The Capital One Spark Miles for Business Review

The Capital One Spark Miles Select takes the complication out of earning travel for your business spend—you’ll earn an unlimited, even 2x rewards for every dollar you spend with it. But you’ll have to pay a $95 annual fee to access this simple but lucrative travel rewards program.

Once you spend $4,500 on purchases within 3 months from opening your account, you will receive a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles.

So, ask yourself—do you plan on spending at least around an average of $1,500 per month on your business over the next three months?

If so, you’ll be able to access the Spark Miles’ welcome bonus of 50,000 miles of travel without altering your business spending habits.

Beyond the one-time welcome bonus, the Spark Miles’ sustained rewards rate is how you’re really going to start raking in the free travel.

For every dollar you spend with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business—no matter where, no matter when—you’ll earn an even 2 miles.

Not to mention, Capital One won’t place a cap on the amount of miles you can earn, which is pretty rare for a business rewards credit card.

If you spend with this Capital One Spark business credit card, you’ll be doing so with the peace of mind that comes with optimizing your travel rewards with every purchase you make.

All these travel rewards can’t come for free, though—the Capital One Spark Miles for Business has an annual fee of $95 that will set in after your first year as a cardholder.

But bear with us for a moment.

If you think of the Spark Miles’ annual fee in relation to its welcome bonus, it all of a sudden seems like small change.

With the Spark Miles’ signup bonus, the card will more than pay for itself.

• You’re looking for the simplest miles rewards card on the market—hands down.
• You’re looking for a generous welcome offer.

• You’d rather earn cash back for your spending.
• You want access to a 0% intro APR period.
• You don’t want to pay an annual fee of $95.

Many business rewards cards come with tiers of rewards rates, the most generous of which are often on expenditure categories that fall in place with typical small business spend—advertisement, office supplies, and phone services sit at the top of a lot of business cards’ rewards rates hierarchies.

And for many of these cards, non-traditional small business spending will earn the base rewards rate of 1x rewards.

If we know one thing for sure, it’s that every small business owner runs their business differently—a one-size-fits-all business credit card might not be a very lucrative option for many small business owners.

If you’re spending a lot outside of what credit card issuers consider typical small business spending categories but still want ample travel rewards, then you should get this flat-rate travel rewards card.

The Spark Miles will give you 2 miles for every dollar you spend, no matter what—and that applies even when you spend earn a lot of miles.

While other business credit cards will cap the amount of rewards you’ll be able to earn for your spending, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business won’t limit the amount of miles you can earn.

These unlimited rewards mean that the sky’s the limit for the amount of free travel you’ll be able to earn with the Spark Mile for business.

If you’re constantly traveling for business, a foreign transaction fee is a sneaky detail that you’ll want to keep an eye out for in your search for a travel rewards business card.

Many business credit cards will tack on a foreign transaction fee for every purchase you make outside of the U.S. This fee would look like a percentage of every dollar you spend, and this percentage could be as high as 3%.

Luckily, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business comes with no foreign transaction fee at all.

That’s just that much more money you’ll be saving your business when you spend with the Spark Miles.

Though $95 might seem like a lot to shell out every year for a credit card, you’ll be able to see if the Spark Miles for Business is a good fit before you have to pay.

For your first year with the card, Capital One will waive the Spark Miles’ annual fee.

This way, you’ll be able to get a feel for how much you can earn with the Spark Miles before you have to start paying for its rewards.

You can think of the first year of using the Spark Miles like a trial period of sorts—but one that allows you to earn a lot of free travel in the meantime.

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business comes with an annual fee of $95, which is one of the main reasons why you might hesitate in choosing it for your business spending.

Even though it’s a small price to pay relative to the Spark Miles’ big rewards, $95 might not be a feasible lump sum for some business owners to pay every year.

Especially if you don’t anticipate spending enough to access the Spark Miles’ welcome bonus, you might consider looking to a no-fee business travel rewards card like the Spark Miles Select.

This might be hard to believe, but the Spark Miles for Business’ signing bonus can actually seem small when stacked up against the signing bonuses that some of its competitors offer.

Don’t get us wrong—the signing bonus that the Capital One Spark Miles for Business is a huge perk in a certain lighting. However, it can pale in comparison in the glow of the welcome bonuses that some of its competitors offer.

If you want to get a very warm welcome, then be sure to look into the Chase Ink Business Preferred.