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If you own a business (or have any kind of side income) the Capital One Spark Cash cards are worth knowing about. They earn a flat 2% cash back on every single purchase. No complicated math needed.

But here’s what you may not know: the cash back earned on these cards can be turned into Capital One Miles and transferred to airline and hotel programs. These cash back cards can be a secret weapon to earn a lot of Capital One Miles and I’ll show you how to do that.

But first, let’s chat about the two main Capital One Spark Cash cards.

Capital One Spark Cash Plus

Overview

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a charge card – meaning it’s designed to be paid in full each month. Capital One added a Pay Over Time option that lets you carry a portion of your balance, but we don’t carry balances on our cards in this hobby.

Additionally, there’s no preset spending limit. Like other charge cards, the card’s spending capacity shifts based on your spending patterns.

Earning Rates

• 2% cash back everywhere – no caps
• 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel

Annual Fee

$150 annual fee – waived if you spend $150,000 or more in your cardmember year. If your business spend is that high, this card allows you to earn 2% back on all purchases – something other issuers will often put a cap on.

Does It Count Toward Chase’s 5/24?

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus does not report to personal credit bureaus – meaning it does NOT count toward Chase’s 5/24 rule. If you’re considering staying under 5/24 for a long term Chase strategy, this card can be a great addition to your wallet if you can meet the spending requirements.

Who Is This Card For?

• Business owners with high annual spend
• High spenders who need no spending cap
• Business owners who are looking to build a Capital One strategy alongside Chase

Capital One Spark Cash

Overview

The Spark Cash is a traditional credit card. You have a set credit limit, carry a balance if needed, and pay interest on anything you don’t pay off. Please don’t carry a balance or pay interest though 🙂

Earning Rate

Again, it’s nice and simple:

• 2% cash back everywhere – unlimited
• 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel

Annual Fee

$95 annual fee – waived the first year. Unlike the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, there’s no way to waive the annual fee. Expect to pay the $95 annual fee beginning in year two.

Does It Count Toward Chase’s 5/24?

Yes. The Spark Cash reports to your personal credit bureaus and, therefore, DOES count toward Chase’s 5/24 rule. If you’re working on a long term Chase strategy (is that a thing?) it’s worth keeping in mind. Just factor it into your timing of opening the card.

Who Is This Card For?

Honestly, the Capital One Spark Cash is probably for a similar audience as the Capital One Spark Cash Plus with just a few differences.

• Business owners who want a traditional credit card with a set limit or don’t need an uncapped limit
• More moderate spenders who won’t hit the $150K threshold for the Capital One Spark Cash Plus
• Business owners who have already completed their Chase card strategy don’t care about 5/24

Turning Cash Back Into Miles

Okay, let’s get into the fun part. You have your Capital One Spark card of choice and are earning 2% cash back and (hopefully) have hit the welcome bonus. Now how do you turn that cash back into miles?

1: Ensure you have an eligible Capital One Miles earning card open such as the:

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Venture X Business
• Capital One Venture Business
• Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card

2: Log into your Capital One account

3: Head to your Spark Cash or Spark Cash Plus rewards balance

4: Select the option to transfer your cash back rewards to your miles-earning card

Viola! Your cash back converts to miles at a 1:1 ratio – meaning 1 cent in cash back is 1 mile. Now transfer your miles to your favorite hotel or airline partner!

Good to Know: Capital One Miles transfers work in the cash back -> miles direction but not in the reverse. You can move cash back to another cardholder’s miles-earning card but this requires a phone call to Capital One.

Capital One Transfer Partners

Okay, now that you’ve got your cash back converted into miles, where can you transfer them out to?

