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Capital One Quicksilver Rewards Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

March 13, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

This is the top-of-the-line among Capital One's Quicksilver Rewards card portfolio, which means it offers a welcome bonus and introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers to applicants with excellent credit. Pity about the 1.5% cash back rate, though.

A recent influx of credit cards offering unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases has made flat-rate 1.5% rewards cards look like cheap imitators. And because the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards Card requires "excellent" credit for approval, candidates who qualify should comparison shop before settling for the lower base rate.

That said, the Quicksilver card does pull out all the stops in some areas (even beyond the welcome bonus and zero-interest period on purchases and balance transfers): Check out the select 5% cash back on certain travel purchases (and lack of foreign transaction fees), access to Capital One Entertainment and Dining perks, and rotating selection of benefits with retailers and service providers like Uber.

(Note, there are two other Quicksilver cards if your credit isn't stellar: Quicksilver Rewards for Good Credit and QuicksilverOne Rewards for those with "fair" credit.)

The basics: Earn 1.5% unlimited cash back on every purchase and 5% cashback on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 within three months from account opening. 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers.

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

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monetization_on Other

local_pharmacy Pharmacy

card_travel Travel

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Calculate Cash Back

Best for Low-Hassle Rewards

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

$200

Apply Now

Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

No rewards earnings caps
5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Signup bonus and 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
No foreign transaction fees
Offers pre-approval
Multiple reward redemption options

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Uncompetitive 1.5% rewards rate
Requires “excellent” credit in exchange for not-so-excellent rewards

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	1.50%	-	-	-
Travel	1.50%	-	-	-
Dining	1.50%	-	-	-
Entertainment	1.50%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	1.50%	-	-	-
Groceries	1.50%	-	-	-
Other Purchases	1.50%	-	-	-

Note: The Capital One Quicksilver Rewards Card also pays an unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

What we like

Toss aside those spending shackles. There’s no cap on the cashback rewards you can earn with the Capital One Quicksilver card. Everything qualifies for the 1.5% rewards rate.

Got wanderlust? You'll earn 5% cashback on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

We like the low spending requirement to earn the welcome bonus. Cardholders have a whole three months to spend just $500 to earn the one-time $200 cash bonus. One trip to Best Buy with a teenager oughta do it.

This is the only Quicksilver card offering 0% interest on balance transfers. Capital One lowers the balance-transfer fee to 3% (vs. its standard 4%) on debts you move onto the card during the promotional period.

Redemption options include the usual suspects — statement credit, check, gift cards — as well as using cash back for purchases made via Amazon.com and PayPal. And some rewards are transferable between Capital One accounts.

Access to Capital One Dining and Entertainment offers is included to help you get a hard-to-snag reservation or better-than-nosebleed seats at a hot show.

Includes complimentary concierge service, 24-7 travel assistance and travel accident insurance.

Comes with CreditWise alerts to changes in your TransUnion and Experian credit reporting files.

What we don't like

The Quicksilver Rewards Card's 1.5% cash back rate is so last year. Nowadays 2% is the new 1.5% as seen with the Wells Fargo Active Cash Card, PayPal's Cashback Mastercard and any number of other flat-rate cash back credit cards on offer.

Approval for the Quicksilver card requires having “excellent credit.” If a lender is going to require “excellent credit” to qualify for a card, we want to be wowwed.

Overall rewards are limiting with this card. We love flat-rate rewards cards for the easy-peasy, no-brainer rewards setup. But the reality is the most you'll rake in with the Quicksilver card is $15 back for each $1,000 in spending, which makes it a better secondary card, not the main rewards workhorse in your wallet .

The bottom line

Is the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards fine print

Here’s what you need to know about the terms and conditions for the Capital One Quicksilver card, courtesy of Capital One’s legal eagles.

Does the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards offer a welcome bonus?

Yes, the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards has a welcome bonus of $200.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cashback can I earn with the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $180.00 in cash back per year using the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.