Capital One Savor Student

$100 after spending $300 in the first three months works out to a 33% return on the qualifying spend, and $300 over three months is $100 a month — below what most students spend on groceries alone. It's the rare welcome offer that doesn't require manufacturing spending to reach.

Compare that to the Bank of America student cards, whose welcome offer is a 15-cycle 0% period rather than cash. Both are worth having; the Capital One offer is worth more immediately, the Bank of America one worth more if you have something to finance.

Unlimited 3% at grocery stores and on dining, entertainment and streaming, 1% elsewhere — the same structure as the adult Savor card, uncapped. For a student, groceries, takeout and a couple of subscriptions are most of a month's discretionary spending, so the 3% lands where the money goes rather than in categories that describe someone else's life.

One gap in our data worth naming: the APR isn't verified for this card. On a student card that's the figure that matters most if things go wrong, so read it from Capital One's own disclosure before applying. The card's whole value assumes you clear the statement monthly, and knowing the cost of not doing so is part of forming that habit.

3% on groceries, dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, 1% on everything else, no annual fee. Those four categories describe a fairly large share of a student budget, which is more than can be said for the travel bonuses that dominate the top of this catalog.

Against Capital One's adult Savor the difference is narrow: the same 3% categories, without the 5% rate on travel booked through Capital One Travel. For someone not booking hotels through a portal, that is close to no difference at all.

This catalog has no verified APR for this card. That is a real hole rather than an oversight, and it is left visible instead of filled with a plausible number — but it means this page cannot tell you the one figure that decides what a missed month costs.

Read it on Capital One's own disclosure before applying. On a first credit card the rate matters more than the rewards, because the person holding it has the least experience of what a rolling balance does and the smallest income to clear one with.

3% on groceries, dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, 1% on everything else, no annual fee. Those four categories describe a fairly large share of a student budget, which is more than can be said for the travel bonuses that dominate the top of this catalog.

Against Capital One's adult Savor the difference is narrow: the same 3% categories, without the 5% rate on travel booked through Capital One Travel. For someone not booking hotels through a portal, that is close to no difference at all.

This catalog has no verified APR for this card. That is a real hole rather than an oversight, and it is left visible instead of filled with a plausible number — but it means this page cannot tell you the one figure that decides what a missed month costs.

Read it on Capital One's own disclosure before applying. On a first credit card the rate matters more than the rewards, because the person holding it has the least experience of what a rolling balance does and the smallest income to clear one with.