By Adam Jusko, ProudMoney.com, adam@proudmoney.com
The Capital One Savor Rewards Card is one of two credit cards that Capital One has branded with the “Savor” name (the other is the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card). In this review we’ll mainly look at what the Savor Card has to offer, but we’ll also contrast it with the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card if you’re trying to choose between the two. (Spoiler alert: We actually prefer the no-annual-fee Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card.)
Capital One Savor Has A $95 Annual Fee
If you’re thinking of applying for the Capital One Savor Card, you’ll definitely want to consider the $95 annual fee that you will pay every year that you hold the card. Are the rewards you’ll earn with this card worth paying for?
Capital One Savor Offers Cash Back Rewards
You’ll earn cash back on the Savor Card using the following formula:
- 4% cash back on dining purchases
- 4% cash back on entertainment purchases
- 4% cash back on “popular” streaming services
- 3% cash back at grocery stores
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
What is included in these categories?
- Dining is defined as “purchases at restaurants, cafes, bars, lounges, fast-food chains and bakeries.”
- Entertainment is defined as “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.” Capital One also mentions exclusions here, so entertainment does NOT mean “golf courses, collegiate sporting events and non-industry entertainment merchant codes like cable, digital streaming and membership services.”
- Streaming Services include “music and video streaming services, including Netflix , Hulu, and Disney +.” Other services are included beyond those mention, but Capital One also says that “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.”
- Grocery Stores are defined as “a supermarket, meat locker, freezer, dairy product store and specialty market.” Note that Capital One specifically says that “superstores like Walmart® and Target®” are NOT part of the grocery store category.
New Cardholder Bonus Opportunity
If you spend at least $3000 with the Capital One Savor Card in the first three months after you open your card account, you’ll get a $300 bonus.
Redeeming Rewards
You can redeem your cash rewards at any time, and there is no minimum threshold in order to redeem. You can get your cash back as either:
- A check sent to you.
- A statement credit, which means your earned rewards would be credited to your account and would offset any purchases currently on the card. For example, if your card has a $120 balance and you redeem $25 in rewards, your balance would decrease to $95.
NOTE: You can also use your rewards as points toward other things like gift cards, or you could link them up to your Amazon or PayPal accounts and use them that way. Note, however, that the value of your rewards could be less if you use them for rewards other than straight cash.
Other Notes:
- Interest Rate: The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on the Capital One Savor card will depend on your credit history. As of this writing, you could be approved at a 15.99%, 20.99%, or 23.99% APR, depending on Capital One’s assessment of your credit history. There is NOT an introductory interest rate of any kind. (Some credit cards will offer you a 0% rate on purchases and/or balance transfers when you first open your card account; this card does not.)
- No Foreign Transaction Fees. You will not be charged anything extra on purchases made outside of the United States. (Some credit cards charge you a 3% fee on foreign transactions.)
- World Elite Mastercard Benefits: “World Elite” is a Mastercard designation that adds some extra benefits when you pay with this card, including extended warranty protection (extends manufacturers’ warranties) and travel accident insurance. Most cardholders never use these benefits, but they can actually be helpful if you remember that they are offered.
Approval Chances / Credit Score Needed
Capital One says the card is for “excellent credit” customers. They suggest that excellent credit means having had “a loan or credit card for 3 years or more with a credit limit above $5,000” as well as no bankruptcy or loan defaults in your past and no late payments beyond 60 days. So that is a good place to start in understanding your approval chances.
If you are hoping to guess at your approval odds based on your credit score, scores above 700 are probably usually approved for this card, while 650-699 would be borderline, and under 650 are probably going to be declined. Note that this is our estimate only and is not based on any information from Capital One. Higher scores could be declined and lower scores may be approved; multiple factors are considered in credit card approval decisions.
Capital One Savor Rewards vs. Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers less in rewards (3% vs. the Savor’s 4% on dining, entertainment, and streaming purchases) and a smaller new cardholder bonus opportunity ($200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening), but the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card does not have an annual fee, so in comparing the two you’d want to look at how much you spend in those reward categories to see if the Savor’s annual fee is worth it.
In our opinion most potential cardholders would probably be happier with the no-annual-fee Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card than the $95 annual fee Savor card. Why? Because unless you spend more than $9500 per year in the dining, entertainment, and streaming categories combined, you’d actually end up ahead in terms of rewards with the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card because it has no annual fee.
Bottom Line
While the Capital One Savor Card is a nice credit card in the first year that you have it because of its bigger bonus opportunity, most people will find it hard to justify paying the $95 annual fee beyond that point when they know Capital One has a no-annual-fee card that is likely to be a better deal. (Note, however, that Capital One will usually not let you “downgrade” from the Savor Rewards to the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card after the first year, so you’d need to choose between the two upfront.)