Capital One Savor Review: Foodie-Focused Rewards for No Annual Fee

Rewards categories are inclusive

As noted earlier, I love this card’s rewards categories, which align oh-so-neatly with spending I’m already doing. But I also appreciate how generously Capital One defines its four bonus categories, which results in me earning 3% back on most of my daily spending, an outstanding return for a $0-annual-fee card. Consider:

• Grocery stores includes purchases at a “supermarket, meat locker, freezer, dairy product store and specialty market.” 

• Dining includes purchases at “restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, fast-food chains and bakeries.”

• Entertainment includes "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.”

• Streaming includes "purchases made from eligible music and video streaming services, including but not limited to Netflix, Hulu and Disney+.” (Verizon FIOS On Demand, audiobook subscriptions and fitness programming are ineligible.)

The grocery category doesn’t include superstores like Walmart and Target, but I don’t buy my groceries there, so I’m not bothered by this exclusion. However, if you primarily shop for your groceries at Walmart, Target or warehouse clubs, another credit card would likely be a better fit.

I also want to call out the extensive list of purchases that fall under the “entertainment” umbrella. I’ve found that almost every activity I take my son to qualifies as entertainment with my Savor card. Tickets to the movie theater, a day trip to the petting zoo and an afternoon at the trampoline park to escape the summer heat all earn 3% back. To my surprise, even the tour we took of an arena in Verona, Italy, counted as entertainment.

At a time when kids' activities are a constant expense for me, my Savor card is a welcome companion in my wallet.

New cardholders get two offers

A sign-up bonus and an introductory 0% APR period are nearly table stakes for good cash-back credit cards nowadays, and the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card doesn't disappoint. For a break on interest, you get 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months; 18.49%-28.49% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies. And the bonus offer doesn't take a lot of work to claim: For a limited time, earn a one-time $250 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.

Rewards redemption is a breeze

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has one of the easiest rewards redemption processes of all of the cards in my wallet. As soon as rewards are posted to my account, they’re available for redemption. This means that I don’t have to wait until the end of the billing cycle, which is the case for my other credit cards. There’s also no redemption minimum, another feature that sets is apart from the other cards in my wallet.

» MORE: Credit cards that give instant rewards

Rewards can be combined with other Capital One cards

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card plays well with other Capital One cards, especially the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or one of its lower-annual-fee siblings.

Nerds who have these cards confirm that you can move rewards earned with the Savor Cash to a card in the Venture family at a rate of 1 Capital One mile for each 1 cent. From there, you can redeem as usual on the Venture-branded card. According to NerdWallet's valuations of Capital One miles, they are worth 1 cent apiece when redeemed for a statement credit against travel purchases or when used to book travel through Capital One. You can also transfer them to Capital One's airline and hotel partners; miles are worth an average of 1.6 cents when redeemed this way, according to our valuations.

Note that you can only transfer rewards from the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card to one of the Venture cards, not the other way around.

MORE NERDY PERSPECTIVE

If dining out is your biggest line item, you can do better

If you don't cook much at home, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card may be a better fit. It earns a whopping 4X back on dining purchases and has no annual fee.

For those who live on drive-through meals, consider the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card. It earns 5% cash back in two categories of your choice (see the list below), on up to $2,000 spent per quarter on combined purchases. Possible 5% categories include fast food but also TV, internet and streaming services. The card also offers an uncapped 2% back in an everyday category of your choice, including restaurants. All other non-bonus-category purchases earn 1% back.

If groceries are your biggest line item, you can do much better — for a fee

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card offers very good rewards at grocery stores. Even so, it's possible to double that rate.

The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers 6% cash back* at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 in spending each year) and 1% after that. Terms apply (see rates and fees). The card charges a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.. Even with the fee, if you spend around $61 at grocery stores each week, it would be a better deal than the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card. The Blue Cash Preferred also earns 6% on select streaming services — twice the rate on the Savor card. If you spend a fair amount on streaming, the annual fee will be even easier to earn back.

Costco shoppers can do better

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is a Mastercard, which isn’t accepted in-store at Costco. But even if you could use the Savor Cash at Costco, you probably wouldn’t want to. Remember that Capital One’s definition of grocery stores doesn’t include warehouse clubs, so a Costco haul would only earn 1% back.

To compound the savings you gain by shopping in bulk, consider the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. It earns an unlimited 2% back on Costco purchases and an unlimited 3% cash back on restaurants and travel, in addition to other bonus categories.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi doesn’t have an annual fee, but you must be a Costco member to get the card, which has its own fee.

» SEE: Best credit cards to use at Costco

To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, see this page.

*Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.