How the Capital One Savor Will Save My Family Hundreds at Restaurants During Our Hawaii Vacation

May 31, 2019 By Jasmin Baron

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There’s a big focus in our hobby on collecting airline miles, hotel points and transferable rewards to unlock free travel. These are your key to getting free flights and hotel stays, which make up the bulk of trip expenses.

But what about unavoidable costs like meals, gas and groceries? You’ll still need to eat and get around once you’re at destination, which is where cash back credit cards come in. I recently opened the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card and will use the bonus to offset the cost of dining on an upcoming trip to Hawaii. Thanks to this card, my out of pocket expense will be minimal and we’ll probably splurge on a nice seafood meal or two.

The information for the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

We’ll use the Capital One Savor to pay at restaurants on our Hawaii vacation, and use the bonus to offset the charges. (Photo by Jasmin Baron/Million Mile Secrets)

Why I Chose the Capital One Savor for Restaurant Expenses

Read our review of the Capital One Savor card

The Capital One Savor is a solid pick if you’re looking for a cash back credit card to wipe out vacation expenses like dining out, groceries and entertainment. Currently, it’s offering a welcome bonus of $300 cash back after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. And you’ll also earn:

4% cash back on dining
4% cash back on entertainment
4% cash back on popular streaming services
3% cash back at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target)

You’ll earn 1% cash back on all other purchases, and the $95 annual fee.

These bonus categories fit real well if you’re planning a trip, especially with family. Capital One says entertainment includes movies, plays, concerts, sporting events, tourist attractions, theme parks, aquariums, zoos, dance clubs, pool halls or bowling alleys, record stores and video rental locations.

I’ll use the Savor almost exclusively for meals and attractions when we’re in Hawaii, and use the cash back bonus to erase those expenses. It’s really easy to redeem cash back from the Capital One Savor. You can request a check or statement credit, any time, with no minimum redemption amount.

Earning 4% back on dining can take the sting out of restaurant expenses, especially if you have hungry kids! (Photo by Jasmin Baron/Million Mile Secrets)

I’d had my eye on the Capital One Savor for a while, and I won’t stop using the Capital One Savor after the trip, either.

That 4% back on dining and entertainment will be helpful any time the kids want to take in a movie or go out for an ice cream with their pals. So I ordered each child an authorized user card (Capital One doesn’t have an age limit for authorized users). It’ll help grow their credit history, so when they turn 18 they’ll have a better shot at qualifying for the best travel credit cards.

In the past (and when I applied for the card), the Capital One Savor bonus has been as high as $500 cash back after meeting minimum spending, but I don’t know if that offer will ever return. This was actually the first Capital One card I’d ever applied for, so I was a little nervous, but fortunately it was an instant approval.

Side note — the Capital One Savor is a metal credit card and it is heavy (it feels even chunkier than my Chase Sapphire Reserve). So it’s got a bit of a cool factor going on for it — the kids were quite impressed.

Want to learn more about the Capital One Savor? Check out these posts:

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Jasmin Baron

Contributor

Jasmin Baron was an editor at Million Mile Secrets. She covers topics on points and miles, credit cards, airlines, hotels, and general travel. Her work has appeared in The Points Guy and Business Insider.