Why I love the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Card

This article was originally published in 2024. Some details have been updated; see our current guide to the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit card for the latest rewards rates.

There’s something you should know about me: I’m a cash back maximizer. I label each of my credit cards with its cash back category percentages, and I even have a cheat sheet in my wallet highlighting the best card for any type of purchase.

If you were to take a look at my cheat sheet, you’d see that I reach for my Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card whenever I pay for dining, streaming services, grocery store shopping or foreign purchases. Here’s why.

What to love about the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards

This cash back card has a very attainable rewards structure. You’ll get:

• 8 percent cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
• 5 percent cash back on bookings with hotels and rental cars through Capital One Travel
• Unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming subscriptions and grocery stores
• 1 percent cash back on all other purchases

Here are some of the ways I have maximized the Savor card:

Dining out pays off

As a marketing consultant working primarily within the restaurant industry, dining out is part of my job. The Savor card helps me get more out of my dining expenses with its unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining.

Whether I’m evaluating a restaurant’s outdoor dining setup, testing contactless ordering and payment technologies or comparing online ordering platforms, the Savor rewards me for doing my job and stimulating the economy.

While other credit cards may offer higher rewards rates on dining and groceries, the Savor’s lack of annual fees is hard to beat. Bankrate’s lead credit cards writer Ana Staples even canceled her American Express® Gold Card to get the Capital One Savor. The Amex Gold earns 4X points on worldwide restaurants (on up to $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1X points) and U.S. supermarket purchases (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year, then 1X points) — but it also charges a $325 annual fee.

“I mostly cook at home these days and spend about $6,000 per year on food,” Ana says. “That gives me $180 in annual cash back on my Savor. With the Amex Gold, I’d earn 24,000 Membership Rewards points, worth $240 when redeemed for airfare with Amex Travel. That doesn’t even cover the annual fee […]”

Rewards for having fun

The Savor gives me an unlimited 3 percent cash back on entertainment (along with 8 percent cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases), including ticket purchases for tourist attractions, movie theaters, concerts and more. During the pandemic, this perk came in handy when buying tickets for virtual events, but these days, I use it when I visit museums, attend shows and see films on the silver screen.

No foreign transaction fees

Instead of binge-watching the latest TV show or learning TikTok dance routines, my guilty pleasure is online shopping. While my Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is my go-to card for online shopping, it charges a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, which annuls any cash back I earn buying from overseas merchants. So, whenever I shop with a company based abroad, I use my Savor card because it has no foreign transaction fees.

Finding a card without a foreign transaction fee and no annual fee is not always easy. Plus, it rewards me for the type of purchases I make most often when I’m on vacation: dining and tourist attractions.

Perks for grocery stores and streaming services

I was already pretty passionate about my Savor card before Capital One expanded Savor’s cash back offerings several years ago. The card currently offers 3 percent cash back on popular streaming services and grocery store purchases (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target). Previously, the rewards rate was 1 percent for streaming services and 2 percent for grocery store purchases.

Now, this is the only credit card I use at grocery stores. As a single adult, that translates to about $140 in cash back on my annual grocery store bill. If you have a lot of mouths to feed, you could earn a significant amount of cash back on your grocery store purchases.

And now that the Savor gives me 3 percent cash back on streaming services, I earn some money from my Netflix bill. Note that a few popular streaming services are excluded, including Prime Video. While this cash back translates to only about $5 in cash back each year for me, I feel good knowing that I’m optimizing every purchase.

Attainable welcome offer and attractive referral bonus

New cardholders can take advantage of a $200 cash bonus after spending $500 within three months of opening the account. Unlike some credit cards, which have a difficult-to-reach spending threshold for their welcome offers, the Savor’s threshold is much more attainable.

If, like me, you’ve had the Savor card for a while and have already redeemed your welcome offer, you can also earn extra cash back by referring friends to the card. You’ll typically receive a cash bonus for each person who opens a Savor card through your unique referral link. However, note that the specific referral bonus you’ll get is based on the product you have. You can sign in to your account to see your eligibility for a referral bonus offer.

The bottom line

I love the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards because it rewards me for some of life’s pleasures, like dining out, entertainment and watching Netflix, as well as mundane necessities like getting groceries. It also saves me money on foreign transaction fees when I shop or travel abroad. These are just some of the reasons the Savor card will be a staple in my wallet for years to come.

The Bank of America content in this post was last updated on January 2, 2025.