Capital One Savor Card Review: Is it the Best Card for Dining Out?

The Capital One Savor Card offers big rewards to cardholders who frequently dine out and spend in the entertainment category. The card does come with an annual fee, however, so whether it’s right for you will come down to your budget.

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Card Details

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent

Capital One Savor Review: What You Need to Know

If a sushi-and-bowling night is part of your weekly routine (but hopefully not all at the same place), the Capital One Savor Card may be the card for you. Its unlimited rewards for dining and entertainment purchases are hard to beat, and you can earn cash back at the grocery store, too.

However, if you don’t spend enough in bonus categories to outweigh the card’s annual fee, the lower-tier version of the card might make more sense. Read more to see whether this card is right for you.

In this review:

• What Are the Rewards?
• What Are the Benefits?
• What Are the Downsides?
• How Does it Compare to Similar Cards?
• How Good Does My Credit Need to Be?
• What Kind of Credit Limit Will I Get?

Capital One Savor Rewards

The Capital One Savor Rewards Card offers unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment. This includes:

Entertainment charges such as membership, digital streaming, and cable fees are not included.

The card also features 2% cash back on grocery purchases, including supermarkets and local food stores, but it doesn’t include big-box stores that sell groceries and other merchandise, such as Target and Walmart.

All other purchases earn an unlimited 1% cash back.

Whether a purchase qualifies for a bonus rewards rate depends on the merchant code used by the vendor, so if you’re about to spend big at some type of entertainment hall and you’re unsure of which card to use, ask the business owner how they categorize their transactions.

Cardholders can redeem their cash back for any amount, and it never expires as long as the card account is open.

Capital One Savor Benefits

The Capital One Savor comes with a few other perks in addition to the competitively high rewards rates for dining and entertainment.

Sign-Up Bonus

Currently, new cardholders can earn a $300 cash bonus after spending $3,000 on their card within three months of opening the account.

Postmates Unlimited

Now through December 2019, cardholders who use their Savor card to sign up for Postmates Unlimited will have their monthly membership fee waived by Capital One.

Travel & Shopping Perks

There are no foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside the U.S., and the card comes with a host of travel benefits, including travel accident insurance and 24-hour travel assistance.

You’ll also receive complimentary concierge service, extended warranty protection, and virtual numbers from Eno — so your card information is always safe when shopping online.

Downsides of the Capital One Savor Credit Card

The Capital One Savor Credit Card is marketed by Capital One as a premium card for applicants with excellent credit scores. Generally, you’ll need a credit score in the 700s or above to qualify for this card, putting it out of reach for many potential applicants.

Additionally, if you do most of your grocery shopping at superstores like Target or Walmart, you’ll miss out on the extra cash back on groceries. You will, however, still earn 1% back on these purchases.

The final downside is cost. Thanks to the sign-up bonus and waived annual fee, the Capital One Savor is an excellent card in its first year. However, once the $95 annual fee kicks in, the card might not make sense for moderate spenders.

$95 is an average fee for a credit card, but many competing rewards cards, such as travel credit cards, offer you much more valuable perks for the same fee. Capital One also offers a watered-down version of this card, the Capital One SavorOne with no annual fee. You can read our break-even analysis below to see if this option makes more sense for you.

How It Compares to Similar Cards

If you spend a lot on dining and entertainment, the Capital One Savor card is definitely worth considering. But there are a few other cards you should check out before you make your decision.

Capital One vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is an option for someone who wants dining rewards as well as travel. Currently, the Sapphire Preferred bonus reward might be more appealing to travelers since it’s the equivalent to $625 toward travel if someone spends $4,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account. However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card only lets cardholders earn 2x points on dining at restaurants, and the annual fee is still $95 after the first year.

Capital One Savor vs. SavorOne

The Capital One SavorOne card offers an unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% at grocery stores, and 1% on other purchases with no annual fee. The annual fee is also lower, but much easier to obtain — a $150 cash back bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within three months of account opening.

Setting aside the lower sign-up bonus, the long-term difference between these two cards is a 1% lower rewards rate on dining and entertainment purchases in exchange for no annual fee. So who does this make sense for?

If you spend less than $9,500 a year on dining and entertainment, the SavorOne might be a better option. Once you pass that benchmark, the extra 1% rewards you get with the Savor card will have paid for the $95 annual fee, and the rest is profit, so take a look at your typical spending habits to decide which card is right for you.

Capital One Savor vs. Quicksilver

The Capital One Quicksilver is another popular Capital One credit card for applicants with good to excellent credit. This card has a simpler reward structure than the Savor card — an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases across all categories with no annual fee.

Although the cash back rewards are lower than you’d get with the Savor card, the Quicksilver may make more sense if you don’t have especially high budgets in the Savor card’s bonus spending categories.

Capital One Savor Credit Score: What’s Needed for Approval?

You may have a tough time qualifying for this card without a high credit score. Capital One claims the card is meant for applicants with excellent credit (generally, 800 and above), but we believe you may be able to qualify with a credit score of 700+ if you’ve demonstrated responsible payments in the past.

If you don’t have very good to excellent credit, consider working on strategies to improve your score before you apply for the Savor card.

Capital One Savor Credit Limit

Since the Capital One Savor card is a premium product for cardholders with great credit, the typical credit limits cardholders receive may be higher than the average credit limit on other cards. However, your credit limit will vary depending on your specific credit score, your typical credit utilization ratio, and your payment history.

If you use the card responsibly for a few months to a year, it’s also possible to earn a higher credit limit from Capital One.

Bottom Line: Is the Capital One Savor Card Right for You?

The Capital One Savor Card is a good premium card option, but only if you’re sure your spending on dining and entertainment qualifies for the highest cash back tier. People with more moderate budgets in discretionary spending categories might want to look at the free version of the card.

4.06 Capital One Savor Card

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