Capital One Savor Cards
$95
30,000 points worth $300-400.
Signup Bonus Chart4% Restaurants (4 - ≈6%)
4% Entertainment & Streaming (4 - ≈6%)
3% Grocery (3 - ≈4.5%)
1x Everywhere Else (1 - ≈1.5%)
No Foreign Transaction Fee
If you are collecting Capital One "Miles", the Savor cards can help you boost your balance with their signup bonuses and bonus category rewards on groceries, restaurants, and entertainment. The points you earn from these cards can be transferred to your Venture or Spark Card and then onto one of Capital One's frequent flyer or hotel loyalty partners.
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Savor Card Options
There are two different versions of the Savor Card:
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Savor. The $95 annual fee version of the card earns 4% back on restaurants, entertainment, and streaming services, and 3% back on groceries. This are solid reward rates, especially if you can take advantage of a conversion to Capital One miles. But probably not enough better than other dining category options to justify the extra annual fee. With straight cashback, you need to spend more than $10,000/yr on restaurants and entertainment for this card to be a better option than the SavorOne. |
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SavorOne. The no-annual-fee version of the card earns 3% back, rather than 4%, on dining, entertainment, and streaming services (but the same 3% on groceries) and typically has a lower signup bonus. This is one of the better no-annual-fee dining options, but if you aren't collecting Capital One miles, we prefer the U.S. Bank Altitude Go Card. Official Webpage. Signup Bonus Chart. |
Introduction to Capital One Points
Some Capital One cards, like the Venture Card, earn "miles". Other cards, like the Savor cards, earn "cash back". Capital One "miles" can be used at 1 cent each to erase travel purchases you make one of the miles-earning cards, but they can also be transferred to a over a dozen frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. You can then use the miles to book award tickets, hotel nights, or vacation rentals. The value of these awards varies, but in many cases, you can receive considerably more than 1 cent per point in value. Capital One Miles Guide.
The points you earn from the Savor cards can be transferred to your other Capital One cards. So if you have one of the mile-earning cards, you can choose to earn 3-4 miles per dollar with the Savor cards, rather than 3-4 cents per mile. If you don't find good opportunities to use your points.
Collecting the Signup Bonus
- Unless you are collecting Capital One "miles", it is usually a borderline decision whether to apply for the Savor Card just for the signup bonus. The typical bonuses is $300. That's not bad, but there are lots of cards with better bonuses. However, higher-than-normal offers are sometimes available and can be more attractive. If you have the Venture or Spark cards, you can take advantage of Capital One's transfer partners and the bonus is worth more like $400.
- Capital One limits you to only two personal cards at a time (co-branded cards don't count against these limits). This limits the speed at which you can earn signup bonuses.
- It can be hard to get approved for Capital One cards. So think twice before cancelling a card that you really want to keep, in order to earn reapply (or apply for a different Capital One Card) just to earn a new signup bonus.
Due to the limits on getting Capital One cards and the fact that the first-year annual fee is waived, you should always sign up for the Savor version and then potentially downgrade to the SavorOne version at the end of the first year.
Notable Benefits
- Access to special Capital One events. These are available to all cardholders. Current list of events.
- Elite car rental status. As with all World Elite MasterCards, you get free National Emerald Club Executive and Sixt Platinum status. Instant Car Rental Elite Status.
- Access to Mastercard's luxury hotel program. Another benefit of high-end MasterCards is access to MasterCard's luxury hotel program. When you use the program to book one of the participating hotels, you'll get a number of valuable benefits, like free breakfast, a $100 hotel credit, a room upgrade, and late checkout.Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
- Free ShopRunner membership. Like all World Elite MasterCards, your card entitles you to a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which provides free two-day and return shipping from around 150 of the largest online retailers. ShopRunner.
- DoorDash and Hello Fresh discounts. Cardmembers who have a DoorDash membership get $5 off their first two orders each month when paid for by their Mastercard. If you don't have a free membership from Chase, you can get your first three months membership for free through Mastercard. You also get a 5% credit back on each HelloFresh purchase.
- Some additional discounts. If you pay for at least 3 Lyft rides each calendar month with your Mastercard, you'll receive a $5 Lyft credit good for the following month (once you enroll in the Lyft app). You also receive double Fandango points, a 5% reward rebate at Boxed, and $5 off every Postmates order of $25 or more.
Bonus Categories
- The Savor cards are two of the only cards that earns bonus rewards on entertainment purchases. If you have these cards, you'll want to use them for your spending in this category. But most people don't spend enough in this category to make it worthwhile to go out of your way to get one of these cards in the first place.
- The Savor cards earn good rewards on restaurant purchases, although there are a handful of more lucrative options. If you are looking to collect Capital One "miles", it may be worthwhile to use one of these cards. With the standard cashback option, you'd have to spend more than $10,000 per year on restaurants and dining to justify the annual fee on the Savor Card over the SavorOne Card. If you converting to miles, the extra point is more valuable, so the amount drops to something like $7-8,000. Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending.
- Both cards can be good options for groceries. If you aren't buying lots of gift cards, it is hard to justify the annual fee of the Amex Gold Card. Depending on how you much you expect to spend, whether you want to deal with hitting 20-30 transactions per month on one of the Amex Everyday Cards, and what you plan to do with your points, there are several other options you might consider. Best Credit Cards for Grocery Spending.
- You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.