Capital One Spark Miles for Business review

If you are a small business owner looking to earn a flat rate of miles on every purchase you make, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business offers a generous rate that makes it easy to stockpile rewards. Then, you can redeem those miles for any travel purchase with ease.

Decent sign-up bonus

You’ll earn 50,000 miles when you spend $4,500 in the first three months, which is redeemable for $500 if you use it for travel purchases. While fair, this is far from the card’s best sign-up offer. That said, there’s no telling when or if the previous huge bonus will come around again.

Earning miles

You’ll enjoy a flat earning rate of 2 miles per dollar on every purchase you make. You can also earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. With no limits to how much you can earn, racking up miles with the Spark Miles card should be pretty simple.

What are miles worth?

Unlike some business cards – like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card – the Spark Miles does not offer any sort of boost for redeeming miles a certain way. You won’t be able to improve the value of your miles by redeeming through the Capital One travel portal. Whether you redeem for travel booked with Capital One or on a third-party travel site, each mile is worth 1 cent.

Since other business cards offer some kind of points boost – whether or not they have a higher earning rate – they can occasionally outpace the overall value of the Spark Miles card.

Despite no ability to stretch point value, the flat earning rate on the Spark Miles card still ranks it relatively high among popular business cards.

Redeeming miles

The redemption options on the Spark Miles card are very flexible. You can redeem miles for any travel purchase you’ve made in the last 90 days. You just choose the “Redeem a Purchase” option on your online account or mobile app and you’ll be able to view a list of qualifying purchases. Then you can choose to use miles to cover all or part of that purchase.

By choosing this option, you can search for travel deals on third-party sites and still get the full value out of your miles.

Unfortunately, not all redemption options are as lucrative as travel redemptions. If you choose to redeem your miles for a statement credit – for example – you’ll get half their normal value.

Spark Miles redemption options

Benefits

The Spark Miles card comes with several extra perks for small business owners – adding to its overall value. Here are a few of the most useful offerings:

• Year-end account summaries – Download a custom, itemized spend report each quarter and year.
• Quickbooks downloads – To help you better manage your spending, the Spark Miles card allows you to download purchase records directly to software like Quickbooks, Quicken or Excel.
• MasterRental® Insurance – Use your card to rent an eligible vehicle and you’re covered for collision, damage and loss.
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit – Receive a credit up to $120 for an application for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck every four years.

All of these perks are designed to help you save money, whether through better spending visualization or coverage in the case of an accident. To get the most out of these perks, put all your business spending on the card.

Managing employee cards

Though the Spark Miles card does include some valuable benefits for small businesses, it lacks a few key features. For example, you can add employees to your account for no additional fee (See rates and Fees), but you cannot manage those accounts remotely or set limits on individual spending. Also, while the card offers an app to help tag receipts and manage purchases, the app is designed for personal card users and doesn’t let business card owners track employee spending.

Approval odds

The Spark Miles card is a business credit card, so qualifying might be a bit more difficult than a personal card. It is designed for users with excellent credit (above 750). Plus, you’ll have to submit information about your business including your TIN or EIN (or SSN if you are a sole-proprietorship or single-member LLC), business ownership type, annual revenue and spend per month. There are no specified qualifications for business size or spend, but it is important that you have a good individual credit history.

See Related: Getting a business credit card is easier than you may think

Customer experience

Among major issuers, Capital One’s customer service rates quite well. In J.D. Power’s 2020 customer satisfaction survey, the bank rated 808, coming in fifth out of 11 credit card issuers. On the plus side, it’s app rates well among users – rating 4.8 out of 5 in the Google Play Store and 4.7 out of 5 in the Apple App Store. The bank also offers 24/7 customer service and an online chat feature – though you might have to do a little digging to find it.

How does the Spark Miles compare to other cards?

