Points Panda has partnered with a variety of financial companies including CreditCards.com for our coverage of credit card products. Points Panda and CreditCards.com may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. For more information please read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is a flat-rate card that earns 2x miles on everything making it the perfect card for business owners who don’t want to deal with confusing rotating categories. But despite its simplicity, the card comes with an array of travel and business features that gives it a competitive edge against top-tier business credit cards.
Capital One Spark Miles for Business Key Features
Here are the key features of the Capital One Spark Miles for Business.
- Earn a 50,000 miles welcome bonus (worth $500 in travel) after you spend $4,500 within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Earn unlimited and non-expiring 2x miles on every single purchase you make.
- Redeem your miles for flights, vacation rentals, car rentals, ride-sharing services and other travel redemptions.
- You can transfer your miles to more than 15 loyalty programs.
- Get up to $100 worth of statement credit when you apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck(R) – once every 4 years.
- The card has no foreign transaction fees.
- The annual fee is $95 but is waived for the first year.
- Free employee cards that can also earn unlimited 2x miles on all purchases for the account holder.
Read More: Top 4 Best Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses (2021)
Welcome Bonus: 50,000 Miles That’s Worth $500 In Travel
The Capital One Spark Miles For Business gives new cardholders a solid 50,000 bonus miles after reaching the spending threshold of $4,500 within three months of account opening. The Spark Mile’s 50k bonus is one of Capital One’s biggest bonuses following the Capital One Venture Card’s 60k bonus.
Capital One Miles are worth 1 cent apiece so your 50,000 bonus miles are instantly worth $500 towards travel. That’s more than enough to offset the cost of your annual fees for the next 6 years since you’re annual fee is already waived for the first year.
However, those miles are potentially worth 1.7 cents apiece or even more since you can transfer them to 19 airline and hotel partners. The value of your miles would depend on the transfer partner and the awards you choose.
Earn 2x Miles On Everything
Earning 2x miles on all purchases with no annual cap is one of the main selling points of the Capital One Spark Miles for Business. Plus, you’ll also earn 5x miles if you’re able to book your hotel and rental car purchases through Capital One Travel. Some business cards have annual caps such as the Chase Ink Business Preferred which earns 3x on eligible purchases but has a spending cap of $150,000.
The card comes with free employee cards that also earn 2x miles per dollar spent towards the account owner. Employee purchases also count towards meeting the spending threshold to earn the 50,000 welcome bonus.
Miles Redemptions Using Your Capital One Spark Miles For Business Card
Your miles can be used to redeem both travel and non-travel awards. The redemption rates vary but travel awards typically have the most value. Here are the categories you can redeem using your miles:
Travel expenses
You can redeem your miles at 1 cent apiece for travel purchases made within the last 90 days. This means that you have to make the purchase first and wait for it to post before you can “erase” those purchases. These travel purchases include airlines, hotels, car rentals, rideshares, and more.
Mile Transfers
You can transfer your miles to 19 other loyalty programs which can potentially give you more value for your miles. Here are the Capital One transfer partners and take note that the conversion rates vary for every transfer partner.
1:1 Conversion Ratio
- Aeromexico Clube Premier
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Choice Privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Wyndham Rewards
2:1.5 Conversion Ratio
- EVA Infinity MileageLands
2:1 Conversion Ratio
- ALL Accor Live Limitless
Statement Credits & Gift Cards
You can also use your miles to redeem statement credits and gift cards, however, it might not be the best way to use your hard-earned miles. Statement credits and gift cards typically offer redemption values of less than 1 cent apiece.
Get Up To $100 Statement Credit For Global Entry or TSA Pre✔
Global Entry and TSA Pre✔ are programs by the Department of Homeland Security. Global Entry speeds up customs screening for inbound travelers to the U.S. while TSA Pre ✔ expedites security screening for outbound travelers from the U.S.
Cardholders of the Capital One Spark Miles for Business will get up to $100 worth of statement credits for their Global Entry (costs $100) and TSA✔ (costs $85) applications every four years.
Read More: Best Redemptions Options With Capital One
Who Can Benefit From This Card?
Applying for business credit cards is a tough decision to make because you need to match your business expenses to the card’s earning categories to fully maximize your miles earnings. This is where the Capital One Spark Miles for Business comes in because it has a 2x miles per dollar rate on all purchases and doesn’t have confusing rotating categories that you need to keep track of.
The Spark Miles is a good small business card for owners who have low operational costs and want a simple business card that can maximize miles earning for all purchases they make. It’s also good for business owners who want a secondary credit card that can fill in the gaps of non-eligible categories of their other credit cards.
Alternative Cards
If you’re not fully convinced with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business’s features, there are other starter business credit cards that can offer better rates or welcome bonuses.
Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card
The Chase Ink Business Cash has two earning categories: 5% and 2%. Each cashback category has a spending limit of $25,000 and once that limit is reached, the cashback rate will be 1% for all future purchases.
New cardholders will also get a $750 cash bonus after spending $7,500 with three months of getting the card. And since the Ink Business Cash comes with free employee cards, meeting the spending requirements can be done faster because employee purchases count towards the account owner.
The 5% cashback categories include:
- Office Supplies
- Internet, Cable, and Phone Services
- Lyft Rides
The 2% cashback categories include:
- Gas Stations
- Restaurants
The Ink Business Cash is good for micro-businesses that only spend between $25,000 – $50,000 per year. It’s a no-annual-fee card that allows you to maximize your points earning even with small business expenses.
Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express
The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express earns 2x points per dollar on daily business purchases with a spending limit of $50,000 per year; 1 point per dollar after the limit is reached. It also comes with a welcome bonus of 15,000 Membership Rewards Points after spending $3,000 worth of purchases within three months of card membership.
Read More: Thinking of Cancelling Your Capital One Venture Card? Don’t!
Bottomline
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business comes with solid features despite being a small business card. Earning unlimited 2x miles on all purchases is a great perk considering that some cards have spending caps and rotating categories. Overall, this card is a great pick for beginners since its simplicity and benefits are pretty balanced.
Advertiser Disclosure
PointsPanda Deal of the Week!
Looking for the best flight deals? Each week we'll send you updates with the best deals on flights and hotels both using points and cash.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.