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The Capital One Spark Miles for Business earns an unlimited 2x miles on all purchases, plus 5x on vacation rentals, hotels, and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal. Much like the consumer-oriented Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, the Spark Miles for Business card earns miles that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners and charges a $95 annual fee. However, unlike the Capital One Venture, this small-business card charges a $0 intro fee during the first year.
For those with significant business spending that doesn't fall into bonus categories on other credit cards—or those who like the simplicity of earning unlimited 2x miles on every purchase—the Spark Miles card can be an excellent option. Let's break down the pros, cons, and benefits of this card.
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening; worth $500 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 introductory fee for the first year; $95 after that
- 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Page Contents
Spark Miles Pros
- Earn 2x miles on every purchase.
- Earns Capital One miles that can be transferred to 22 partners.
- Up to $120 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
- $0 introductory fee for the first year; $95 after that
Spark Miles Cons
- Charges a $95 annual fee in years two and beyond.
- High 24.99% APR (Variable).
- Limited bonus categories.
Spark Miles Welcome Offer
New applicants for the Spark Miles card can earn 50,000 bonus Capital One Miles when you spend $4,500 within 3 months from account opening.
Though later to the game than other card issuers, Capital One's transferable miles are an excellent flexible reward currency. You can transfer Capital One miles to four hotel and 18 airline partners for a total of 22 transfer partners.
With these partners, it's easy to maximize the miles that you'll earn. Partners include Avianca Lifemiles, British Airways Executive Club, Air France–KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Red, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, and Choice Privileges. These partners include representation from all three airline alliances, which means you'll be able to use them for flights with domestic airlines such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines.
In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, the average value of Capital One miles is 2.04¢ each. Since you'll earn at least 2 miles per dollar on the spending required to earn the bonus, plus the miles from the bonus itself, this offer can be worth over $1,100.
Spark Miles Benefits
The Spark Miles card doesn't have a ton of valuable perks and business benefits, but it does provide a few that are worth noting.
$120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
Most travel credit cards offer up to $120 in credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee, and this Spark Business card is no exception. These two programs allow you to speed through airport security and/or immigration by registering you as a low-risk traveler. If you can work in the interview, skip TSA PreCheck and go straight for Global Entry since it also includes TSA PreCheck access.
When you use your Capital One Spark Miles card to pay, you'll receive a credit reimbursing you for the cost. It's valid once every four years, which is excellent since Global Entry membership lasts for five years.
Airport lounge access
If you pass through an airport with a Capital One Lounge, you can purchase a day pass for a discounted rate of $45 per person. This rate even applies to Capital One's newly launched Landing Lounges. If you're looking for a card that offers a slew of travel benefits, including lounge access without having to pay out-of-pocket for each visit, check out the Capital One Venture X Business.
Virtual card number
Cardholders can request a Capital One virtual card number — which is different from the number printed on the card — to use when shopping online. This prevents would-be thieves from getting your actual card details and causing damage.
Free employee cards
This benefit helps you to turn everyday spending into valuable travel miles. You can track employee spending during business travel or day-to-day operations, while earning all the rewards from your business expenses, regardless of which employee swipes the card. There is no cost to add employees as authorized users.
Extended warranty protection
Get an extra year added to the original manufacturer's warranty for items you've purchased with your card. The warranty must be three years or less to qualify.
No foreign transaction fees
This is an ideal business credit card for international travel, since purchases in another country or currency will not incur any foreign transaction fees.
Spark Miles Earning Rates
The Spark Miles‘ real strength lies in its ability to earn 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere. This is both better and worse than alternatives that earn more travel rewards on specific categories but are less generous with the rest of your spending.
You'll also earn 5x miles per dollar spent on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel—the bank's travel booking site for cardholders.
This may be worthwhile for vacation rentals, but you'll want to be wary of the tradeoffs involved when you book through third parties. Hotels and car rental companies don't honor elite status benefits when you use a platform like Capital One Travel. You won't be able to skip the rental car line or enjoy upgrades at your hotel, so factor in whether the extra earnings are worth forgoing benefits.
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening; worth $500 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 introductory fee for the first year; $95 after that
- 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Redeeming Capital One Spark Miles
There are a few different ways you can redeem your hard-earned Spark Miles rewards, though some ways are more valuable than others.
