Capital One Spark Miles vs. Chase Ink Preferred: Which Business Travel Card Is Best?

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The Capital One Spark Miles and Chase Ink Business Preferred are two of the best entry-level business travel cards. Picking between the two really comes down to two things: where your business spends and how much you value simplicity.
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is the set-it-and-forget-it option. You get 2X miles on all purchases with no bonus categories to navigate. The points you earn can be easily turned into a statement credit for travel-related purchases or used to book travel via the portal.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card wins if you want maximum rewards. That's especially true if you spend a lot on ads, travel, shipping or telecom. You'll get 3X points on the first $150,000 spent in those categories combined each year. Don't spend in those areas? The card loses its luster.

How the cards compare

Capital One Spark Miles Credit Card

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

Annual fee

$0 intro for the first year, then $95
$95

Bonus offer

50,000
miles
100,000
points

Rewards

2x-5x
miles
1x-5x
points

Interest rate

24.49% Variable APR
19.49%-25.49% Variable APR

Spark Miles vs. Ink Preferred: deciding factors

Ongoing rewards

🏆 Winner: Depends on spend

If the bulk of your business spend is on advertising, travel, shipping or phone/internet services, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is the clear winner. You'll earn 3 points for every $1 spent in those categories (up to $150,000 annually).
But if your spending falls outside of those categories, you'll earn twice as many points with the Capital One Spark Miles.
When it's time to cash in your rewards, both cards offer similar baseline value (1 cent per point). And both offer plenty of flexibility. You can:
  1. Use them to book travel through the card's travel portal.
  2. Transfer them to a travel partner. (See full list for Chase and Capital One.)
  3. Redeem them for a statement credit.
You can squeeze more juice out of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, though, if you want to put in the work. Select a Points Boost option in the travel portal, for example, to get up to 1.5 cents per point.

Sign-up bonus

🏆 Winner: Chase Ink Business Preferred

It's hard to beat the Chase Ink Business Preferred's welcome offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The Spark Miles card doesn't even come close. 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.
If you can hit the spend requirement, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is the clear winner.

Travel protections and perks

🏆 Winner: Chase Ink Business Preferred

The Spark Miles will give you a credit of up to $120 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® application fees paid with the card. But that's the only advantage it carries in this area.
Travel Perk or Protection
Capital One Spark Miles for Business
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Trip cancellation/interruption
No
Yes
Trip delay reimbursement
No
Yes
Rental car insurance
No
Yes
Baggage delay or loss
No
Yes
Travel accident insurance
Yes
Yes
Purchase protection
Yes
Yes
Extended warranty
No
Yes
Cell phone protection
No
Yes
TSA PreCheck®/Global Entry reimbursement
Yes
No

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