We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Here’s how I used my Capital One Savor bonus

  • Erin Lizzo

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Last month I signed up for my first cash-back credit card, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card. I was drawn to this card for two reasons. First, there is a generous $300 bonus when you spend at least $3,000 within the first three months of opening this card. Also, you’ll get cash back on every purchase you make, which sounded really appealing. Since there is no annual fee for the first year it felt like there was little risk in trying out this card.

    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.

    How I qualified for the $300 bonus

    Before I signed up for this card, I had a plan. I knew I would need to spend at least $3,000 within three months. That wouldn’t be too difficult, but I also wanted to receive my bonus as quickly as possible — it’s tough to wait on $300. So I coordinated the timing of when I opened this card to when I would be booking travel for a business trip, knowing that I would be reimbursed by my company. Then I offered to book everyone’s flights, rental car, and lodging.

    Between that and picking up the tab on every meal (also all reimbursable) I was able to charge $3,000 to my card within just two weeks. When I received the reimbursement check a week later I immediately used it to pay off the balance on the card. And — voilà! — when the $3,000 balance was paid off I saw $300 show up in my account just one day later. The entire process of opening the card and receiving my bonus took just three weeks.

    How I used my $300 Capital One Savor bonus

    I could have used my bonus on anything, but I wanted to spend it on an item or experience that I wouldn’t be able to purchase with rewards points. There was one item that I’d had my eye on for a week and didn’t want to wait any longer to make the purchase. So I used my $300 for …

    Meet our new (well, nine-year-old) pup, Lolo. She’s a perfect addition to our family and it was love at first sight. (Photo by Erin Lizzo/Million Mile Secrets)

    My husband and I had been thinking about adopting a senior dog for a few weeks, and when we saw Lolo at the Boulder Humane Society, we were totally smitten right away. After learning that she’d been there for several months and that no one had expressed interest we were heartbroken for her, which made our decision so much easier.

    I knew that receiving $300 for free was a great opportunity to pay it forward and use the money for something that would really mean something to both us and her. So we pulled the trigger and adopted our pup. Between the adoption fees, medicine, food, pet bed, leash, collar and a few toys we were right at $300. It was the perfect way to spend our bonus and ensure that the money spent would give us (and her!) years of happiness. The timing was perfect, and I’ve never been so happy to spend $300 before!

    What would you do with a $300 bonus? It’s a nice problem to have, isn’t it? Would you spend it on a flight and save your miles? Would you book a hotel and save your points? Or would you spend it on something that rewards typically can’t buy? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

    For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

    Featured image by Christin Lola/Shutterstock

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)