Capital One Spark Miles for Business Review [2024]: An Affordable Card with Travel Perks

Who should get the Capital One Spark Miles for Business?

If you’re a business owner who wants an affordable card that will allow you to earn rewards you can redeem for travel, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business may be the perfect credit card for your situation. While this card does have a $95 (waived first year) annual fee, it could be offset by its straightforward rewards program, which can be worthwhile if both you and your employees travel frequently.

Not only is the rewards program easy to understand, but the card also offers other perks to make your life more convenient, such as year-end spending summaries, the ability to download purchase records in multiple formats, and even the chance to choose your own payment date.

If you want a business travel credit card that helps you manage cash flow for your company, the Spark Miles for Business should be in your wallet.

Card basics

Benefits and perks

• Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 miles after spending $4,500 in the first 3 months of account opening. That’s worth up to $500 in travel.
• Simple yet generous rewards program: Earn 5X miles on rental cars, vacation rentals and hotels booked through Capital One Travel, and 2X miles on every purchase, every day, with no minimum required to redeem. I appreciate the simplicity of this card. You don’t have to worry about rotating spending categories, and the overall rewards rate is competitive.
• Credits for purchases that make traveling faster and easier: Receive up to a $120 statement credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fees. This is a nice perk I often look for when evaluating travel cards.
• Travel protection: The Spark Miles for Business credit card offers primary car rental collision coverage when you rent for business purposes and pay with your card, along with secondary coverage when renting for personal reasons. It also offers travel and emergency assistance services.¹
• Extended warranty protection: The Spark Miles for Business offers extended warranty protection that doubles the length of the original manufacturer’s warranties of up to three years or less on eligible purchases.¹
• No foreign transaction fees: When you use your Capital One Spark Miles for Business card, you won't have to deal with foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside of the United States. This is another benefit I value and always look for in a travel credit card.
• Free employee cards: You can add employees as authorized users and set spending limits for their cards. Some other business cards charge you per user, so this is an attractive perk.
• Quarterly and year-end summary: You can get a custom, itemized report of your spending to help for budgeting purposes. This stands out to me, as I imagine it would be very helpful around tax season.

• Capital One Entertainment: Receive special access to music, sporting, and dining events through the Capital One Entertainment portal. You can use your rewards, your card, or a combination of the two to pay for tickets.

Drawbacks

• No intro APR period on purchases or balance transfers: If you're looking to finance a large purchase upfront, you might be better off with a card that offers an intro APR on purchases.
• Has an annual fee: The Capital One Spark Miles for Business has a $95 (waived first year) annual fee. This is pretty low, but it may not make sense to pay if you don’t think you’ll get enough value from the card’s benefits and one-time welcome offer.
• No domestic airline partners: You have the option to transfer your Capital One miles to any of Capital One’s transfer partners, most of which have a 1:1 transfer ratio. However, one big downside for me is that there are no domestic airlines among Capital One’s transfer partners. If you mostly travel internationally for business, this may not be a huge issue for you, but it’s certainly worth noting.

Earning & redeeming Capital One Membership Rewards

Potential earnings in years one and two

Here's a look at how your earnings can add up with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business. To calculate these values, we used estimated spending by businesses in a variety of categories.

Remember, this is an estimation. The actual value will be determined by how much you spend and in which categories you spend.

Year one earnings: $1,022

Year two earnings: $427

These values are based on the FinanceBuzz Credit Card Rewards Valuation Model, which takes a look at points earned via spending, the welcome offer, and the annual fee.

Best ways to earn

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card makes it easy for cardholders to earn points without worrying about spending in specific bonus categories. For me, simplicity is always a plus. You get double miles for every purchase, regardless of where it is or what it is.

You also get free credit cards for employees, so you can maximize your earning rate by signing up every staff member for a card they can use to charge purchases. This isn’t guaranteed with every business card, so I see this as a huge plus.

Maximizing your redemptions

Redeeming points is easy, as you can use your miles to book flights, vacation packages, and hotels. You can book through Capital One or with one of more than 15 travel partners. You can also use your miles toward eligible travel purchases you’ve made on the card in the last 90 days.

Points can also be redeemed at any time, as there are no minimum points required to redeem your travel rewards. And with no seat restrictions or blackout dates when booking with miles, you have the ultimate flexibility with your Capital One Spark Miles card.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business transfer partners

Transferring miles to travel partners can get you the most bang for your buck when it comes to redemption options. With these partners, your miles may be able to pay for more travel than if you redeem directly through Capital One.

Most of these partners have a 1:1 transfer ratio (with the exception of Accor and EVA Air), meaning one Capital One Mile becomes one point. Capital One Spark Miles can be transferred to:

Again, note that there are no domestic airlines on this list. I personally would prefer a card that had at least one U.S.-based airline as a partner.

FAQ

Other cards to consider

While the Spark Miles for Business is a relatively affordable card, there are other options out there that might be a better fit for you, including Capital One Spark Cash Plus and the Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card.

Capital One Spark Cash Plus

Big spenders who prefer cash back to miles would be best off with the Capital One Spark Cash Plus card as opposed to one of its counterparts, the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit or Capital One Spark Classic for Business. You'll pay an annual fee of $150 for the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, but get 2% cash back on every purchase, every day; plus 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

Read our full Capital One Spark Cash Plus review.

Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card charges a $0 annual fee while offering a flat 1.5% cash back on every purchase, so it’s also a good choice for small business owners, especially if you don’t spend enough to make the Spark Miles’ $95 (waived first year) annual fee worth paying.

You can also redeem rewards earned with this card through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program for cash back (as a statement credit or deposited directly into a bank account), travel, merchandise, or gift cards.

Read our Ink Business Unlimited review.

Low Annual Fee with Plenty of Benefits

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

4.9

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

4.9

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Why We Like It

Earn 50,000 miles after spending $4,500 in the first 3 months

See how these cards compare:

Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit

• Earn a $500 cash bonus after spending $4,500 in the first 3 months from account opening
• Unlimited 1.5% cash back
• Free employee cards
• No annual fee

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

• $0 annual fee
• Elevated flat-rate rewards structure
• Generous welcome offer
• Intro APR offer on purchases
• Free employee cards