Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business review

Best for earning rewards on business travel

• Rewards rate: 5X miles per dollar on hotels and car rentals through Capital One Travel, 1.5X miles per dollar on all other purchases
• Welcome offer: Earn 20,000 miles when you spend $3,000 in the first three months
• Annual fee: $0
• Purchase intro APR: 0 percent for 9 months
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
• Regular APR: 13.99 percent to 23.99 percent variable

While COVID-19 still has a lot of business travel grounded, now’s a great time to start stockpiling rewards so you can save some cash when you’re ready to hit the road again. The Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business offers an easy way to earn travel miles you can transfer to several different hotels and airlines.

This Capital One business credit card comes with a $0 annual fee and earns a respectable 1.5 miles for every dollar you spend. While it doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles like some other travel rewards credit cards, it’s a solid option for small-business owners that don’t want to worry about justifying a higher annual fee.

Current welcome offer

Capital One is currently offering new cardholders 20,000 bonus miles if they spend at least $3,000 within the first three months of opening an account, worth $200 if you spend it on travel. Once you qualify for the bonus, it should be added to your account within two billing cycles. This offer is only for new cardholders, so those who already have accounts can’t qualify.

Rewards

It’s easy to earn rewards with this Capital One business card, especially if you travel a lot for business.

Earning rewards

The Spark Miles Select for Business lets you earn a whopping 5 miles per dollar for booking hotels and car rentals through Capital One Travel. All other purchases earn 1.5 miles per dollar.

Redeeming rewards

You can redeem miles right away with no required minimum, and miles will not expire as long as the account is open. You can redeem your miles on flights, hotels or vacation packages using a couple of different methods, including for travel purchases already made with your card and for new hotel, flight or car rental bookings.

You can also transfer miles to one of Capital One’s travel partners.

How much are rewards worth?

Capital One miles are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for travel. Other redemption values vary, but generally, your best bet for maximizing rewards value is to stick with travel redemptions. Redeeming for cash back, for example, reduces the value of your miles.

Benefits

The Spark Miles Select for Business might not be the flashiest card on the market, but it does come with a few perks.

Quality protection

With the Spark Miles Select for Business, you will receive text messages alerting you to any suspicious account activity, $0 fraud liability if someone were to make unauthorized charges on your card, extended warranties on eligible purchases made with the card and 24/7 customer support.

Employee access

You may also add employees to your Capital One business card account. The card allows you to set spending limits for your employees, and you have the option of assigning an account manager to keep track of all purchases, spending and rewards, taking the hassle off of you.

Rates and fees

Upon opening your account, there is a 0 percent introductory APR for nine months on purchases. After that, expect to pay a variable APR ranging from 13.99 percent to 23.99 percent depending on your credit history. Balance transfer APRs are also variable and range from 13.99 percent to 23.99 percent. The card has a variable cash advance APR of 26.99 percent and a penalty variable APR of 29.4 percent for payments made later than 25 days after a billing cycle.

Forget about pricey annual and foreign transaction fees with the Spark Miles Select for Business, as you’ll pay no foreign transaction fees for purchases made abroad. But the card does require an up to $39 late payment fee and a cash advance fee of either 3 percent of the total cash advance or $10, whichever is greater.

How the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business compares to other business cards

The Spark Miles Select for Business is a respectable travel rewards credit card, blowing cards like the U.S. Bank Business Platinum out of the water when it comes to rewards and its new cardmember bonus. However, the U.S. Bank Platinum offers a better intro APR and lower regular APR, so if you plan to carry a balance from month to month, it may be a better option.

The Spark Miles Select for Business’ 1.5 miles per dollar on every purchase is really good compared to other business credit cards with no annual fee, but Chase’s Ink Business Cash® Credit Card might be worth looking into if you spend a lot each year in one of its bonus categories that earn either 5 percent or 2 percent cash back (on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year). The Ink Business Cash also offers a better sign up bonus than the Spark Miles Select for Business, worth $750 (after spending $7,500 in the first 3 months).

Best cards to pair the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business with

The Spark Miles Select for Business would make a great complement to a hotel or airline-specific travel credit card. If you travel often for work, you can use your Spark card to earn miles you can easily transfer to one of Capital One’s travel partners. Using your favorite transfer partner’s credit card along with it can earn you additional travel perks like free checked bags and bonus miles on flights or upgrade bonuses and free nights at hotels, stretching your Spark Miles Select even further.

Bankrate’s Take—Is Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business worth it?

This Capital One credit card is great for those who travel infrequently but want to take the edge off the cost when they do. You’ll earn 1.5 miles for every dollar you spend with the opportunity to earn more if you book travel through Capital One.

It’s not a great option for people who travel a lot for business, however. In that case, you’ll be much better off investing in a travel rewards card that earns you bonus points or miles on your travel purchases and gives you perks like airport lounge access, free room upgrades or free checked bags.

Pros

• $0 annual fee
• Decent flat-rate rewards at 1.5 miles per dollar
• Includes a 0 percent intro APR period on purchases for 9 months (13.99 percent to 23.99 percent variable thereafter)
• Rewards never expire as long as your account is active

Cons

• New cardmember bonus is pretty low compared to other cards in its category
• You can only earn the 5X bonus on travel if you use Capital One’s travel portal

The information about the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business card and U.S. Bank Business Platinum has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.