Transfer to partners
Capital One Spark Miles can offer outstanding value when you transfer them to travel loyalty programs. One of our favorite redemptions is an extremely cheap way to book Hawaii with points. Transfer miles at a 1:1 ratio to Turkish Airlines, and you'll need just 20,000 miles to fly round-trip to Hawaii from anywhere in the United States.
If you're focused on award travel within North America, virtually every Capital One airline partner offers the option to book travel with a major U.S. carrier. You'll find great values on regional and domestic flights with United, Delta, American, Alaska, and JetBlue.
And you'll have plenty of great options for booking hotel stays too. Though less well-known than competitors like Hilton and Marriott, your miles transfer to Choice Privileges, Wyndham Rewards, Preferred Hotels, and Accor Live Limitless. That gives you plenty of options for overnight business travel.
Capital One Travel portal
Capital One aggressively promotes its proprietary travel booking site, Capital One Travel. Instead of paying with your Spark Business card and earning up to 5X miles, you can choose to redeem your miles instead.
You'll want to be wary of this option, however, as your travel rewards are valued at only 1 cent per mile on these redemptions. This falls well below the average AwardWallet user redemption of 2.04¢.
Statement credits for travel purchases
You can also redeem miles at a value of one cent apiece for a statement credit—effectively removing any travel purchase from your monthly bill. This feature used to be called purchase eraser, but Capital One has stopped using that term.
Since you have 90 days from the time the transaction posts to claim your travel statement credit, you can use miles retroactively for a qualifying purchase you made with your card. That means you can book travel before you have the miles in your account—which is especially useful if you find a great deal while you're waiting for your welcome bonus to arrive.
If you're tempted to use miles to book travel through the Capital One Travel portal, it's best to do it in this order:
- Pay cash for your booking on the Capital One travel portal to earn 5x miles (on vacation rentals, hotels, and rental cars with the Spark Miles for business).
- Use Capital One miles as a statement credit for 1 cent per mile to wipe away the charge after the fact.
Using this method, you'll be able to maximize your earn while still redeeming miles, and you'll come away with better earnings in the end. Redeeming directly through the portal doesn't give you this option.
Application Restrictions and Strategy
Capital One has some pretty interesting rules when it comes to applying for credit cards. Unlike other banks, which may approve you for a card but not offer you the welcome bonus, Capital One doesn't tend to approve applicants unless they qualify for the bonus. This can be a welcome relief compared to trying to understand the archaic requirements other card issuers impose.
If you've had a Spark Miles card in the past, be aware that the offer page often includes this language:
“The bonus may not be available for existing or previous Spark cardholders.”
Capital One has relatively strict policies when it comes to opening a new card, applying the following rules:
- A maximum of two personal Capital One credit cards at any given time.
- No rule on the number of business cards.
- One new card every six months.
- Capital One pulls a report from all three credit bureaus.
- Recent inquiries are a major factor in approval.
You'll also want to note that Capital One is known for reporting small-business accounts to the credit bureaus that maintain your personal credit file; most other banks do not. This means that Capital One business cards will have a bigger impact on personal credit, for better or worse.
Related: Understanding Rewards Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Alternatives to the Spark Miles Card
If you aren't sold on Spark Miles, there are plenty of great business credit cards that earn cash back or another kind of flexible travel rewards.
- 2% Cash Back on every purchase
- 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
(Terms apply)
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
- If you're after a bigger sign-up bonus, the Capital One Spark Cash is offering $1,000 cash back once you spend $10,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Spark Cash is quite similar to the Spark Miles in many ways, but without the flexible redemption via transfers to other loyalty programs like the other cards in this list.
- If you're looking for a no-annual-fee option, the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
comes with a massive $900 welcome offer after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. - If you want to earn more travel rewards on spending, the most expensive option on our list is also the most rewarding: the American Express® Business Gold Card. Although it charges a $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees), it's an earning powerhouse with valuable perks that can help justify the cost.
Final Thoughts
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business can be a compelling option for those looking to maximize their everyday business spending. With a low annual fee and the ability to earn unlimited 2x miles on your purchases, those who have major expenses can easily rack up rewards. However, the card is limited when it comes to other perks.
Despite this, the Spark Miles card will be a good fit for many, especially since it earns unlimited miles that can be transferred to hotel and airline partners for extremely valuable redemptions.
- Earn 50,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening; worth $500 in travel if redeemed for a fixed-value, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere
- Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® (up to $120)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 introductory fee for the first year; $95 after that
- 2X miles per dollar on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees)
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