The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is a great card to apply for if you’re enrolled in a college or university and you want to save money on groceries, dining out, streaming, and entertainment. You can earn extra cash back in those categories, and there's no annual fee, so it’s definitely worth it.
What I Like About the Capital One Savor Student Credit Card
Earn a $50 initial bonus
All you need to do to earn this bonus is spend
$100 within
3 months of opening an account. That’s a pretty good deal, especially if you’re not a big spender. It’s 50% back, after all. You don’t need to be a college brainiac to recognize how attractive that is.
3% cash back on purchases in popular spending categories
The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card gives 3% cash back at restaurants and grocery stores, excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®. Cardholders also earn 3% back on membership fees for the most popular streaming services, as well as on purchases generally categorized as being entertainment-related.
This represent an excellent savings opportunity for students. Some of the best rewards cards don’t offer earning rates this high for even one spending category, let alone so many major ones.
5% - 8% back on Capital One purchases
You can get 8% cash back on purchases made through the
Capital One Entertainment portal and 5% back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through
Capital One Travel.
If you find a good deal on these platforms, why not get the extra cash back? You just need to make sure you can’t save more by booking elsewhere, and even then, you might be able to get Capital One to match a lower price.
1% cash back on most other purchases
The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card’s base rewards rate of
1% applies to all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus rewards. This is standard for a card with rewards rates that vary by spending category. It’s also in line with what the average cash back credit card provides on all purchases.
Still, if you’re going to make a lot of purchases that don’t qualify for the bonus categories, you might be better off with another card. You could get 1.5% cash back on all purchases, for example.
$0 annual fee & $0 foreign transaction fee
The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is less expensive than the average credit card, both to own and if you happen to use it abroad.
“No annual fee” should be considered a must-have feature when you’re shopping for a student credit card. You generally won’t get better rewards by paying a fee, and it’s good to keep costs down when you have limited income. “No foreign fee” only matters if you plan to travel to another country, like for study abroad or if you want to buy something from a foreign merchant online.
Attractive secondary benefits
Credit cards are dropping secondary benefits left and right in an effort to cut costs, but the
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card offers a
variety of perks, including protection against price drops on recent purchases and extra time added to product warranties.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply. Available to applicants with no credit
The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is like nearly all other student credit cards in being available to applicants with limited or no credit history. Using this card responsibly, by paying the bill on time every month and keeping your credit utilization
low, will also help you build positive credit history. Putting your finances in a good position for the future is one of the main reasons to get a credit card when you’re in college.
What I Don’t Like About the Capital One Savor Student Card
High interest rate
The
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card APR is
18.49% - 28.49% (V). For comparison, the average APR among student credit card offers is
19.04%, according to our database of 1,500+ credit card offers. You can and should avoid paying interest at a rate this high.
Paying your bill in full every month will prevent the APR from applying in the first place. Plus, if you need a while to pay off big-ticket purchases without interest, students can sometimes qualify for a 0% intro APR credit card to use instead.
Limited reviews
This card hasn’t been on the market for very long, so there aren’t too many user reviews for it yet. That’s a shame because some people feel more comfortable using a product or service after a lot of others confirm it’s good.
Bottom Line: Is the Capital One Savor Student Card Worth It?
The Capital One Savor Student Card is worth it as long as you pay the bill in full every month. One thing this card does not have is a low APR, and you will avoid interest charges by paying your statement balance by the due date every month. It’s a good habit to get into as a student anyway.
If you pay the monthly bills on time and avoid using your full credit limit, you should gradually build positive credit history and, in time, a good credit score. You can
track your progress with free daily credit score and report updates here on WalletHub.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Capital One has other options you might be interested in as well. For example, the
Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is another popular choice among students who are new to credit.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
