What Card Wednesday: Capital One Savor
Those of you who’ve been reading the blog for a while know transferable points currencies like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards are the best way to get massive value from your credit card points. However, this doesn’t mean cash-back or fixed rate point cards can’t be lucrative as well! These cards, including the Capital One Savor, cater to a middle ground: Those who are conscious about which credit cards they use while they work to increase their rewards, but also aren’t willing to put a large amount of time into maximizing redemptions.
The new Savor card offers an unlimited 4% cash-back on dining and entertainment, as well as 2% back at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases. This 4% is the highest cash-back amount currently offered across all credit cards for both dining and entertainment, which also happen to be two categories that many people spend significant money on. So if the Savor card can help you squeeze an extra 1-2% back out of those purchases, it might be worth making the switch.
The Savor card is currently offering a sign-up bonus of $500 after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. While this isn’t as high-value as some other cards on the market right now, it’s one of the highest bonuses around for a personal cash-back card.
Earning
The card earns:
- 4% back on dining
- 4% back on entertainment
- 2% back at grocery stores
- 1% on everything else
The real highlight here is the 4% back on dining and entertainment. “Entertainment” is defined as tickets to “a movie, play, concert, sporting event, tourist attraction, theme park, aquarium, zoo, dance club, pool hall or bowling alley. Also, making purchases at a record store and video rental locations.”
Note that this definition explicitly excludes “non-industry entertainment merchant codes like cable, digital streaming, and subscription services.”. There are no foreign transaction fees with the Savor, so you can take this card on your overseas vacation and continue earning. Just remember that the Savor card does carry a $95 annual fee (which is waived for the first year), so you’ll have to look at your personal spending habits and make sure you earn enough rewards throughout the year to justify the fee.
Redeeming
The biggest benefits of cash-back rewards are you don’t need to worry about obsessing over the best possible redemption value for your points. One dollar will always be worth one dollar, so you should cash out your rewards out as frequently as possible and get that money back into your checking account! With Savor, the rewards don’t expire as long as your account stays open, and there’s no minimum redemption amount.
Perks
The Savor card doesn’t offer many perks like some of the premium cards I’ve written about, but there are a few worth mentioning. In addition to the lack of foreign transaction fees, cardholders will enjoy secondary car rental insurance, roadside assistance, purchase protection/extended warranty and complimentary concierge services. I think premium concierge services are one of the most underrated credit card perks, as I used mine on my Amex Platinum to get two tickets to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam after they’d been sold out for weeks!
In the end, yes you can get a better return by going for cards that offer transferable points. But for those of you that aren’t interested in diving too deep down the travel hacking rabbit hole, and want a card that will help make the most of your everyday purchases – the Savor card is a fantastic option! But keep in mind that Capital One only allows you to have two personal Capital One cards at a time, and also restricts you to one new card every 6 months, including both business and personal cards.
