Capital One Quicksilver Review: 1.5% Everywhere, No Fee Abroad
Best for people who spend real money abroad and want one simple card. It pays 1.5% on everything, half a point less than the 2% cards, and charges no foreign transaction fee.
01Who It Suits
Quicksilver is for someone who wants one card with nothing to track and uses it abroad. Every purchase earns 1.5%, with no categories, no activation and no cap; hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and tickets bought through Capital One Entertainment, earn 5%.
The case for it is travel. A 2% card that charges 3% abroad loses a point on every purchase outside the U.S.; Quicksilver earns 1.5% on them. That 2.5-point gap on spending abroad has to make up for the half point it gives up at home, which happens once your spending abroad is more than a fifth of your spending at home.
For people who rarely leave the country, the half point matters more, and Wells Fargo Active Cash or Citi Double Cash will pay more.
02Rewards and Costs
| Rewards | 1.5% cash back on every purchase; 5% on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and on Capital One Entertainment purchases |
| Welcome bonus | $200 cash bonus after $500 in purchases in the first 3 months |
| Annual fee | $0 |
| Intro APR | 0% for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers |
| Balance transfers | 3% fee on amounts transferred in the first 15 months; a different fee may apply later |
| Ongoing APR | 18.74% to 28.74% variable, depending on your credit |
| Purchases abroad | No foreign transaction fee |
| Redeeming | Cash back in any amount, as a statement credit or check, or set to pay out automatically |
From Capital One's card page, checked November 10, 2026. Offers and rates can change; the issuer's page has the current terms.
03On Your Spending
Other categories, purchases abroad and credits
| Card, on the same spending | Normal year | Compared with Quicksilver |
|---|
These figures assume you pay the full statement balance every month; interest and other borrowing costs are not included. The categories are the same as in the full comparison, so the same budget gives each card the same result on every page. Restaurants abroad earn a card's dining rate where that rate applies worldwide, other purchases abroad earn the base rate, and bookings through card issuers' own travel and entertainment sites are not included. Costco warehouses and Costco gas stations take only Visa credit cards. Rank all eleven cards on every category.
What it takes to beat it
A flat 2% card earns half a point more at home, $5 on every $1,000. Abroad, Quicksilver earns $15 on every $1,000 and a 2% card with a 3% fee loses $10, a $25 gap. So Quicksilver pays more once your yearly spending abroad is more than a fifth of your spending at home: $4,000 abroad for someone who spends $20,000 at home. That line is before welcome bonuses and before the 5% on Capital One Travel and Entertainment. Enter your purchases abroad under Other categories to see your own figure.
04What the Headline Leaves Out
- At home it pays 1.5%, less than the 2% cards.
- The 3% balance transfer fee applies to the first 15 months; later transfers may cost more.
- The 5% on Capital One Travel only applies to hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked there, often at prices that differ from booking direct.
- Capital One also sells QuicksilverOne, a different card for fair credit with an annual fee and different terms; this review covers Quicksilver. Check which version you are offered.
- It is usually issued as a Mastercard, and Costco warehouses take only Visa credit cards.
05Closest Alternatives
| Card | Why you might pick it instead |
|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Active Cash | 2% on everything, which pays more at home, but 3% abroad |
| Citi Double Cash | 2% in two halves, with 18 months at 0% on balance transfers, but 3% abroad |
| Capital One Savor | 3% on groceries, restaurants, entertainment and streaming, and also no fee abroad |
All eleven cards are ranked on your own spending on the cash-back cards page.
06Questions
Does Capital One Quicksilver have a foreign transaction fee?
No. Purchases abroad earn the same 1.5%.
Is Quicksilver or a 2% card better?
At home, a 2% card pays more. Abroad, Quicksilver pays more because it has no 3% fee. It comes out ahead overall once your spending abroad is more than about a fifth of your spending at home.
What is the Quicksilver welcome bonus?
$200 cash after $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
Is Quicksilver or Savor better?
Savor pays 3% on groceries, restaurants, entertainment and streaming and 1% on the rest; Quicksilver pays 1.5% on everything. Both have no fee abroad. At exactly a quarter of your spending in Savor's 3% categories the two tie; above a quarter, Savor pays more.
Is there a cap on Quicksilver cash back?
No. Every purchase earns 1.5%, with no limit.
07Sources and Changes
- Capital One, Quicksilver card page, checked November 10, 2026 (rewards, bonus, intro APR, balance transfer fee, APR range, no foreign fee).
November 10, 2026: first published. Revised the same day: Capital One Entertainment added, the break-even stated before bonuses and portal rewards.
Cite This Page
This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from Card issuers' own product pages and pricing terms, with any figure an issuer page did not show taken from a named secondary review and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.
| Format | Citation | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | Dave Manuel, “Capital One Quicksilver Review: 1.5% Everywhere, No Fee Abroad,” DaveManuel.com, updated November 10, 2026, https://www.davemanuel.com/money/us/credit-cards/capital-one-quicksilver/ (accessed November 10, 2026). | Copy |
| APA | Manuel, D. (2026). Capital One Quicksilver Review: 1.5% Everywhere, No Fee Abroad. DaveManuel.com. Retrieved November 10, 2026, from https://www.davemanuel.com/money/us/credit-cards/capital-one-quicksilver/ | Copy |
| Chicago | Manuel, Dave. “Capital One Quicksilver Review: 1.5% Everywhere, No Fee Abroad.” DaveManuel.com. Accessed November 10, 2026. https://www.davemanuel.com/money/us/credit-cards/capital-one-quicksilver/. | Copy |
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Source data: Card issuers' own product pages and pricing terms, with any figure an issuer page did not show taken from a named secondary review. Updates: As terms change. Page last updated November 10, 2026. How we build our data pages.