• Aeromexico Rewards 1:1
• Air Canada Aeroplan® 1:1
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue 1:1
• Avianca LifeMiles 1:1
• British Airways Avios 1:1
• Cathay 1:1
• Emirates 1000:750
• Etihad Guest 1:1
• Eva Air Infinity MileageLands 1000:750
• Finnair Plus 1:1
• JAL Mileage Bank 1000:750
• Jet Blue TrueBlue 1:0.6
• Qantas Frequent Flyer 1:1
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1
• TAP Miles&Go 1:1
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles 1:1
• Virgin Red 1:1
• ALL – Accor Live Limitless 1:0.5
• Choice Privileges 1:1
• Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer 1:2
• Wyndham Rewards 1:1

Best Uses For Capital One Miles

So where’s the best place to transfer your Capital One Miles? One that I like is Air France KLM Flying Blue. I love this because Flying Blue is a transfer partner of all the major transferrable currencies – meaning you can take a little bit from each currency and transfer it into your Flying Blue account. This way you don’t really deplete any particular point ecosystem.

But what are some sweet spots unique to Capital One Miles?

Finnair Plus

Fly in business class from LAX to Helsinki or Singapore for just 62,500 Finnair points. This is a great deal! Plus they don’t pass along high fuel surcharges so your out of pocket taxes and fees will be on the lower side!

JAL (Japan Airlines)

Fly from the US to Japan in business (starting at ~55,000 points one way) or economy (starting at just ~27,500 points one way). JAL has been releasing more award space for their own members – meaning this can be a great way to book an award ticket to/from Japan on JAL! Keep in mind that points have a hard expiration after 36 months. Do NOT transfer in until you’re sure you’re going to use them. Also worth noting: JAL only allows booking for yourself and family members.

Turkish Miles & Smiles

Book domestic United operated flights within Turkish Miles & Smiles. Typically you’ll see award pricing around ~15,000 points per person one way and about 25,000 for flights to/from Hawaii. These prices are often in line with what you could pay on United’s own program but sometimes it can be a good deal. Remember United can be much more variable pricing meaning that booking with Turkish could be a smart move.

Turkish Miles & Smiles is more of an advanced play since it can be cumbersome to book. You can sometimes book online but often can have luck booking award tickets by emailing their customer service department too (I know, make it make sense).

If you do want to search for Turkish awards, I’ll give you a hint that no one gave me: Head to Turkish Airlines’ website and create a profile to search. Your password needs to be a six digit number – no letters. You’re welcome.

Eva Air

This sounds like a strange one to be on the list of sweet spots since the transfer ratio from Capital One to Eva is 2:1.5 but it is reported to be one of the best business class products in the sky.

If you’re wanting to book the famed Eva Airways Hello Kitty planes, this is the way to do it. You’ll have a better shot securing award availability as Eva Air releases more award space to their own members.

Business class awards start from 75,000/80,000 from North America to Asia and 40,000 in economy.

Baseball Games

Yes, you heard me right. Capital One miles have a unique redemption opportunity for Major League Baseball games. Capital One releases 4 tickets for only 5,000 miles each to select games (a surprisingly impressive number of games at that) that are really good. These tickets are often in really good locations – like the first couple rows of seats. And the sometimes include other perks like access to lounges in the stadium.

You’d head to Capital One Entertainment and search for MLB tickets. You’d want the ones that say “cardholder exclusive” as shown in the screen shot below. Any baseball games that don’t say “cardholder exclusive” end up being a poor value of points – like $0.05ish. Let’s avoid those.

Wyndham Rewards

Wyndham has a fairly robust number of all inclusives. If you’ve been looking for an all inclusive vacation, transferring your miles to Wyndham could be a great idea. Rooms are typically 15,000 or 30,000 points per night for the first two people. In September 2026, Wyndham will introduce an additional tier at 45,000 points per night. But I still think that can be a solid value for an all inclusive vacation.

Conclusion

So which Capital One Spark credit card should you get? Only you can decide. If you have high spend, I think the Capital One Spark Plus is the way to go. – especially if you’re concerned about staying under 5/24.

If you have more modest spend and are not concerned about 5/24, the Capital One Spark may be a great fit.

Either way, the welcome offer can be turned into some valuable Capital One miles to help you take your next nearly-free vacation.

Questions? Reach out to us here.

-Jenn from @pointingthewaytomemories