Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card review 2024: Excellent cash-back rewards for new-to-credit students

Generous cash back in popular spending categories makes this card a great option for students with fair or limited credit. Plus, access to credit monitoring tools can help cardholders improve their credit.

Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. basics

• Annual fee: $0.
• Welcome bonus: $50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
• Rewards: 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024, 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target), 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• APR: 19.99% to 29.99% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers.
• Other benefits: Complimentary Uber One membership through November 14, 2024 and access to travel accident insurance, 24-hour travel assistance, complimentary concierge services and extended warranty protection¹.
• Does the issuer offer a preapproval tool? Yes.
• Recommended credit score: Fair or limited.

Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card review

The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. ranks near the top of many best student card lists, and for good reason. With an excellent rewards rate in popular spending categories, travel perks you don’t often see on student cards, and bonus rewards on Uber and Uber Eats purchases, it offers cardholders a plethora of opportunities to earn unlimited cash back and build a solid credit history.

Even less common among starter and student credit cards are travel perks of consequence, but that’s not the case with the Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students card. Cardholders enjoy access to benefits like travel accident insurance, concierge services, 24/7 travel assistance, discounts and bonus rewards on purchases made through Capital One Travel, and no foreign transaction fees.

You also get free price drop protection: If you book a flight via Capital One Travel and the price drops within 10 days, you’ll get a travel credit for the difference (up to $50). You won’t earn free flights or frequent-flier status with this card, but any travel perks on a starter credit card are worth pointing out.

Capital One offers some credit-building tools to help students develop responsible habits, including the CreditWise service, which lets you check your TransUnion VantageScore 3.0 credit score for free, the Money & Life Program, a free money-coaching service that includes one-on-one support and the Learn and Grow content hub, which offers tips and resources on building credit.

The card also reports your credit activity to all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). If you make all of your payments on time and keep your credit utilization low — aka you only use a small portion of your available credit at any given time — this can further help you build your credit.

Still, the card isn’t without drawbacks. There’s no introductory APR offer for purchases or balance transfers, and you could be assigned an APR at the higher end of the range. While a high interest rate isn’t surprising for a student card, cardholders who carry a balance could quickly find themselves owing more than they can afford to pay off.

Pros

• No annual fee: Students can swipe with confidence knowing their rewards won’t be reduced just for holding the card.
• Bonus rewards with no caps: Earn unlimited cash back in often-used spending categories: dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and grocery store purchases.
• Uber perks: Through Nov. 14, 2024, earn cash back on purchases through Uber and Uber Eats, plus a complimentary Uber One membership.
• Travel benefits: Pay no foreign transaction fees and enjoy access to travel accident insurance, 24/7 travel assistance, savings on trips booked through Capital One Travel and more.

Cons

• No intro APR offer: Students have little incentive to use this card to finance large purchases or transfer existing high-interest debt.
• Low base rewards rate: Spending outside of the elevated cash-back categories earn minimal rewards.
• High ongoing APR: Those who qualify at the higher end of the APR range will be paying an above-average price if they have to carry a balance.

Rewards

The SavorOne for Students Credit Card earns:

• 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024.
• 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target).
• 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 all other purchases.

Eligible streaming services include:

• Netflix
• Hulu
• Disney +

Your rewards are unlimited, so your earning potential isn’t capped at a specific amount each quarter.

Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a student in the U.S. that would be in the market for this card has $12,544 in expenses they are likely to be able to charge to a credit card. 

Here’s what we estimate you could earn in rewards on that spending using the Capital One SavorOne for Students card:

SPENDING CATEGORY	SPENDING AMOUNT	CASH-BACK RATE	CASH BACK EARNED
Dining	$1,763	3%	$52.89
Entertainment	$694	3%	$20.82
Streaming services	$282	3%	$8.46
Grocery spending	$2,471	3%	$74.13
Other	$7,334	1%	$73.34
TOTAL	$12,544		$229.64

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The cardholder in this example earns a grand total of $229.64 in cash back rewards annually. And that doesn’t take into account the SavorOne for Students’ other cash-back opportunities on Capital One Entertainment purchases, hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and Uber & Uber Eats purchases (the latter through Nov. 14, 2024). Depending on your spending in these categories, your cash back rewards have the potential to increase significantly.

Rewards earned with this no-annual-fee card never expire and can be redeemed for statement credits, credits for previous purchases, gift cards, travel reservations through Capital One Travel and more. 

You have the option to set up automatic redemptions either for a set time each year or when you’ve earned a specific amount of cash back; you’ll otherwise get your cash back whenever you request it.

How the Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card compares to other student cards

Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card vs. Discover it® Student Chrome

There’s a lot to like about the Discover it® Student Chrome. The no-annual-fee card earns a solid 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter and 1% cash back on all other purchases and comes with a 0% intro APR on purchases and 10.99% intro APR on balance transfers for 6 months, then a variable APR of 18.24% to 27.24% applies. There's a 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms). You’ll also get free access to your TransUnion FICO score to help monitor your credit-building journey.

Although the card lacks a traditional upfront welcome offer, Discover will automatically match all the cash back earned at the end of the first cardmember year. That said, the Discover it® Student Chrome’s bonus earnings on gas and dining are capped at $1,000 in quarterly spending, whereas the SavorOne offers unlimited rewards on several categories of purchases year-round. If you’re looking for a card with strong, long-term earnings potential, you’ll want to stick with the SavorOne Rewards for Students.

Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card vs. Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. has many similarities to the SavorOne Rewards for Students card.

Both Capital One cards have the same welcome offer, the same Uber perks and the same lack of an annual fee. The main difference is the rewards rate: the Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card earns 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024, 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.5% cash back on every other purchase.

But the numbers don’t lie: Based on our estimate that a U.S. household is likely to charge $12,544 in yearly expenses on this type of card, the one-year earning potential with the Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card calculates out to $188.16 in rewards, compared to the SavorOne Rewards for Students’ $229.64. Most will find that the SavorOne Rewards for Students card will be the more rewarding option.

Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card vs. Discover it® Student Cash Back

The no-annual-fee Discover it® Student Cash Back earns 5% cash back at different places each quarter up to the quarterly maximum once activated and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Plus, Discover will automatically match all the cash back earned at the end of the first cardmember year.

Those features will likely make the Discover it® Student Cash Back more valuable than the SavorOne Rewards for Students card for most.

However, the Discover it® Student Cash Back requires you to opt in to a different bonus category every quarter, making the card a bit more hands-on than you might want for what’s likely your first credit card. If you prefer simplicity, the SavorOne Rewards for Students is the better choice.

The Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card is right for you if:

• You do major spending on dining, entertainment, streaming or groceries.
• You’re a regular Uber user.
• You’re a student with limited credit.

Capital One SavorOne Rewards for Students Credit Card summary

CAPITAL ONE SAVORONE REWARDS FOR STUDENTS CREDIT CARD DETAILS
Annual fee	$0
Rewards	10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024, 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target), 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases and 1% cash back on all other purchases
Welcome bonus	$50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases in the first three months of account opening
APR	19.99% to 29.99% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
Foreign transaction fee	None
Reports to all three credit bureaus?	Yes
Other perks and benefits	Complimentary Uber One membership through Nov. 14, 2024; Travel accident insurance; 24-hour travel assistance; Extended warranty protection

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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

^{¹For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.}