Capital One Savor Student Card: Great for College and Beyond
The Bottom Line
5.0
As long as you meet the eligibility requirements, it’s hard to find fault with this card, especially since it remains valuable long after you graduate.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1%-8%
Bonus offer
Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months.
Intro APR
N/A
Ongoing APR
APR: 19.24%-29.24% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: 29.24%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
Balance Transfer Fee applies to balances transferred at a promotional rate
Foreign transaction fee
0%
More details from Capital One
- Earn unlimited 3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®), on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, plus 1% on all other purchases
- Early Spend Bonus: Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months
- Enjoy peace of mind with $0 Fraud Liability so that you won't be responsible for unauthorized charges
- Enjoy no annual fee, foreign transaction fees, or hidden fees
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply
- Earn up to $500 a year by referring friends and family when they're approved for a Capital One credit card
- Earn 8% cash back on entertainment purchases when you book through the Capital One Entertainment portal
- Build your credit with responsible card use
- Whether you're at a 4-year university, community college or other higher education institution, this card might be an option for you
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
Bonus categories
No rewards caps
Reports to the three major credit bureaus
Cons
High APR
Detailed Review
The Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is meant for college students, but it’ll make you feel like you've already graduated. The card’s basic structure is similar to what you’d receive with its elder sibling, the regular Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card: outstanding rewards both for going out (3% cash back on dining and entertainment) and for staying in (3% cash back at grocery stores and on popular streaming services). The student version lacks some of the ancillary benefits of the regular version, but its core rewards are the same — and, of course, it's designed for students.
Coffee breaks during a study session, an outing to the movies and your streaming subscription will all qualify for the elevated 3% cash back rate, and you can earn up to 8% back on select entertainment purchases. That's a lot of value for students who may still be working on bolstering their credit history.
But you may need at least some established credit to qualify for the Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card, which means there are other student credit cards that may be easier to get.
The Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card, discussed here, was formerly known as the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card. The issuer rebranded the card as just "Savor" in October 2024.
Click to see a side-by-side comparison of Capital One's student credit cards
Empty Table Header | Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card | Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
Rewards |
|
|
Annual fee | $0 (see rates and fees). | $0 (see rates and fees). |
APR | The ongoing APR is 19.24%-29.24% Variable APR. | The ongoing APR is 19.24%-29.24% Variable APR. |
Bonus offer | Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months. | Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months. |
Foreign transaction fee | $0. | $0. |
Student status required | Yes. | Yes. |
Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card: Basics
Card type: College student.
Annual fee: $0 (see rates and fees).
Sign-up bonus: Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months.
Rewards:
3% cash back in the following categories:
Dining.
Grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target).
Entertainment.
Popular streaming services.
5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases.
1% cash back on other purchases.
Redemption: Options for redeeming cash back include statement credits and gift cards. Cash back can also be redeemed for purchases on Amazon or through PayPal.
APR: The ongoing APR is 19.24%-29.24% Variable APR.
Foreign transaction fee: $0.
Other benefits:
24/7 concierge access.
Cardholders can be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as 6 months
Credit score requirement: Capital One has not said conclusively whether students without a substantive credit history can qualify for this card. The recommended credit score range is fair or average credit, which NerdWallet defines as a FICO score of 630 to 689.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
High rewards rates across popular spending categories
The ongoing rewards rates for the Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card are comparable to those on the regular, non-student Savor, which means you can earn rich rewards across a host of popular and useful everyday spending categories. Getting 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, streaming services and grocery stores is excellent on any card, student or not.
Note, however, that while the categories are broad, they are not all-encompassing. You get 3% cash back at grocery stores, not "on groceries." Walmart and Target, for example, are not considered grocery stores by Capital One. And you get 3% on popular streaming services, not necessarily all streaming services. As of this writing, Capital One does not publish a list of which services count, although its website defines them this way: "Streaming purchases made from eligible music and video streaming services, including but not limited to Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. Some services such as Verizon FIOS On Demand, audiobook subscriptions, and fitness programming are excluded."
Traveling abroad during spring break, the summer or for a full semester? You could earn an unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal when you pay for your reservation with your Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card. Terms apply.
Ongoing value
You can keep the Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card after you graduate or leave school for any other reason, and you'll likely want to: The rewards rates remain the same even when you aren’t a student, and rewards never expire.
Of course, if you feel you’ve outgrown student credit cards and want a card with more robust rewards and sign-up bonuses, there are plenty of excellent credit cards for young adults. But it’s not necessary to cancel your Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card even if you replace it with another card. Length of credit history factors into your credit scores — the longer, the better — as does your credit utilization ratio. When you close a credit card account, you lose access to that line of credit, which could increase your credit utilization. In general, lenders prefer credit utilization ratios below 30%.
Instead of canceling an old student card, keep using it, or take it out of your wallet and store it in a safe place. Or you could seek a "product change" with Capital One.
No foreign transaction fees
The Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee, making it an ideal travel companion for a semester abroad or a spring break cruise to Cancun. When many college students’ budgets are already tight, it’s refreshing to have a card that won’t nickel-and-dime you with every purchase (see rates and fees).
Bonus offer
The Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has the following bonus offer for new cardholders: Earn $50 when you spend $100 in the first three months. That's not the highest sign-up bonus in the credit cards market — but it's fairly rare to find any kind of bonus on a student card. Plus, this one should be relatively easy to obtain due to the low spending threshold.
Drawbacks and Considerations
Potentially limited eligibility
The primary drawbacks to the Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card might simply be its eligibility requirements. According to the terms and conditions for this card published on Capital One's website, you must satisfy the following criteria to qualify:
Be a student (read more about how that's defined in our guide to Capital One student cards).
Be 18 years or older.
Have a valid Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
Have proof of a monthly income that is greater than your rent or mortgage payment by at least $425.
As mentioned above, Capital One does not say whether students who have not established a credit history can qualify for this card. Those who don't might want to consider the Discover it® Student Cash Back or the Discover it® Student Chrome. These cards both earn rewards and feature bonus offers for new cardholders, and you can apply without a FICO credit history requirement.
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.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
If you can qualify for the card, it's worth considering. There may not be a better college student credit card out there. It’s an excellent card for students relatively new to credit, yet it comes with many of the perks you’d find in a more “grown-up” card.
This card doesn't have a FICO credit history requirement. It earns 5% cash back in bonus categories that change every three months, on up to $1,500 in spending per quarter when you activate (1% back on everything else). There's also a unique welcome offer, which Discover describes this way: "INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or turn $100 cash back into $200."
Looking For Something Else?
Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
About the author
Jae Bratton
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
