BEST CREDIT CARDSBEST CREDIT CARDSCAPITAL ONE SAVOR REVIEW: SUPERSIZED REWARDS ON FOOD AND FUN

Capital One Savor Review: Supersized Rewards on Food and Fun

This card earns 4% cash back on dining and a wide variety of entertainment spending, plus 3% at the grocery store. Big spenders can easily capitalize, but there's a hefty annual fee.
Claire Tsosie Author AvatarRobin Saks Frankel Author Avatar
Jan 10, 2024 12:23 p.m. PST
Edited by
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

4.8

NerdWallet rating
The bottom line:

If you're a foodie who also happens to frequently paint the town, this card can be well worth its annual fee. But there are also excellent dining cards that cost nothing to carry.

Pros
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Rich rewards on dining, entertainment
  • Broad definition of entertainment
  • Generous sign-up bonus
Cons
  • No 0% APR period
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card Image
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Annual Fee

$95

Regular APR

19.99%, 26.24% or 29.99%, Variable APR

Intro APR

N/A

Rec. credit score

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card Image

Annual Fee

$95

Regular APR

19.99%, 26.24% or 29.99%, Variable APR

  • Annual fee

    $95

  • Rewards rate

    1%-8%

  • Bonus offer

    Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.

  • Intro APR

    N/A

  • Ongoing APR

    APR: 19.99%, 26.24% or 29.99%, Variable APR

    Cash Advance APR: 29.99%, Variable

  • Balance transfer fee

    $0 at the Transfer APR

  • Foreign transaction fee

    0%

More details from Capital One
  • Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
  • Earn unlimited 4% cash back on dining, entertainment, and popular streaming services, 3% at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Capital One cardholders get access to premium experiences in dining, entertainment and more.
  • Information for this card not reviewed by or provided by Capital One.

Compare to Other Cards

ANNUAL FEE
$0
REGULAR APR
19.24%-29.24% Variable APR
Rates & Fees
INTRO APR
0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
ANNUAL FEE
$0
REGULAR APR
17.24%-28.24% Variable APR
Rates & Fees
INTRO APR
0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
ANNUAL FEE
$0
REGULAR APR
20.49%-29.24% Variable APR
INTRO APR
0% intro APR on purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE
Get more smart money moves — straight to your inboxBecome a NerdWallet member, and we'll send you tailored articles we think you'll love.

Detailed review: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

If a night out is just another night for you, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card* might be calling your name. This card offers an impressive — and unlimited — 4% cash back rate on dining, streaming and entertainment spending, not to mention a rich 3% back at grocery stores, plus 1% back on everything else. It also carries one of the biggest sign-up bonuses currently available from a cash-back card.

The catch? There's an annual fee of $95. And that's expensive for a cash-back product, especially since similar foodie-focused cards exist for no fee at all.

But for those who spend plenty of money dining out at sit-down restaurants and fast-food joints, going out to movies and shows, and hanging out at nightclubs, coffee shops or even bowling alleys, the rewards can make it worth the fee.

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card: Basics

Card type: Cash back.

Annual fee: $95.

Sign-up bonus: Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.

Rewards:

  • 4% cash back on dining, eligible streaming services, and entertainment.

  • 3% cash back at grocery stores.

  • 5% cash back on hotels and rental cards booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply).

  • 1% cash back on all other purchases.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Through Nov. 14, 2024, you can also earn 10% cash back with this card on Uber and Uber Eats, as well as a complimentary Uber One membership. Terms apply.

Interest rate: The ongoing APR is 19.99%, 26.24% or 29.99%, Variable APR.

Foreign transaction fees: None.

Minimum redemption requirement: None.

How this card defines 'dining, entertainment and groceries'

  • Dining includes purchases at restaurants, fast-food places, coffee shops, cafes, lounges, bakeries, bars, nightclubs and more, according to the issuer.

  • Entertainment includes tickets purchased for a movie, play, concert, sporting event, tourist attraction, theme park, aquarium, zoo, dance club, pool hall or bowling alley, the issuer confirms. "Entertainment" doesn’t include purchases like cable, digital streaming or subscription services — but again, streaming is its own separate 4% bonus category.

  • Grocery purchases include supermarkets, meat lockers and specialty markets. It doesn't include superstores like Walmart and Target.

How this card defines eligible streaming services

Unlike American Express, which maintains a comprehensive list of services that qualify for bonus rewards on streaming, Capital One has yet to publish such a list. As of July 2023, its website describes eligibility this way: "Streaming purchases made from eligible music and video streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. Some services, such as Prime Video, AT&T TV and Verizon FIOS On Demand, are excluded, as well as audiobook subscription services and fitness programming."

What credit score do I need to get the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card?

According to the issuer, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card requires excellent credit to qualify. That's generally defined as a credit score of 720 or better. Remember, however, that credit scores are not the only factor in credit card approval.

Savor vs. SavorOne

If you're looking at the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, one of the first questions to answer is whether you would be better-served by its $0-annual-fee cousin, which goes by a similar name: the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees). The cards at a glance:

Empty Table Header

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Annual fee

$95.

Sign-up bonus

Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.

Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.

Cash-back rewards

  • 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment.

  • 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

  • 4% back on dining, eligible streaming services and entertainment.

  • 3% back at grocery stores.

