Capital One Spark Miles for Business review 2023

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card offers small business owners two miles per dollar spent on every purchase, with no cap on the number of miles you can earn. Spark Miles can be redeemed for one cent each to offset travel purchases or transferred to one of Capital One’s 18 travel transfer partners.

For savvy rewards maximizers, transfers to travel partners provide the most lucrative redemption opportunities — including business and first class award flights. And among cards that offer transferable points, the Spark Miles for Business Card offers more transferable points on non-category purchases than any other business card. All of that and more make it not only one of the best business credit cards for travel but one of the best travel credit cards overall.

Here’s what you need to know about the Capital One Spark Miles card.

• Earn two miles per dollar on every purchase.
• Earn five miles per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
• Points can be redeemed for statement credits to offset travel purchases or transferred to one of Capital One’s 18 travel loyalty program partners.
• $100 credit toward TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, once every four years.
• Two Capital One Lounge passes each year.
• Extended warranty protection.
• Free employee cards.
• $0 introductory annual fee in the first year; then $95/year.
• No foreign transaction fees.

• Earn two transferable points per dollar spent — the most transferable points on non-category purchases offered by any business card.
• Receive two Capital One Lounge passes every year.
• No foreign transaction fees.

• Points can only be redeemed for one cent each when offsetting travel purchases — cash back redemptions get 0.5 cents of value per point.
• Five points per dollar is only offered on hotel and car rental bookings through Capital One Travel.

Small business owners who apply for a new Spark Miles for Business card can earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $4,500 on the card within the first three months of having the card.

In addition to the welcome offer, you’ll pay no annual fee in the first year you have the card. The annual fee for the Spark Miles for Business card after the first year is $95/year.

If you have previously had a Capital One Spark card, you may not be eligible for the welcome bonus.

In addition, like many Capital One travel rewards cards you can earn more rewards when you use the card to book travel through Capital One Travel. When you book hotels or rental cars through the bank’s portal, you’ll earn five miles per dollar spent.

You can redeem the miles you earn with your Capital One Spark Miles card for a variety of travel, experience, and cash back options, but redeeming for travel purchase statement credits and transfers to travel partners represent the highest-value options.

The easiest way to redeem your Spark miles for travel is to pay for travel purchases using your card and trade in your miles for statement credits to offset your travel purchases. You’ll get one cent of value out of each of your miles when you redeem them this way.

You can also use miles to pay for travel purchases through Capital One Travel, but you’ll lose out on earning additional miles if you redeem them this way.

As an example, if you redeem 50,000 miles for a $500 hotel booking through Capital One Travel, you will earn no miles for that booking. But if you book your hotel through Capital One Travel and charge it to your card, you’ll earn miles for your hotel booking. Once the charge posts to your card, you can use your miles for a statement credit. You’ll have gotten the same value from your miles, but you will have earned an extra 2,500 miles from your Capital One Travel booking.

If you want to get the most value from your miles, you’ll want to transfer them to one of Capital One’s 18 airline and hotel transfer partners. While point transfers can offer outsized value through point redemptions for business class flights, you’ll have to learn how to use travel program sweet spots and have a bit of luck — most airlines only release business class award tickets on a small number of routes and dates. 

Capital One’s transfer partners don’t include any U.S.-based airlines, but they do include several relatively easy-to-use programs. The transfer partners most useful to consumers in the United States are Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, and Flying Blue.

If you hold a personal Capital One card that earns Venture Miles like the Capital One Venture Rewards Card or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card, you can transfer your miles across cards. This might come in handy if you want to use your Spark Miles to offset purchases on your personal Venture rewards card. Simply transfer the miles to the other card and redeem them to offset your purchases.

Venture Miles and Spark Miles offer the same redemption options and transfer partners.

Redeeming miles through Capital One Entertainment gets you access to a wide variety of concerts, dining experiences, and sporting events — over 500,000 events in total. Not every offer through Capital One Entertainment is a great value, but Major League Baseball fans can find a good deal on seats, which start at 5,000 points each. 

Finally, you can redeem your points for cash or gift cards. These redemption options offer less value than travel redemptions. You’re going to only get half a cent out of each of your miles when you redeem for cash, and you’re likely to get similar value through gift card redemptions.

Capital One issues the Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card as either a Mastercard Business Card or a World Elite Mastercard for Business. Each of these card types comes with additional benefits, but here are the benefits that Capital One promises all cardholders.

• Statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck – Receive a statement credit of up to $100 every four years when you charge a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership fee to your card.
• Extended warranty – Have the warranty coverage on eligible items you purchase using your card doubled, up to one additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
• Capital One lounge passes – Get two complimentary passes to the Capital One airport lounge each year.

If your card is issued as a World Elite Mastercard for Business, you’ll receive additional benefits through Mastercard. See the guide to benefits that comes with your card for details.

If you are a small business owner who gets more than one cent of value out of each of your Capital One miles by transferring them to one of Capital One’s 18 travel transfer partners, the Spark Miles for Business might be the ideal card for your small business.

You’ll earn more transferable points on general purchases than you will with any other small business card, plus you’ll be getting additional value from every point when you redeem your points through transfer partners.

Unless you’re redeeming your miles by transferring them to one of Capital One’s travel transfer partners, you’re probably better off looking for a card that offers cash back rewards. Depending on how much business spending you put on your card each year, one of several options might be better for you.

Capital One has the best offering for business owners who spend heavily on a credit card. The Spark Cash Plus, one of SFGate’s best cash back cards, offers unlimited 2% cash back rewards for a $150/year annual fee. If you’re using the card for a large amount of purchases, the rewards you earn over the next-best option will more than pay for the annual fee. And if you hit $150,000 in spending during the year, Capital One will give you a statement credit to offset the annual fee.

Small business owners who don’t spend much on credit cards could look at the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, which offers 2% cash back rewards on up to $50,000 in spending each year (then 1%) for no annual fee.

If you travel for business and want a more robust suite of travel insurance protections while traveling for business, take a look at the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card.

If you want to earn the most transferable points on every purchase and can make use of Capital One’s travel transfer partners, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card is hard to beat. It offers two miles per dollar on all purchases — more than any other business card — and offers point transfers to Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, and Flying Blue.

Editorial Disclosure: All articles are prepared by editorial staff and contributors. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the editorial team and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including rates and fees, presented in this article is accurate as of the date of the publish. Check the lender’s website for the most current information.

This article was originally published on SFGate.com and reviewed by Lauren Williamson, who serves as Financial and Home Services Editor for the Hearst E-Commerce team. Email her at [email protected].