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Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Credit Card Review



The new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Credit Card offers a unique way to earn more cash back on something you probably spend on already: Food! This no annual fee card gives you 3% cash back on dining. 2% cash back on groceries, and 1% cash back on everything else.

Launched in April 2017, the new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card gives you more cash back where you spend most: 3 percent cash back on dining, 2 percent cash back on groceries and 1 percent on all other purchases.

Choosing the credit card that will earn you the most rewards is no easy feat because it depends so much on how you'll actually use the card. If you like to eat, however, the new Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card is worth a look.

Capital One Premier Dining Rewards overview
The Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card is a new cash rewards card offering unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining, 2 percent on groceries, and 1 percent on all other purchases. There's no annual fee. 

Card Highlights

  • One-time $100 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months of approval
  • Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining, 2% on groceries and 1% on all other purchases
  • No rotating categories or sign ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back doesn't expire and there's no limit to how much you can earn
New card members can earn a one-time $100 cash bonus after you spend $500 within 3 months of approval.

At the time of writing this review, the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card does not offer any introductory APRs on either purchases or balance transfers.

How much can you earn with the Premier Dining Rewards Card?
Overall, we think the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card is a pretty good deal. What's immediately attractive about this card is that there's no limit to the cash back you can earn - even at the highest rates on dining and groceries. 

If, on average, you spend more than a combined $500 a month on restaurants and/or groceries, the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card will earn you more cash back than a fixed 1.5 percent cash back card.

As an example, if you spend an average of $400 a month on dining, $400 a month on groceries, and $700 on everything else, you could earn $324 cash back in year, not including the $100 one-time cash bonus.

If you put those same purchases on a card like the Capital One Quicksilver Card that pays an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases, regardless of category, you would only earn $270 cash back for the year. Although the simplicity of 1.5x cash back cards (of which there are many) is attractive, you can definitely pocket extra dollars by using a card that pays more on certain categories like the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card does on dining and groceries. 

Even better, you could combine the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card with a 1.5x cash back card. Assuming you used the 1.5x card on all  of your purchases other than dining and groceries, you could increase your annual rewards take to $366.

Of course, the more you spend in the right categories, the more you'll earn. Do you have an expense account to wine and dine clients for work? If you spend $1,000 a month on dining you'd reap $360 a year in rewards, even if you didn't charge anything else to the card.

Feeding a hungry family? If you spent the same $400 a month on dining and $700 a month on other purchases but spend $800 a month on groceries, you'd take home $420 in rewards with the Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Card.

Capital One Premier Dining Rewards vs the competition


The Capital One Premier Dining Rewards Credit Card is somewhat unique among rewards cards in that it gives you higher rewards rates on both dining and groceries. 

This is an unusual combination of rewards categories but one think I will be quite attractive to many Millennial consumers based on our spending habits. Often, you'll see cards that give you higher rewards rates on groceries or dining, but not both. Here's a look at how this card compares to other cards that offer accelerated rewards in everyday categories.

The popular Chase Sapphire Preferred Card gives you 2x points on dining and travel for a $95 annual fee, and if you shell out a $450 annual fee the Chase Sapphire Reserve will pay 3x points on travel and dining worldwide. But most people aren't dining out all the time; sometimes we buy groceries, too! The Sapphire Preferred Card is well-suited to world travelers, as it does not restrict dining purchases to U.S. restaurants as many of these other cards, do.

The BankAmericard Cash Rewards Card combines extra rewards on grocery and gas rewards: It offers 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 3 percent cash back on gas, but those extra earning rates are capped to the first $2,500 in combined grocery/wholesale/gas purchases each quarter.

A card with a gas/dining combination is the Wells Fargo Propel American Express Card. The Propel card gives you 3x points at U.S. gas stations and 2x points at U.S. grocery stores, plus 1x points on everything else. Wells Fargo banking customers with a qualifying account can earn an additional 10 percent on non-bonus rewards.

Finally, the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express is another card where you can get extra rewards on dining and grocery stores (it offers 2x points on U.S. gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants), but it charges a $195 annual fee after the first year!







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