Capital One Savor vs. Amex Gold

Short answer: the Savor is the simpler card, and the Gold wins only if you transfer Membership Rewards points to travel partners. The Savor charges $0 and pays 3% cash back on dining, groceries, streaming, and entertainment. The Gold costs $325, or about $145 after the credits we count as usable ($60 of its Uber Cash and its $120 dining credit), and earns 4x points at restaurants (up to $50,000 a year) and U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 a year). Hand-calculated on dining and groceries alone, 4x is worth 6% at the optimizer’s default 1.5 cents per point in travel mode, which beats the Savor’s 3% by enough to cover the $145 net fee at about $4,800 a year (roughly $400 a month); at the 0.6-cent cash-mode value it is worth 2.4%, below the Savor’s 3%. Choose the Savor if you want cash back with no fee. Choose the Gold if you will transfer points and use both monthly credits. The Savor’s top rates (8% on Capital One Entertainment, 5% on Capital One Travel hotels and rental cars) and the Gold’s 5x on prepaid Amex Travel hotels apply only through each issuer’s own portal. The head-to-head run below solves both cards against your own spending.