Capital One SavorOne Rewards Visa Signature & Savor Rewards Visa Signature
Updated November 16, 2021. For the temporary benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, please see our featured review.
The Facts
Capital One SavorOne Rewards Card
Capital One Savor Rewards Card
The Math
As there are quite a few non-fee cards offering 2% cashback on everything, such as Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash, Capital One Savor Card's interest to us only lies in 4% and 3% categories. In order to cancel out the $95 annual fee and beat 2% cashback, you will need to spend $4,750 in the 4% categories or more if you spend in both 4% and 3% categories; however, when you have a premium C1 Miles card such as Venture and Venture X and transfer cashback rewards to C1 Miles for the elevated value with the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, this number becomes smaller at $3,167.
Savor vs. SavorOne: Savor has $95 more in annual fees and 1% additional cashback over SavorOne in dining & entertainment & streaming. You need to spend $9,500 per year on Savor's 4% categories to better out SavorOne; however, if you have a premium C1 Miles card with the flexible miles/points transfer feature, you only need to spend $6,333 per year on Savor's 4% categories to beat SavorOne.
Capital One Savor vs. US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex: FlexPerks Gold Amex is $10 cheaper in annual fees and offers 3x points (=fixed value 4.5% travel rewards) on dining and 2x points (=fixed value 3% travel rewards) on gas & airfare. On the other hand, with the 2021 enhancement, Savor offers 4% cashback on dining & entertainment & streaming and 3% on groceries, or flexible travel rewards of 6% and 4.5% when paired with a premium C1 Miles card with the miles/points transfer feature. Obviously which card is better for you depends on your spending pattern or how you redeem your rewards.
The Conclusion
With the 2021 enhancement, both Savor and SavorOne represent good value compared to competitions, especially when you pair with a premier C1 Miles card with the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature. If you spend more than $9,500 per year (or $6,333 when using the miles/points transfer feature) on the 4% bonus categories, you should consider Savor over SavorOne for the additional earnings on dining & entertainment & streaming.
The Facts
Capital One SavorOne Rewards Card
- Annual Fee: none
- Signup Bonus: none. Please keep in mind that unlike other credit card issuers, Capital One pulls all three of credit reporting agencies when you open a new account. Historical best bonus of this card: $200 for several times in the past years.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3% cashback on dining & entertainment & select streaming services & groceries, and 1% everywhere else. In addition, you might transfer your cash rewards to a premium Capital One Miles (C1 Miles) card such as Venture, Venture X, Spark Miles, at a ratio of $1=100 C1 Miles, and thus eligible for the flexible frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature that allow you to transfer C1 Miles to more than 15 airline/hotel partners. Our current valuation of C1 Miles is 1.5 cents a piece based on the miles/points transfer feature, so this represents better rewards than cashback; however, bear in mind that you need to know how to leverage these partner programs to achieve great value and the process may be complex and challenging.
- Other Benefits: No foreign transaction fees.
Capital One Savor Rewards Card
- Annual Fee: $95
- Signup Bonus: $300 in cash after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Please keep in mind that unlike other credit card issuers, Capital One pulls all three of credit reporting agencies when you open a new account. Historical best bonus of this card: $500 in 2018 & 2019.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 4% cashback on dining & entertainment & select streaming services, 3% groceries, and 1% everywhere else. Similar to SavorOne, you might transfer your cash rewards to a premium C1 Miles card for the elevated value using the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature.
- Other Benefits: No foreign transaction fees.
- The History: In 2017 Capital One introduced Savor Card with no annual fees and 3%, 2%, and 1% cashback on dining, groceries, and general spending. In 2018, Capital One revamped Savor Card by increasing the annual fee to $95 (waived for the first year), increasing dining rewards to 4%, and adding entertainment as a 4% category. In 2019, Capital One stopped waiving the first year annual fees. In 2021, Capital one added streaming as a 4% category and increased groceries from 2% to 3%.
The Math
As there are quite a few non-fee cards offering 2% cashback on everything, such as Fidelity Visa and Citi Double Cash, Capital One Savor Card's interest to us only lies in 4% and 3% categories. In order to cancel out the $95 annual fee and beat 2% cashback, you will need to spend $4,750 in the 4% categories or more if you spend in both 4% and 3% categories; however, when you have a premium C1 Miles card such as Venture and Venture X and transfer cashback rewards to C1 Miles for the elevated value with the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, this number becomes smaller at $3,167.
Savor vs. SavorOne: Savor has $95 more in annual fees and 1% additional cashback over SavorOne in dining & entertainment & streaming. You need to spend $9,500 per year on Savor's 4% categories to better out SavorOne; however, if you have a premium C1 Miles card with the flexible miles/points transfer feature, you only need to spend $6,333 per year on Savor's 4% categories to beat SavorOne.
Capital One Savor vs. US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex: FlexPerks Gold Amex is $10 cheaper in annual fees and offers 3x points (=fixed value 4.5% travel rewards) on dining and 2x points (=fixed value 3% travel rewards) on gas & airfare. On the other hand, with the 2021 enhancement, Savor offers 4% cashback on dining & entertainment & streaming and 3% on groceries, or flexible travel rewards of 6% and 4.5% when paired with a premium C1 Miles card with the miles/points transfer feature. Obviously which card is better for you depends on your spending pattern or how you redeem your rewards.
The Conclusion
With the 2021 enhancement, both Savor and SavorOne represent good value compared to competitions, especially when you pair with a premier C1 Miles card with the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature. If you spend more than $9,500 per year (or $6,333 when using the miles/points transfer feature) on the 4% bonus categories, you should consider Savor over SavorOne for the additional earnings on dining & entertainment & streaming.
