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- Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business Review
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The Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business is a travel card aimed at business owners who value a big intro bonus and earning miles at a speedy clip. However, Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business is a bit of an outlier. The typical travel card tends to weigh its earnings in favor of travel spending; not so with this card, with its flat-rate miles rewards system. Different can be good, of course. In this Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business review, we’ll explore if this card is the better for it.
Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business
Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.
What We Like About The Card
One of the best cards for businesses looking to capitalize on a travel reward for their everyday purchases. With a big sign up bonus, 2x miles, and low fees, it is a great choice for jet-setting small businesses.
Rewards
5x miles on hotel and car rentals booked through Capital One, 2x miles on all else, transfer miles to 10+ travel loyalty programs
Annual Fee
$0 intro for first year; $95 after that
Intro APR
Purchases: N/A
Balance Transfers: N/A
Ongoing APR
20.99%, variable
Welcome Bonus
50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 within 3 months
Highlights
- Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles – equal to $500 in travel – once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions, and miles won't expire for the life of the account
- Earn 5X miles on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel℠ using a Spark Miles card
- Transfer your miles to 10+ leading travel loyalty programs like JetBlue™, Air Canada, and Emirates™
- Redeem your miles instantly for any travel-related purchases, from flights and hotels to ride-sharing services
- Fly through security with one statement credit for either the $85 TSA Pre✓® application fee or the $100 Global Entry application fee
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year; $95 after that
- Free employee cards which also earn unlimited 2X miles from their purchases
Full Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business review
Top perks
2 miles per $1: That's very good for a base rate, which in the rewards card space tends to be the equivalent of 1 mile per $1 spent. The rewards program is also straightforward -- no rotating categories to keep track of here. Another plus: There's no limit to the miles you can earn with this card.
50,000 miles bonus: The issuer will grant 50,000 miles as a one-time bonus to new cardholders that spend $4,500 in qualifying purchases within three months of account opening -- that equates to $500 in travel statement credits.
No foreign transaction fee: This card passes the no foreign transaction fee test, so that’s one less thing to worry about when venturing overseas and using this card to help fund the trip.
Flexible redemption options: This isn't one of those cards that requires customers to redeem their miles through the issuer's dedicated travel portal to get the best rate. Holders of this card have that option, but they're also free to book travel through any means they want. They can then utilize Capital One's Purchase Eraser for a partial or full statement credit on the purchase.
What could be improved
$95 annual fee: Yes, this is waived in the first year of ownership. But $95 is a high price to pay, and a travel card with no annual fee may make sense for people with smaller credit budgets.
Suggested credit score
This card is for business owners with very good or excellent credit -- a FICO® Score of 670 or higher. The issuer goes on to define a person in this category as one who has:
- Never defaulted on a loan.
- Never declared bankruptcy.
- Managed a credit card account or loan for at least three years. Said product(s) should have a credit limit or total amount of more than $5,000.
- Not, over the past year, paid a credit card statement, loan installment, or medical bill more than 60 days late.
The issuer takes pains to say that these factors are only guidelines in its decision. It will also weigh select information from the data you provide on the application and of course, your overall credit history.
Is the annual fee worth it?
As with any product that carries a charge, you should be willing to pay an annual fee for a credit card only for two reasons -- you accept this as the cost of that card's conditions and features, and you're going to get enough utility out of the card.
Utilization is the key here. In the case of Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business, right off the bat, will you and your business spend at least $4,500 within the first three months of ownership to reap that 50,000 mile sign-up bonus? Those miles alone are worth $500 in travel statement credit, which is more than enough to cover five years of the annual fee.
Leaving other features of this card -- such as the car insurance benefit or your savings on having the foreign transaction fee waived -- aside, you need to evaluate roughly how much you and your employees will be spending with your chosen plastic.
For Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business, the math works out like this: You and your team will need to hit 9,500 miles per year (equating to $95 in travel redemptions) to reach that $95 annual fee. This breaks down to an annual spend of $4,750, averaging out to just under $396 per month for all cardholders.
Alternatives to consider
- If you want a big sign-up bonus: Few business credit cards can match the Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, mostly due to its best-in-class sign-up bonus that's worth up to $1,250 toward Ultimate Rewards® travel. It also offers 3x points on up to $150,000 spent on travel and select categories.
- If you want to earn cash back on gas, restaurants, travel, and Costco purchases: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi is a great option for Costco shoppers who want to earn big on more than just travel. While a Costco membership is needed, the cash back perks more than make up for the cost. Cardholders earn 4% on gas ($7,000 annual spending cap), 3% for dining and select travel, 2% at Costco, and 1% on everything else.
As of Jan. 05, 2021
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Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card |
Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi |
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Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5 stars
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. |
Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5 stars
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. |
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Apply Now
On Citi's Secure Website. |
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| Read Full Review | |
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Credit Rating Requirement: |
Credit Rating Requirement: |
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Welcome Bonus: 100,000 points after spending $15,000 within 3 months |
Welcome Bonus: N/A |
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Rewards Program: 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories, 1 point per $1 on all else. Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase. |
Rewards Program: 4% back on gas ($7,000 annual spending cap), 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% back on Costco purchases, 1% back on all else |
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Intro APR: Purchases: N/A Balance Transfers: N/A |
Intro APR: Purchases: N/A Balance Transfers: N/A |
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Regular APR: 15.99% - 20.99%, variable |
Regular APR: 15.24%, variable |
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Annual Fee: $95 |
Annual Fee: $0 for Costco members |
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Highlights:
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Highlights:
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Apply Now
On Citi's Secure Website. |
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The information related to Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card has been collected by The Ascent and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.
This credit card is right for you if:
Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business is for entrepreneurs seeking a top business credit card and who either want or need to travel. Having several cardholders spend on at least a semi-regular basis will keep the miles tally rising constantly. This, combined with a good flat rate, will rack 'em up in no time, earning enough to redeem for a plane ticket to somewhere interesting.
Travel lovers whose business is a one-person Etsy shop or an Uber car might not reap so many benefits, although this is still a card that earns well. Its intro bonus is quite lucrative.
At the end of the day, the intro bonus and the earnings rate for Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business makes it a fine credit card for any traveler, as long as they don't mind paying that somewhat hefty fee.
About the Author
Elizabeth is a personal finance writer specializing in credit cards, debt repayment, and small business. Her work has appeared on The Motley Fool, MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, and Business Insider. She’s an avid credit card points collector and perpetual traveler currently living in Costa Rica.
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