  • 1% back all other spending.

  • 8% back on Capital One Entertainment purchases.

  • 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

  • 3% back on dining, eligible streaming services and entertainment.

  • 3% back at grocery stores.

  • 1% back on all other spending.

APR

The ongoing APR is 19.99%, 26.24% or 29.99%, Variable APR.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.99% - 29.99% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies.

Foreign transaction fee

None

None

If you evaluated these cards by the 1-percentage-point difference in their top cash-back rates and the difference in their annual fees, you'd have to spend more than $9,500 a year on dining, streaming and entertainment before the regular Savor comes out ahead.

The math changes a bit once you consider the regular Savor's bigger sign-up bonus. But you have to spend a good bit more to get that bigger bonus — and, of course, sign-up bonuses can vary over time.

Long term, you'd want to choose the card that best fits your spending habits, which is relatively easy to evaluate since both cards offer the same rate at grocery stores and on "all other spending." Do you spend enough each year on dining, streaming and entertainment to make the $95-annual-fee card worth it?

Oh, and one final consideration: If you want a 0% introductory APR period, you'll get one only with the SavorOne (see rates and fees).

Benefits and perks

Good for those who spend big on night life

This card pays for itself with $2,375 a year in dining/streaming/entertainment spending. If you're out on the town several nights a week or you frequently cover the dining and entertainment costs for a crowd, that might not be a very high bar to clear. Maybe you entertain clients for business, or you like to pick up the group tab at a restaurant or bar and have your friends Venmo you their share.

How can you know what counts as a dining or entertainment purchase? It comes down to the merchant classification code used by the business. If the merchant is using a code that Capital One defines as dining, entertainment or streaming, you should get 4% cash back for it.

There's a big sign-up bonus

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has an excellent sign-up bonus for a consumer cash-back card: Earn a one-time $300 cash bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Although the ongoing rewards on this card are the main dish, the generous upfront offer makes for quite the appetizer.

Cash back is more flexible than travel rewards

Many top-shelf dining credit cards offer rewards in the form of points that can be redeemed for travel. If you don't travel much — or just don't want to use your rewards for it — they're not a great fit. This card's dining rewards come in the most flexible form of all: cash, which you can use for anything (yes, including travel). While this card could be a great pick for a frequent traveler who spends plenty on dining and entertainment, it's just as good for someone who prefers adventures closer to home.

Drawbacks and considerations

The fee may be hard to swallow

If a $95 annual fee is a dealbreaker, you have other options when it comes to dining rewards. In addition to the no-fee version of this card discussed above, take a look at the U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card. It, too, earns 4X back on dining purchases, but unlike the Savor, the card's annual fee is $0. Notably, however, it does not earn bonus rewards on "entertainment" purchases. If that's a big category for you and you still want to avoid a fee, also consider the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card. It earns 5% cash back in two categories of your choice from a list (see it below), on up to $2,000 spent per quarter on combined purchases. Some of those eligible 5% categories include fast food, movie theaters, as well as TV, internet and streaming services. The card also offers an uncapped 2% back in an everyday category of your choice, including restaurants. You'll get 1% back on all other non-bonus-category purchases.

  • Fast food.

  • Home utilities.

  • TV, internet and streaming.

  • Department stores.

  • Cell phone providers.

  • Electronics stores.

  • Sporting goods stores.

  • Movie theaters.

  • Gyms/fitness centers.

  • Furniture stores.

  • Ground transportation.

  • Select clothing stores.

Travel benefits could be a better fit

The fact that the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is not specifically a travel card can be either a benefit or a drawback, depending on your style. If you're looking for a card that offers both dining rewards and travel benefits, the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card could be a stronger choice, despite its more modest dining rewards.

This card offers 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining purchases, and 1.5 points per dollar spent on all other purchases. (You could boost your rewards higher if you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program.) Points are worth 1 cent each whether they’re redeemed for cash back, travel purchases or other options. The card comes with an airline incidental statement credit worth up to $100 every year (for expenses such as seat upgrades and baggage fees) and a reimbursement for TSA Precheck or Global Entry application fees worth up to $100 every four years. It also features a solid sign-up bonus: Receive 60,000 online bonus points - a $600 value - after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. The annual fee is $95, and the card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees.

Another alternative for those who enjoy both dining out and traveling: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. If earns bonus rewards in a variety of popular spending categories, including dining and travel. You'll earn 3 points per dollar on dining purchases, but points are worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed for travel booked through Chase, which is an effective rate of 3.75%. It has an annual fee of $95, charges no foreign transaction fees and offers a generous sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

To learn how these cards stack up against the competition, check out our best credit cards page.

Alternate Pick: 4X back on dining, no annual fee
Gas and streaming rewards, too

This card also earns 4X rewards on dining, except its annual fee is $0. Plus, you'll get a decent rate back at gas stations and on eligible streaming services. What you won't get, however, are bonus rewards on "entertainment" spending.

How to decide if it's right for you

If you spend plenty on food and fun, this card has your name written all over it. The hearty dining and entertainment rewards can outweigh the annual fee, and you can spend those cash rewards any way you'd like.

Just be aware that other credit cards designed for frequent diners can offer similar or better rewards for no annual fee at all.

*Information related to the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.

Methodology

NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.

About the authors

NerdWallet Pixel