Capital One Savor Rewards Credit Card Review

Capital One Savor Rewards Credit Card Full Review

The benefits explained

• Lots of cash back on food and entertainment: The best rates on this card are reserved for food-related categories. Members earn unlimited 3% cash back on qualifying dining and entertainment purchases, including purchases made at restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, fast food chains, bakeries, cinemas , aquariums, zoos and tourist attractions. You also earn 2%, the card’s second-best rate, on grocery spending. There is no spending cap to limit the amount of Cash Back you can earn in these categories.
• Generous cash bonus: The Capital One Savor has a unique cash bonus offer of $300. To qualify for the $300, you’ll need to spend $3,000 on qualifying purchases within three months of opening your account, where competitors may require $1,000 in spend to earn their bonuses.
• Exclusive opportunities to earn even more cash back: In addition to the regular cash back rate on dining and entertainment, Capital One also offers additional ways to earn cash back rewards from time to time.

Disadvantages Explained

• No 0% introductory APR for purchases or balance transfers: Capital One Savor Rewards does not offer an introductory 0% APR on balance transfers or purchases, although there is at least no fee imposed for transfers to the card. The regular Variable APR 17.49% to 25.49% applies, making this card a less than ideal choice for transferring a balance or making a large purchase that you expect to pay off over time.
• Excellent credit recommended for approval: Capital One assigns each of its cards a recommended credit level for approval to help applicants gauge the likelihood of being approved. This card suggests an “Excellent” credit level, which may make it more difficult to qualify if you have good credit. It may be helpful to check your credit report and score before applying to determine if your score is in the “Excellent” range.

With generous, unlimited 4% cash back on restaurant dining and entertainment, the Capital One Savor Rewards Card is best suited for someone who regularly enjoys nights on the town. The fairly high minimum spend requirement for the bonus makes this card most suitable for someone who charges at least $1,000 in purchases each month.

You can also consider Capital One Savor Rewards even if you mostly cook your meals at home, as you can earn unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores. If you’re a typical household, spending about $4,900 a year on groceries, food expenses alone would yield $147 a year in earned cash back at the rate of 3%, which more than covers the annual fee. The 4% cash back from dining, entertainment and streaming services, along with the 1% rewards on all other spending, should then put the cardholder firmly in the black for the year.

Capital One Savor Credit Card Bonus

The $300 cash bonus is available to eligible cardholders who meet minimum spending requirements. Again, this is like spending $100 per month for the first three months after opening a new account. This bonus is available on top of the regular cashback you already earn for qualifying purchases.

Reward Earnings Details

This card has three levels to earn rewards. The first is a 4% reimbursement rate for restaurants, entertainment and some streaming services. Typically, you can earn 4% cash back on just about anything, from fast food to fine dining to concert tickets. There are some disqualifications, however, including purchases from food trucks, meals purchased from hotels, and grocery store food counters (unless the store primarily classifies as a restaurant Merchant.)

The 3% cash back rate is good for purchases made at grocery stores. Capital One classifies supermarkets, meat lockers, freezers, dairy stores and specialty markets as grocery stores. It should be noted that grocery purchases made at supermarkets like Walmart or Target do not qualify for the 3% reward rate. These purchases are only eligible for the 1% cash back rate, along with all other purchases not categorized as restaurants, entertainment and groceries.

Through Capital One’s partnership with Vivid Seats, cardholders earn 8% cash back on ticket purchases through the site. This offer is valid until January 31, 2023. As long as your account remains open and in good standing, any rewards you earn never expire.

Reward Redemption Details

Cash back can be redeemed for a credit, check or gift card. You can set up an automatic redemption to redeem rewards on a recurring date or once your rewards balance reaches a dollar amount you specify. There is no minimum cashback amount required for a redemption, and you can redeem rewards anytime you want.

Gift cards are sold on a 1:1 basis, meaning you receive a card of the same value as the rewards you used to purchase it. Partners range from Target, Walmart and Sam’s Club to Amazon and Macy’s to Subway, Cracker Barrel, Panera and Outback Steakhouse. Cards are issued only as physical cards that are mailed to you.

How to maximize your rewards

Maximizing rewards with this card starts with qualifying for its $300 cash back bonus. This can be easy to do if you have a purchase of $3,000 or more to make when opening the account. If not, be careful not to charge the card for all purchases until you reach the limit, not just those like dining and entertainment that earn the highest cash back rates. higher. Just be careful not to spend beyond your means.

You can continue to maximize your cash back earnings by using your card widely, and especially for dining, entertainment, and grocery purchases, and on any streaming services you subscribe to. Suppose you go out more than most people and spend $750 a month on meals and entertainment (which is 25% above the norm, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and $400 on groceries (about the mean). On an annual basis, you’ll earn $360 in cash back on the first and $144 on the second, for a total of $504.

Next, keep track of any special promotions going on that might fit your spending. For example, if you’re looking for resale tickets for sports and entertainment, you can enjoy 8% cash back on purchases at Vivid Seats until at least January 2023.

Outstanding Benefits of the Capital One Savor Credit Card

• Exclusive access to culinary experiences
• Save money instantly with Parisus
• Find the best price on online shopping with Capital One Shopping
• Free concierge service 24/7

Standard Benefits

• Extended warranty
• Travel accident insurance
• 24-hour travel assistance services
• Access to exclusive tickets to entertainment and sporting events

Cardholder experience

Capital One scored 815 in JD Power’s 2021 Credit Card Satisfaction Study. This rating places it third, behind Discover and American Express, for overall customer satisfaction with credit cards.

This card comes with a number of fairly standard features that make it easy to manage your account, including automatic payment, access to 24/7 customer service, and access to online and mobile banking. You can also text Eno, Capital One’s assistant, to get your account balance or pay bills using your card on the go.

CreditWise is Capital One’s free-to-use credit monitoring service. You can get regular credit updates based on information in your TransUnion and Experian credit reports.

If you have any questions, you can tweet @AskCapitalOne or call customer service at 1-800-CAPITAL (1-800-227-4825). The company, however, does not have chat or email options for customer service, at least as found on its website.

Security functions

Capital One offers a number of standard security services on its cards, including:

• Credit Fraud Alertsby SMS, e-mail and telephone
• Virtual card numbers for online purchases
• Ability to lock your card in case of loss or theft
• $0 fraud protection in case of fraud if your card is used to make unauthorized purchases

Our opinion

Unlike cards whose best rates are for basic necessities like gas and groceries, the Capital One Savor Rewards credit card focuses on less mundane expenses for dining and entertainment. Its 4% cash back on these categories, with no earnings limit, makes it one of the most lucrative cards for those who often enjoy a night on the town.

Its $95 annual fee, while a potential inconvenience for casual diners, should be worth it for those spending more than most on dining out and on tickets to sporting and other events and attractions. Further adding to its appeal is a very solid 3% cash back on groceries, although other cards may be better bets, including some that have no annual fee, if your main interest is earn grocery rewards.

The introductory cash back bonus is another great incentive to open an account, as the bonus is a bit higher than what some other cards offer. But so does the required spend – of $3,000 in three months – which further underscores that this is a card for high rollers.

If you’re more typical about how often you go out and how much you spend when you do, your other cards allow you to earn dining and entertainment rewards without the annual fee. An example is the Capital One SavorOne credit card, which has no annual fee and offers 3% on the same dining and entertainment purchases as this card – and has an introductory bonus that requires a fraction of the spend.