Capital One Spark Cash Plus Review: $2,000 Bonus & Unlimited 2% Cash Back

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a phenomenal card for any business that spends a lot, regardless of whether you’re trying to earn cash back or travel rewards. The card has a massive welcome bonus, a straightforward and lucrative rewards structure, and the more you spend, the more rewarding the card gets. This is my in-depth Capital One Spark Cash Plus review, so let’s take a look at whether the card is worth it.

Link: Learn more about the Capital One Spark Cash Plus with a $2,000 bonus offer

Capital One Spark Cash Plus summary & key details

Before I get into my Capital One Spark Cash Plus review, here’s a brief summary of the key details of the card:

• Annual fee: $150, but cardmembers receive an additional $150 cash bonus if they spend $150,000 or more on the card per anniversary year, wiping out the fee
• Welcome offer: $2,000 cash bonus after spending $30,000 within the first three months, plus an additional $2,000 cash back bonus for every $500,000 spent during the first year
• Cash back earn rate: 5% cash back on select Capital One Business Travel purchases, plus 2% cash back on all other purchases
• Foreign transaction fees: None
• Best for: Business owners who spend large amounts on credit cards, and want a simple, lucrative rewards structure

Below are what I consider to be the pros and cons of the Capital One Spark Cash Plus.

Capital One Spark Cash Plus bonus, fees, rewards, & perks

Is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus worth the annual fee? The card offers an industry-leading return on business spending, a lot of flexibility, and a huge welcome bonus, making it one of the all-around most rewarding business cards. If you don’t have this card yet, there are lots of reasons to consider it, so let’s go over the details.

Spark Cash Plus $2,000 cash back welcome bonus

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is currently offering a massive multi-part welcome bonus, though admittedly the spending requirement is significant. The bonus breaks down as follows:

• Earn a one-time cash bonus of $2,000 once you spend $30,000 within the first three months
• Earn an additional $2,000 cash bonus for every $500,000 spent during the first year; you can earn this bonus multiple times over the course of the first anniversary year

Just to crunch some numbers here, if you were to complete the minimum spending requirement of $30,000, you’d earn a total of $2,600 cash back. That’s because there’s the $2,000 bonus, and on top of that, the card offers a minimum of 2% cash back, which would be an extra $600 in rewards.

So that comes out to the equivalent of an ~8.67% return on that first $30,000 in spending, which is pretty great. Even if you were to subtract the card’s $150 annual fee, you’re still looking at $2,450 in first year rewards.

Spark Cash Plus welcome bonus eligibility rules

When it comes to eligibility for the welcome bonus on the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, what should you be aware of? Officially, if you look at the application, you’ll see the following restrictions:

The bonuses may not be available for existing or previous Capital One Business card holders

As you can see, that’s really vague. Anecdotally, Capital One has very few consistent application restrictions. The major restriction to be aware of is that you’re not eligible for the welcome bonus on this card if you have or have had this card, or if you currently have the Capital One Venture X Business. However, if you had the Capital One Venture X Business in the past, you would be eligible.

Aside from the above, eligibility is unrelated to having any other Capital One card. There shouldn’t be any other significant restrictions to be worried about. For what it’s worth, if you’re concerned about staying under the Chase 5/24 limit, applying for the Spark Cash Plus shouldn’t count as a further card toward that limit.

Spark Cash Plus $150 annual fee & $0 authorized user fee

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus annual fee is $150. That’s not a massive fee, but it’s also not exactly a no annual fee card. Fortunately the card’s welcome bonus can (way) more than help recoup the annual fee, so that has to be factored into the math as well. As I’ll cover below, there’s even a way to receive a credit for $150 to offset the annual fee, if you’re a big spender.

The Spark Cash Plus also lets cardmembers add employee cards at no extra cost, so that you can rack up rewards for the spending of your employees. For added security, Capital One also offers virtual cards.

Spark Cash Plus unlimited 2% cash back on everyday spending

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus offers unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, with no limits or category restrictions. There are no foreign transaction fees, so this is even great for purchases abroad. This is in line with the best rewards structure you’ll find on any business card without any sort of major restrictions.

Spark Cash Plus 5% cash back with Capital One Business Travel

Beyond the flat 2% cash back with the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, there’s just one bonus category. The card offers 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars, booked through Capital One Business Travel, which is Capital One’s travel portal for small business cards.