Though the Spark Miles card offers a great flat rate for earning miles, some business owners might be better off with another rewards earning scheme. Here are a few popular alternatives:

Capital One Spark Cash for Business (no longer available)	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Rewards rate 2% cash back on all purchases	Rewards rate Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases – with no limit to the amount you can earn	Rewards rate Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
Welcome bonus $500 if you spend $4,500 in first three months	Welcome bonus Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.	Welcome bonus Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
Annual fee $95, $0 first year	Annual fee $95	Annual fee $0
Other things to know Free employee cards Quarterly and year-end summaries No foreign transaction fees	Other things to know Free employee cards No foreign transaction fees 25% higher point value when redeemed for travel through Chase Travel	Other things to know Free employee cards with individual limits Transfer points to travel partners at 1:1 rate Flexible credit limit

Capital One Spark Cash card

Similar to the Spark Miles card, the Spark Cash offers a flat 2% rate on every purchase. What sets it apart is that it offers cash back rather than travel miles. For many spenders, this might be the better Capital One small business choice. Since cash back is much more flexible than miles, you can always cash out your rewards and use them for travel purchases.

Chase Ink Business Preferred

Rather than a flat rate of rewards, the Ink Business Preferred card offers 3 points per dollar in several bonus categories: travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services and advertising purchases (up to $150,000 in combine purchases yearly). If you spend heavily in any of those categories, you can significantly boost the rewards rate on this card. Plus, you’ll get a higher point value on any points you redeem for travel when redeeming through the Chase Travel portal.

Blue Business Plus Amex

The Blue Business Plus American Express card comes with a similar flat rate of rewards as the Spark Miles, but it includes a $50,000 yearly spend cap on that rate, then the rate drops to 1 point per dollar. On the plus side, American Express has a much more extensive list of travel partners with a better transfer rate (1:1 for most partners). Cardholders can transfer points to major airlines like Delta and British Airways.

How do businesses use the Capital One Spark Miles card?

Given its 2:1 rewards rate and sign-up bonus, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card could be a good option for businesses looking to rack up miles for travel. Here’s how one small business owner made the most of the card:

Small Business Credit Profiles How TaKorean uses the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card
	“When you spend almost a million dollars each year, the miles add up quite a bit.“
Michael Lenard of TaKorean, a Korean fusion food truck used the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card to expand his company’s purchasing power and get in on the rewards action. Here’s his advice to other business owners considering the card: Use the miles you earn for business and personal trips, which can be a bit of a silver lining if you’re still paying yourself a low salary to grow your business. Pay off your cards frequently and keep your balance low so that you can have flexibility when you need it. Only borrow money when your existing cash flow can cover it if all else fails. Sometimes you’ll have to be bold and have a “go big or go home” moment, but once you have something good, you have to think ahead to protect it.
Read more of our Small Business Credit Profiles

Who should apply for the Capital One Spark Miles card?

• Small business owners looking for a good flat rate of rewards.
• Frequent travelers who prefer hunting for deals on third-party sites to using a bank’s travel portal.
• Cardholders looking to add employee cards at no extra fee (See rates and Fees).
• Cardholders who will take advantage of budget and spend tracking tools.

How to use the Capital One Spark Miles card:

• Use the card for most of your purchases to take advantage of a good flat earning rate and budget tracking tools.
• Spend $4,500 in the first three months to get the full 50,000 mile bonus.
• Add employee cards for no extra cost, but remember you can’t set individual spending limits.
• Redeem miles for travel purchases or transfer to a travel partner to get the most value out of them.
• Avoid carrying a balance on this card to avoid racking up interest.

Is the Capital One Spark Miles card worth it?

If you are the kind of cardholder who prefers to keep all your purchases to one card, the Spark Miles offers one of the best flat rates available among business cards. However, users who want to redeem their miles for anything other than travel might be better off opting for the Capital One Spark Cash for Business. You’ll enjoy the same business perks and rewards rate with much more flexible redemption options.

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

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