Capital One Spark Miles for Business review: Earn 2X miles on every purchase

CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS BENEFITS

As cards targeting small businesses go, CardName may not have all the bells and whistles of some, but its straightforward, simple rewards program is an excellent fit for many.

The welcome offer is an enticing way to start a relationship with a new card: Earn 50,000 bonus miles, worth $500 to spend on travel, after you spend $4,500 in the first three months. A straightforward and unlimited 2X the miles per $1 spent rewards rate on your purchases keeps the momentum rolling. Miles don't expire for the life of the account and you can choose to transfer them to nuermous travel loyalty programs.

Spark Miles for Business has an annual fee of AnnualFees, giving you the opportunity to try out its perks and features without paying an annual fee for the first year. Given the easy rewards earning and redemption options, we think you'll find it fairly simple to offset the annual fee and then some.

This card also offers a ton of flexibility in its rewards program. You can either log into your account and make your travel purchases (airline tickets, car rentals, etc.) using your accumulated miles or you can be reimbursed for previously made travel purchases. Just log into your account, choose the "Cover Travel Purchases" option and you can use your miles against the amount you spent on your qualifying purchase and be reimbursed the cash value. The best part is you can erase all or even just part of a purchase – it's up to you. You can also transfer those miles to one of several popular travel loyalty programs.

Additional features include free employee cards, quarterly and year-end summaries, downloadable purchase records, a mobile app to manage purchases, no foreign transaction fees and car rental insurance, purchase protection, roadside dispatch, lost luggage reimbursement and up to a $100 credit for one Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fee. See Rates and Fees

FEATURED CARD

 

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• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
• Member FDIC

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WHAT OUR EDITORS LIKE BEST ABOUT CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS

Simplicity and keeping down costs are both beautiful things for small businesses. The CardName offers small businesses that do significant traveling a chance to keep costs under control. And the best part, the person in charge of monitoring expenses doesn't need an accounting degree or PhD in economics to figure out the way to take advantage of the flexible miles redemption program.

A welcome offer of 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 in the first three months is generous, and an unlimited two miles for every $1 spent on all purchases as well as five miles per $1 on hotel and car rentals purchases made through Capital One Travel™ keeps the rewards piling up.

The flexibility of Spark Miles doesn't lock you into a partnered hotel chain or airline either. This allows a small business to shop for the best deals on travel and still reap terrific rewards.

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS

The CardName is a great option for those looking for a simple and flexible rewards credit card; however, it might not be the best option for those who truly spend a lot in specific categories. If you only plan to use your business credit card for internet, phone, and cable services, or for travel purchases, for example, you might fare better with a card that offers a high percentage rewards rate in those specific categories instead.

There's the annual fee to think about, too. This fee can eat into the card's benefits if you don't travel regularly. Though it's waived for the first year of card membership, those looking to avoid annual fees might want to consider another option, such as the no-annual-fee CardName which is basically just a simplified version of the CardName. Information related to this card has been collected by CardRatings and was neither provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Lastly, the APR of RegAPR could put a serious dent in your bottom line if you find yourself needing to a carry a balance. If you envision needing to carry a balance on a big purchase or two in the near future, you might consider an intro 0% APR card or balance transfer offer instead. See Rates and Fees

CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS APPROVAL ODDS

Do you qualify for the CardName?

The list of people who can apply for a small business credit card is long, and includes freelancers/self-employed individuals, entrepreneurs, small business owners/officers, owners/officers of established businesses, and owners/officers of startups. Most credit card companies define "business" quite broadly when it comes to considering applicants for small business credit cards. To qualify for a business credit card, you must be an "authorized officer" of a company. Basically, this means that you must have the legal right to enter into borrowing arrangements with financial institutions on behalf of a business. If you are the owner of a sole proprietorship business or the sole owner of a small business, you are already an "authorized officer." You are, after all, the only owner of the company. It can be more complicated determining who ranks for businesses that have multiple owners. In general, though, most owners are also "authorized officers."

Credit card issuers consider each application on its own merits, so don't assume you don't qualify just because your business might not fit that standard business model. Do keep in mind though that your personal credit history will likely be what is used to determine your eligibility and/or credit limit on a business card before you've built up a credit history for your business.

