The Capital One Savor Rewards Mastercard is a low-fee card which earns unlimited rewards for dining, entertainment, and more. For most people, alternative cards are a better option, especially the no-fee SavorOne from Capital One. Savor might be worthwhile for the first year in some circumstances, especially with Capital One’s new Uber partnership. Long-term, however, it’s a questionable choice.
FEATURES AT A GLANCE
- $95 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- 10% cash back with Uber and Uber Eats (plus free Uber One membership until November 2024)
- 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 3% cash back at grocery stores
- 4% cash back at restaurants
- 4% cash back on streaming services
- 4% cash back on “entertainment” (including movie theaters and zoos) or 8% cash back at Capital One Entertainment
- 1% cash back on everything else
SIGN UP BONUS
Earn $300 by spending $3,000+ within 90 days. This bonus isn’t great, as a mere 10% Return on Spend (RoS). After taking the $95 annual fee into account, this is only $5 more than the SavorOne card ($200 bonus). The SavorOne also has an introductory 0% APR offer which the Savor doesn’t have.
OTHER BENEFITS OF THE SAVOR CARD
- Extended Warranty
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Concierge Service
- Zero Fraud Liability
- Event/Experience Access
- Capital One Offers
RESTRICTIONS AND CREDIT SCORE
Recommended credit score: 670+
Capital One limits people to 1 card every 6 months (the “1/6 rule”) although this limit is an anti-churning measure and doesn’t apply to the average consumer.
“Streaming” purchases include “eligible” services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Capital One excludes audiobook and fitness subscriptions, Prime Video, AT&T TV, and Verizon FIOS On Demand. If you want to use this card for streaming purchases, make sure your preferred service(s) is covered under the 4% cash back category.
“Entertainment” purchases include “Ticket purchases made at movie theaters, sports promoters (professional and semi-professional live events), theatrical promoters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, record stores, pool halls or bowling alleys. This excludes golf courses, collegiate sporting events and non-industry entertainment merchant codes like cable, digital streaming and membership services.”
MAXIMIZING REWARDS WITH THE SAVOR CARD
The card earns cash back rewards in a simple and straightforward way. There isn’t anything special to do that would maximize rewards, unlike the Capital One Venture cards.
Sometimes you can earn bonus cash back with Capital One cards. (“Capital One Shopping.”) They have affiliate links and offers which vary often. For example, you could temporarily get up to 6% cash back at Macy’s when going through Capital One’s website. It can be good to check the available options before making a purchase somewhere.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE SAVOR
The closest and best alternative is the Capital One SavorOne, which doesn’t have an annual fee. Its rewards are slightly reduced to 3% instead of 4%, but this is a negligible difference for most people. It only matters if you’re spending $10,000+ in Savor’s 4% categories annually. But if you’re spending that much money on dining/entertainment, other cards might be better.
The American Express Blue Cash Preferred has the same $95 annual fee as the Savor card, yet earns 6% cash back on groceries and streaming instead of 4%. The downside is that grocery spending is limited compared to Savor/SavorOne having unlimited rewards.
Big spenders may prefer the American Express Gold charge card for its near-unlimited 4x points on groceries and dining, as long as they can use the Gold’s credits to offset the bigger annual fee.
Click here to see our list of the best grocery credit cards. The Citi Custom Cash Card (CCCC) will be the best fit for most people (5% back) but this varies due to the card’s spending limits. SavorOne is often best for unlimited earning.
Click here to see our list of the best restaurant/dining credit cards. The US Bank Altitude Go earns 4% cash back without an annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve can earn up to 10x points on dining/travel for a large annual fee.
Click here to see our list of the best streaming/entertainment credit cards. The US Bank Altitude Go can be the best option for this category as well, although YMMV. These aren’t big spending categories for most people anyway. There are even ways to get streaming/entertainment for a discounted rate or even for free, depending on the service and your personal circumstances.
For a general-use card, any of the best everyday cards will work. You’ll want to earn at least 2% cash back on all purchases. Anyone who travels is likely best off with Capital One’s new Venture X Visa Infinite. It’s effectively fee-free for anyone who spends more than $300-400 per year on flights/hotels, and earns more points than Savor/SavorOne.
CONCLUSION
The Savor Rewards Mastercard is an underwhelming option in most cases. Its rewards aren’t significantly better than the SavorOne and its introductory bonus is low. If you’re a medium-high spender, the best route might be to get Savor then downgrade to SavorOne when it comes time for the 2nd annual fee. If you do this, you get an extra $5 from the sign-up bonus and some extra cash back from the 4% categories. Potentially not worth the effort but it depends on your personal spending levels. You’ll have to know your budget.
One downside of Capital One is that they pull credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). This can hurt your FICO score in the short term, since most card issuers aren’t involved with every bureau. This generally isn’t an issue for most people though.
As of late 2022, the card now has a ton of Uber benefits, which definitely offsets a $95 annual fee, plus up to 8% cash back on travel and entertainment. However, the no-fee SavorOne has these SAME perks. There isn’t any reason to get the Savor unless you know you can take advantage of it. Except if you’re that savvy with credit cards, then you’d know a combination of no-fee cards has the potential to out-earn the Savor card.
Overall, the SavorOne is a much better choice.
We rate the Savor card 2 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐
Note: This review was last updated in December 2022. Details may have changed since then. Please do your own research where applicable, to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Or contact us directly to take advantage of our personalized consulting services!