Citi Premier vs. Capital One SavorOne
When it comes to maximizing points earned on your spend, it’s vital to pick a card that emphasizes on basic human needs like food. In this post, I’ll be comparing the Citi Premier and the Capital One SavorOne.
Citi Premier vs. Capital One SavorOne Basics
Both credit cards are great choices to earn rewards on your day-to-day spend.
| Citi Premier | Capital One SavorOne | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $95 | $0 |
| Dining | 3x TY | 3x |
| Grocery | 3x | 3x |
| Gas | 3x | 1x |
| Flights | 3x | 1x |
| Hotels | 3x | 5x through Capital One Travel portal;1x outside |
| Car Rentals | 1x | 5x through Capital One Travel portal;1x outside |
| Entertainment | 1x | 3x |
| Streaming Services | 1x | 3x |
| No Foreign Transaction Fee | Yes | Yes |
| Hotel Credit | $100 off for hotel stays costing $500 or more through Citi ThankYou Travel Portal (once a year) | None |
Here are some of the notable differences:
- SavorOne has no annual fee; Citi Premier has a $95 annual fee
- Better entertainment & streaming services earnings on SavorOne
- SavorOne earns cashback, but can be converted into Capital One Miles if you have the Capital One Venture X, Venture, or VentureOne opened.
- Overall stronger travel spend category for Citi Premier (more flexible). Beware that Citi Premier does not offer travel insurances like trip delay coverage.
- Citi Premier offers bigger signup bonus
- Great gas multiplier
- Hotel credit can potentially offset the annual fee. But, shop around to make sure you’re not paying more from the Citi Travel Portal compared to other sites. Also, you won’t be able to get elite benefits or build hotel status by booking through Citi Travel Portal.
Some similarities:
- Both use MasterCard payment network; international acceptance will be great. Also, no foreign transaction fees!
- Uncapped grocery spend with similar spend multiplier, and are not limited to US only unlike the American Express Gold Card.
Which Card to Get Between Citi Premier & Capital One SavorOne
Both cards are very strong, but it all comes down to what your goal is. The SavorOne is more suitable towards those who:
- prefers cashback
- prefers no annual fee cards
- prefers flexibility in converting to Capital One Miles later on after opening the Venture X, Venture, or VentureOne
- are avid moviegoers
On the other hand, the Citi Premier is suited towards those who:
- spends a lot on paid hotel stays
- are willing to learn how to redeem Citi ThankYou points effectively
However, there’s no stopping you on getting both cards! That means you can get more signup bonuses. Since the Capital One SavorOne has no annual fee, there’s really no reason to close the card to preserve your credit history.
Just keep in mind, Capital One has a strict 2-card limit on personal cards. If you decide to open the SavorOne, you’d best consider opening one of the Venture series cards in order to be able to convert cashback earned from SavorOne to Miles later on.
Citi Premier has downgrade options like the Citi Double Cash if you can’t find value against its annual fee after the first year. As long as the card number don’t change, you’ll be eligible for the Citi Premier signup bonus again 24-months after the date you receive the last signup bonus.
At last, Citi TY and Capital One Miles do share a lot of their transfer partners with each other along with some less used exclusive transfer partners as well. So, there’s a lot of opportunities to pool your points together and diversify your points war chests. Some favorites include Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways/British Airways Avios.
| Citi ThankYou Exclusive Partners | City TY & Capital One Miles Shared Partners | Capital One Miles Exclusive Partners |
|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | Aeromexico | Air Canada |
| Thai Royal | Air France-KLM | Finnair |
| Avianca | TAP Air Portugal | |
| Cathay Pacific | Accor | |
| Emirates | ||
| Etihad | ||
| EVA Air (1:1 Citi; 2:1.5 Capital One) | ||
| Qantas | ||
| Qatar Airways/British Airways** | ||
| Singapore Airlines | ||
| Turkish Miles & Smiles | ||
| Virgin Atlantic | ||
| Choice Hotels | ||
| Wyndham |
** Qatar Airways is a Citi transfer partner while British Airways is a Capital One transfer partner. Since Qatar Airways has recently switched its loyalty currency to Avios, you can link both accounts from Qatar Airways and British Airways to combine Avios since both programs use the same currency.
Conclusion
For someone who’s really into earning points to redeem them for premium travel at low cost, I’d get both cards to take advantage of more signup bonuses and the fact that the. But, if I have to pick a card as the winner, I’ll give it to the Capital One SavorOne.
A no annual fee card that earns 3x on groceries, dining, entertainment, and streaming services will fit many people living in current times. The fact that it has no annual fee gives the Citi Premier a run for its money (even the Amex Gold), since its core multipliers of groceries and dining overlap with the SavorOne with just the incremental of 1x more. You just need to be willing to open a card from the Venture series if you want to unlock the true potential of the SavorOne and transfer its cashback rewards to Capital One Miles.
But, the Citi Premier is a great one-and-done type of card where you can get a lot of mileage just from this card alone, and it covers gas spending pretty well compared to the SavorOne. Some may appreciate the Citi Premier’s lower maintenance approach to collecting and redeeming points for award travels.