Capital One SavorOne Review: Delicious Rewards for No Fee

A credit card offering good rewards on dining and entertainment is hard to find. That’s why the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card is so valuable: It offers strong rewards to those who love the night life for an annual fee of $0.

The Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of two cards under Capital One's Savor brand. The original Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card now offers beefed-up rewards along with an annual fee (more on that later).

Unlike its competitors, the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card treats dining and entertainment rewards as the main event, not an afterthought. It skips the steep annual fees and cumbersome coupon-esque rewards that cardholders have come to expect from dining rewards programs, and focuses on what's important: pure, unlimited rewards.

If your recycling bin runneth over with takeout containers, the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card is an obvious choice.

Key features

Here are some fast facts about the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card:

Card type: Cash back.

Annual fee: $0.

Sign-up bonus: Earn a one-time $150 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.

Introductory 0% APR: 0% on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, and then the ongoing APR of 16.24% - 26.24% Variable APR.

Rewards:

• 3% cash back on dining and entertainment.

• 2% cash back at grocery stores.

• 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Foreign transaction fees: None.

Minimum redemption requirement: None.

» MORE: Capital One credit cards mobile app review

Why you might want the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card

EASY-TO-EARN REWARDS FOR Going out

You can get plenty of value out of the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card, even if you don't dine exclusively at three-star Michelin restaurants. That's because the card has a generous definition of "dining." Aside from sit-down restaurants, it also earns 3% rewards at bars, coffee shops, nightclubs, fast-food joints and other eateries. The "entertainment" category, also eligible for the 3% rewards, includes "movie theaters, record stores, video rentals (excluding digital streaming and subscriptions services), tourist attractions, amusement parks, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, billiard and pool establishments, bowling alleys and ticketed events (e.g., live theater, bands, orchestras and commercial sports operations)."

You also get bonus rewards for dining in: The card offers 2% cash back at grocery stores.

Unlike some of its competitors, this card doesn't impose minimum redemption requirements or limit your rewards after you spend a certain amount.

NO ANNUAL FEE

Most cards that offer bonus rewards for dining are also travel cards with steep annual fees. That’s a pain if you aren't spending thousands of dollars in the card’s bonus categories.

The Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card offers more breathing room with its annual fee of $0. There's no need to worry about spending a certain amount before breaking even on rewards.

Why another card might be better

You spend over $9,500 a year on dining and entertainment

The original Savor-branded card — the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card  — offers unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores and 1% on everything else, for an annual fee of $0 for the first year, then $95. The extra 1% on dining and entertainment means that, after the first year, it's a more valuable choice than the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card if you spend at least $9,500 a year on dining and entertainment.

Also worth considering is the richer sign-up bonus on that card: Earn a one-time $500 cash bonus after you spend $3000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening

YOU SHOP AT COSTCO

We would be remiss if we talked about no-annual-fee dining credit cards from major issuers without mentioning Costco's popular co-branded card, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. This card offers unlimited 3% cash back at restaurants, in addition to other bonus categories, making it a superb option for dining enthusiasts. It's also a better choice if you do most of your shopping at Costco, since it offers an unlimited 2% back on Costco purchases. The Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card, by contrast, is a Mastercard and isn’t accepted at Costco.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi has an annual fee of $0*, but, of course, you must be a Costco member, which has its own fee (at least $60 a year, as of this writing). If you're going to pay that fee anyway, it's an excellent pick.

YOU DON'T DINE OUT FREQUENTLY

The Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card offers decent rewards on groceries, but not extraordinary. If you buy almost all your food at a supermarket, a dining card isn't the best choice. Go with one that focuses on grocery store purchases instead.

Try the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, which offers 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 in spending each year) and 1% after that. Terms apply. The card has an annual fee of $95. But if you spend at least $46 on groceries each week, it would be a better deal than the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card.

You can also visit NerdWallet's best credit cards page to see how these cards compare versus other cash-back alternatives.

Is the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card right for you?

Foodies and takeout connoisseurs may want to clear a space in their wallets for the Capital One® SavorOne℠ Cash Rewards Credit Card. It's the best $0-annual-fee dining credit card available.