unlimited offers a different rewards structure — you’ll earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on dining at restaurants and on drugstore purchases, and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases The Chase Freedom Unlimited has a similar trick to the Capital One Savor, where you can combine your cash back points with a more premium Chase card to unlock Ultimate Rewards transfer partner redemptions The Chase Freedom Unlimited charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, while the Capital One Savor doesn’t have this fee The Capital One Savor is the clear winner for spending overseas. Beyond that, I think the better option largely comes down to whether you prefer Chase points or Capital One miles, and how each card’s rewards structure aligns with your spending. Capital One Savor vs. Capital One VentureOne Card comparison The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (learn more) is a simple card that earns Capital One miles. So how does it stack up against the Capital One Savor Card? The Capital One VentureOne Card has no annual fee, and like the Capital One Savor it doesn’t have foreign transaction fees The Capital One VentureOne Card earns 5x miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.25x miles on all other purchases The miles you earn from the Capital One VentureOne Card can be redeemed with Capital One transfer partners without a reduced redemption ratio, which is pretty nice for a no annual fee card It could be worth having both the Capital One VentureOne Card and the Capital One Savor in your wallet to maximize both bonus categories on the Capital One Savor and non-bonus spending on the Capital One VentureOne Card. This is especially true because they’re both no annual fee cards. Is the Capital One Savor Card hard to get? The Capital One Savor isn’t necessarily hard to get. There are actually a few different versions of the Savor card, including one for excellent credit, one for good credit, one for fair credit, and one for students. What is the typical limit for a Capital One Savor Card? The typical credit limit for a Capital One Savor Card isn’t published by Capital One. The exact credit limit you’ll qualify for on the Capital One Savor depends on your credit score and other factors when you apply for the card. Which card is better, the Capital One Savor or Capital One SavorOne? The better pick between the Capital One Savor and the Capital One SavorOne Card depends on your priorities, though both cards have the same 3% cash back earning categories. The Capital One Savor Card has no annual fee and an intro APR offer, but it’s targeted toward users with excellent credit, while the Capital One SavorOne has a $39 annual fee and no intro APR offer and is marketed toward consumers with fair credit. What are the downsides of the Capital One Savor Card? The downsides of the Capital One Savor Card are that it doesn’t offer benefits that you’ll find on more premium cards, like statement credits and lounge access, and that it doesn’t come with much travel coverage beyond travel accident insurance and rental car insurance. What credit score is needed for the Capital One Savor Card? While the Capital One Savor doesn’t have a published credit score requirement, Capital One recommends it to customers with credit scores in the excellent range. How do I use rewards from the Capital One Savor? You can use rewards from the Capital One Savor to get cash back on your credit card statement, or if you have a card like the Capital One Venture X that earns Capital One miles, you can transfer your rewards to that card and redeem them as miles with airline and hotel partners. Bottom line The Capital One Savor is a no annual fee card that offers 3% cash back on dining, grocery stores, entertainment, and streaming services. However, personally, I think the most interesting angle is pairing the card with the Capital One Venture X. If you have both cards, then you can convert cash back into Capital One miles at the rate of 1.0 cents per mile. This essentially means that the Savor could offer the equivalent of 3x miles in the above categories, which is pretty awesome. If you have the Capital One Savor, what has your experience been? Anyone use the card to earn travel rewards rather than cash back?