While it’s nice to have an elevated bonus category, I don’t think this will really sway the decision for most people as to whether the card is worth it or not. After all, there’s often an opportunity cost to booking through a travel portal.

Spark Cash Plus annual $150 cash bonus

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus has a further reward beyond offering 2% cash back. If you spend $150,000 or more on the card in an anniversary year you’ll receive an annual $150 cash bonus. Essentially think of it as a refund of your annual fee, which is an innovative feature you don’t see on many cards.

Spark Cash Plus issued as charge card

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a charge card, rather than a credit card. What are the practical implications of this?

• There’s no pre-set spending limit, so this is great for businesses that frequently make larger purchases
• You’ll have to pay your balance in full each billing cycle (I generally don’t recommend using credit card financing anyway, given how expensive it is)

This seems to me like an interesting direction for Capital One to take:

• Financing charges are a big source of revenue for credit card companies, and Capital One is largely giving that up
• Amex has been moving away from charge cards and toward credit cards, while Capital One is doing the opposite

Convert cash back into Capital One miles

There’s an interesting twist to the Capital One Spark Cash Plus for those looking to earn travel rewards rather than cash back:

• While the Capital One Spark Cash Plus earns cash back, you can potentially convert Spark Cash Plus cash back into miles
• If you have the Spark Cash Plus in addition to a product like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (learn more), Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (learn more), or Capital One Venture Business (learn more), then each cent can be converted into one mile
• This can be done directly through Capital One’s website using the “Move Rewards” feature; you can always do this in the future, if you don’t currently have a Capital One card earning miles, but plan to pick up one in the future
• Capital One miles can be converted to over a dozen airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio; because of this functionality, I value Capital One miles at 1.7 cents each

This is a pretty exciting opportunity, since it means that this card gives you some unrivaled flexibility. You can earn 2% cash back, or in conjunction with another card, you could earn 2x Capital One miles per dollar spent (which I personally value at a 3.4% return). This also applies to the welcome offer, as those rewards can also be converted into Capital One miles.

Is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus worth the annual fee?

Is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus worth the annual fee? I think the Spark Cash Plus is fantastic for many types of businesses, especially those that spend a lot. The current welcome bonus is incredibly generous as well:

• For those looking to earn cash back, you won’t find another major business card offering 2% cash back with no foreign transaction fees or caps on earning
• For those looking to earn travel rewards, you won’t find a major business card that does better than offering 2x transferable points with no foreign transaction fees or caps on earning (though you do need to have another card, like the Capital One Venture X, in conjunction with it)
• For businesses that spend a lot, the $150 annual cash bonus will cover the $150 annual fee, essentially making this the equivalent of a no annual fee card
• For businesses that spend a huge amount, the incremental $2,000 in rewards for every $500,000 spent within the first year are very nice as well, especially since you can earn this bonus multiple times (I realize this only helps a tiny percentage of consumers)

I can’t think of any other business card in the market that offers that kind of value proposition and flexibility.

Just to demonstrate how much cash back you could earn with the Spark Cash Plus, let’s just look at various first year spending levels, factoring in the 2% base cash back, the welcome bonus, and the additional $2,000 bonus for every $500,000 spent.

I should also mention that the $150 annual fee being refunded when you spend at least $150,000 in net purchases isn’t factored into this. So just to specifically crunch the numbers on three levels of first year spending (admittedly these are all high, but those are also the businesses with the most upside with this card:

• If you spend $30,000 the first year, you’d earn $2,600 in rewards; if you subtract the $150 annual fee, that’s an 8.17% return on spending
• If you spend $150,000 the first year, you’d earn $5,000 in rewards; you would get the annual fee refunded, so that’s a 3.33% return on spending
• If you spend $500,000 the first year, you’d earn $14,000 in rewards; you would get the annual fee refunded, so that’s a 2.8% return on spending

For a business that spends a lot on cards, those are some phenomenal returns on spending. To be fair, though, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus isn’t for everyone:

• For small businesses that don’t spend a lot of money on cards, the rewards probably won’t justify the annual fee, especially in comparison to a cash back business card like The American Express Blue Business Cash® Card (learn more), which has no annual fee (Rates & Fees)
• If you’re into maximizing rewards, including getting multiple cards and maximizing bonus categories, a card like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (learn more) will probably be a better fit

How does the Capital One Venture X Business compare?