If your business doesn't have a tax ID number (EIN), you can enter your personal social security number instead. In general, try to have the following information handy when you apply:

• Business name
• Business name as you want it to appear on the card
• Business address
• Type of business
• Tax ID number (or your social security number)
• Number of employees
• Annual revenue/sales
• Monthly expenses
• Number of years in business
• Ownership type (publicly traded, privately owned, etc.)
• Business structure (LLC, corporation, non-profit, etc.)

To learn more about who can qualify for a small business credit card, and how to apply for one, be sure to check out our "Small Business Credit Cards 101" guide.

CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS CARDHOLDER SCORES

*Scores above reflect the results of surveys with actual cardholders. Full methodology below.

HOW CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS COMPARES TO OTHER CREDIT CARDS

Capital One Spark Miles for Business vs. Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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Both the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card and the CardName are good choices for business owners. Each provides rewards and a host of other perks although there are differences in what they offer.

For instance, both cards charge a $95 annual fee but Spark Miles will waive it for the first year. Both cards also offer bonus rewards to new cardholders: Spark Miles' bonus offers 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 in three months, and Ink Business Preferred® offers a 100,000-point bonus when new cardholders spend $8,000 in purchases within three months of opening an account. See Rates and Fees

When it comes to earnings for purchases, Spark Miles offers 2X miles, with no limits, for every $1 spent. The Ink Business Preferred® earning structure is a little more complex. Cardholders can earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for every $1 spent, up to $150,000 annually, on select categories of spending such as travel, shipping purchases, internet service and social media advertising. All other purchases receive one reward point per $1 spent.

Both cards offer free employee cards, no foreign transaction fees and multiple ways to redeem rewards.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business vs. CardName

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The obvious difference in these two Capital One cards is right there in their names. While Capital One Spark Miles for Business offers an attractive rewards program with the chance to use accumulated miles to pay for travel-related expenses, the CardName offers good old-fashioned cash as its reward. However, the Spark Cash Plus card is also geared toward businesses that are perhaps spending a little more.

For example, as an introductory offer Spark Miles for Business offers 50,000 bonus miles – worth $500 in travel – after you spend $4,500 in the first three months. Spark Cash Plus, on the other hand, offers a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first three months.

Both have a very simple rewards program, Capital One Spark Cash Plus offers 2% cash back on all purchases. Capital One Spark Miles for Business offers two times miles (essentially 2%) for every $1 spent as well as five times the miles on car rental and hotel purchases through the Capital One portal. It comes down to a simple question for small business owners – do you prefer to accumulate travel miles or get cash back?

Capital One Spark Miles for Business vs. Capital One Venture

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Both the Capital One Spark Miles for Business and CardName compete for business professionals, especially those who frequently travel. In that sense, they're pretty similar.

Spark Miles for Business has a straightforward, simple rewards program with a hearty welcome offer. You'll receive 50,000 bonus miles, worth up to $500 to spend on travel after you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first three months.

The Venture card offers a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

As for ongoing rewards, Spark Miles allows you to earn unlimited 2X miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions.

The Venture card also gives you unlimited 2X miles for each $1 you spend – on all purchases, travel related or not.

The big difference to note is that the Venture card isn't a small business card, so it doesn't come with some of the features that could be useful for a small business. That said, if your small business is very small and you don't really need things like a bunch of employee cards, then it could be an option for you.

IS CAPITAL ONE SPARK MILES FOR BUSINESS A GOOD BUSINESS CREDIT CARD?

If you are a small business owner and you or your employees do a fair amount of traveling for business, the CardName card can be a very effective tool in your fiscal arsenal.

If you don't have the time or the manpower to wade through a complicated rewards program to figure out the maximum value, the simplicity of the Spark Miles card is sure to make you smile.

This is also an excellent business miles card for the business owner who doesn't like to be locked into a relationship with one hotel chain or airline but would rather shop for the best deals available, thanks to the ability to easily transfer miles or cover recent travel purchases with miles.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. “Current Scores” reflect scores from the most recent survey (2023); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2022 survey.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.