Capital One Savor Credit Card Review: Lucrative No Annual Fee Card

Link: Apply now for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

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 this is a cash back card offering 3% cash back in major spending categories. However, in conjunction with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review), rewards earned on this card can be converted into Capital One miles at the rate of one cent per mile. This means that the card could earn you up to 3x 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.

Savor Card 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.

This bonus is available to those who don’t currently have and haven’t had the card in the past. Eligibility for the bonus is independent of whether you have other Capital One cards, and Capital One’s general application restrictions apply.

Savor Card Has 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.

Savor Card Rewards Structure

One of the main reasons you should want the Capital One Savor is because of the rewards structure. The card offers anywhere from 1-3% cash back, depending on the category, with no caps on the earning. Let’s go over the details of that.

Earn 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.

Earn 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 On Entertainment

The Capital One Savor offers 3% cash back on entertainment. Capital One defines entertainment as including purchases at movie theaters, sports promoters, theatrical promoters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, record stores, pool halls, and bowling alleys.

Earn 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.

Earn 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.

Pay 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.

Trick: Convert 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. The transfer can be done directly through your Capital One account, and there are so many great uses of Capital One miles.

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 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
• 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.

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, access to Plaza Premium Lounges, great authorized user perks, 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.

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 one cent 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?