The Capital One Venture X Business is Capital One’s premium travel rewards card, and I’d say it’s probably the best alternative to the Capital One Spark Cash Plus. Let me share some of the key details:

• The Venture X Business earns Capital One miles, rather than cash back, so you can directly earn travel rewards with the card
• The Venture X Business has a welcome bonus of 150,000 Capital One miles after spending $30,000 within the first three months
• The Venture X Business has a $395 annual fee, though that’s nicely offset by the card’s annual $300 Capital One Travel credit, plus 10,000 anniversary bonus miles
• The Venture X Business is also a charge card, so has no pre-set spending limit
• The Venture X Business offers all kinds of valuable perks, including access to Capital One Lounges and Capital One Landings, a Priority Pass™ membership for participating locations, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit once every four years, and more

If you’re into travel rewards, I think the Venture X Business is an unbeatable card. While the annual fee is higher, I think it’s quite easy to justify, due to the annual travel credit and bonus miles. The only reason not to get this card is if you explicitly want to earn cash back that you can redeem toward anything, rather than rewards that can primarily be redeemed toward travel.

Read a full review of the Capital One Venture X Business.

How does the Capital One Venture Business compare?

For those looking to earn travel rewards, the Capital One Venture Business should be on your radar as an alternative. How do the two cards compare? Let’s look at a few key elements:

• The Venture Business earns Capital One miles, rather than cash back, so you can directly earn travel rewards with the card
• The Venture Business has a welcome bonus of 100,000 Capital One miles after spending $10,000 within the first three months
• The Venture Business has a $95 annual fee
• The Venture Business is a credit card rather than a charge card, so it has a pre-set spending limit
• The Venture Business offers some unique travel perks, including a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit once every four years

In my opinion, the Spark Cash Plus is better if you’re looking to earn cash back, often make large purchases, spend a lot on business cards annually, and can take advantage of the full welcome bonus. Meanwhile, I think the Venture Business is better if you want to directly earn travel rewards and if you value travel perks.

Read a full review of the Capital One Venture Business.

How does the Capital One Spark Cash Select compare?

Purely in terms of card branding, it’s worth being aware of the Capital One Spark Cash Select, which is essentially the more basic version of the Capital One Spark Cash Plus. How do the two cards compare? Here are the things to be aware of:

• The Spark Cash Select also earns cash back, though it can be converted into Capital One miles in conjunction with another card
• The Spark Cash Select has a welcome bonus of $750 cash back after spending $6,000 within the first three months
• The Spark Cash Select has no annual fee
• The Spark Cash Select earns 1.5% cash back on everyday spending

In the long run, the key difference here is that the Spark Cash Plus earns 2% cash back, while the Spark Cash Select earns 1.5% cash back. Just to crunch some basic numbers:

• The breakeven on spending between the two cards would be $30,000 per year (since the 0.5% difference in rewards on spending between the two cards would be $150, equal to the annual fee)
• So if you spend more than $30,000 per year, you’ll come out ahead with the Spark Cash Plus, while if you spend less than $30,000 per year, you’ll come out ahead with the Spark Cash Select, though that doesn’t factor in the value of the welcome bonus

Just to make the math a bit clearer, below is a chart comparing the return on spending, not factoring in the welcome bonus or first year rewards.

Read a full review of the Capital One Spark Cash Select.

Capital One Spark Cash Plus FAQs

Bottom line

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a lucrative business card that offers a massive welcome bonus, plus 2% cash back on all spending with no foreign transaction fees, a $150 bonus when you spend $150,000 on the card in a year (essentially a refund of the annual fee), and has no pre-set spending limit.

If you spend a lot on your business card and want to earn cash back rewards, then this card is a no-brainer. Similarly, the ability to convert rewards into Capital One miles in conjunction with a card like the Capital One Venture X is also an interesting angle here.

Alternatively, the Capital One Venture X Business is another great card to consider, especially if you’re looking to earn travel rewards.

If you want to learn more about the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, follow this link.

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The American Express Blue Business Cash® Card (Rates & Fees).