Credit Cards

Capital One Spark Cash Plus Review

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Capital One Spark Cash Plus

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a great cashback card offering 2% cashback on all purchases and if you carry Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture X Business you can merge that cashback into Capital One Miles and garner the ability to transfer into partners.

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Capital One Spark Cash Plus

4.8
4.8/5

Unlimited 2% cashback – high bonus, but requires a lot of spend quickly.

Welcome Offer

  • Earn a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months

Annual Fee

$150

Points Earned

Cash Back, but may be possible to combine with Capital One Miles

 

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus earns unlimited 2% cashback and is technically considered a “cashback card” 

However

Anedotally, and this is an unpublished data point, if you carry a card that earns Capital One Miles like the Capital One Venture X or Capital One Venture Rewards you can combine the cashback into Miles and transfer them into partners. 

Either which way, you’d put this card to use on purchases that have no other category bonus so you’re guaranteed a 2x on every purchase

  • Earn unlimited 2% cash back
    • Everywhere, without limit
  • No preset spending limit
  • Get your $150 annual fee refunded every year you spend at least $150,000
  • Rewards don’t expire as long as you have the card
  • Add employee cards without fee
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • $150 annual fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

In general…Capital One has been stepping up their game

In 2019, we learned that Capital One was introducing the ability to transfer miles into partner programs. This put them in a completely different league.

Then, in November 2021, they introduced what I called the best premium card for most people: the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card with a stunning welcome offer.

Now…one of the most incredible offers of all time. If you’re unfamiliar with Cap1 Miles and their incredible uses – I’d suggest you read over 50 of the best ways to use them.

a group of logos on a white background

  • The following partners are now 1:1
    • Aeromexico Club Premier
    • Air Canada Aeroplan
    • Avianca LifeMiles
    • Air France Flying Blue
    • British Airways Executive Club
    • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
    • Choice Privileges
    • Etihad Guest
    • Emirates
    • Finnair Plus
    • Qantas Frequent Flyer
    • Singapore Airlines
    • TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
    • Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles
    • Virgin Red
    • Wyndham Rewards
  • Accor transfer 2:1
  • EVA transfers 2:1.5

Turkish offers an incredible deal – 45k miles one way from the USA to Europe.

a man sitting in a chair on an airplane

Capital One keeping straight forward – unlimited 2% cashback

You heard it right. No limit. Get 2% cashback.

You said cashback or miles – what do you mean?

Fantastic question. If you carry a Capital One Spark Miles for Business, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, the Capital One Venture X Business, or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card that earns Capital One Miles you can actually convert the cashback, or Capital One Miles, you earn into miles and then transfer them into partner programs.

So that $1500 cash bonus = 150k Capital One Miles.

Note that you can’t convert the other away around – if you earned 75k miles off your Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card you can’t turn that into $750 cashback.

Use Avianca Lifemiles to fly Lufthansa First Class on the 747-8i like I did. Just 87k one way.

inside an airplane with seats and windows

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Capital One Spark Cash Plus

4.8
4.8/5

Unlimited 2% cashback – high bonus, but requires a lot of spend quickly.

Welcome Offer

  • Earn a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months

Annual Fee

$150

Points Earned

Cash Back, but may be possible to combine with Capital One Miles

 

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus earns unlimited 2% cashback and is technically considered a “cashback card” 

However

Anedotally, and this is an unpublished data point, if you carry a card that earns Capital One Miles like the Capital One Venture X or Capital One Venture Rewards you can combine the cashback into Miles and transfer them into partners. 

Either which way, you’d put this card to use on purchases that have no other category bonus so you’re guaranteed a 2x on every purchase

  • Earn unlimited 2% cash back
    • Everywhere, without limit
  • No preset spending limit
  • Get your $150 annual fee refunded every year you spend at least $150,000
  • Rewards don’t expire as long as you have the card
  • Add employee cards without fee
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • $150 annual fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists what the highest offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

This is a business credit card. You may have a business and not realize it.

Capital One is very friendly to entrepreneurs and small business owners. In fact, if you haven’t been in business for long, or you haven’t established yourself with an EIN, you can still apply as a Sole Proprietor ( fill in your SSN ). If you run a small side business (think bloggers, ebay sellers, tutors, consultants, etc) and want a card to segregate your business income from your personal income at tax time…this is a great opportunity to earn a load of points and help yourself out.

Personally, I have two businesses that I run, one has an EIN, and one doesn’t. I still need to keep all of their records separate, and so I have cards for each business.

Do Capital One Business credit cards affect my 5/24 number. Yes and no

According to MilesTalk – The Capital One Spark Cash Plus does not report to your personal credit, but the brother in law Capital One Spark Miles for Business does. So…for this deal, you don’t have to worry about it affecting your personal report.

a row of seats with monitors and a tv in the middle of the aisle
Air France Business Class A350

Any other rules I should know? Yes, makes sure you read.

Zach… I heard that Capital One will only process one credit card per 6 months…this is ordinarily true; however, it looks like Capital One is changing their game a bit and reports are already coming out indicating that those of us who picked up a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card  are getting approved just a couple months later for the Capital One Spark Cash Plus

It does explicitly state in the terms and conditions the following circumstances would be ineligible:

  • I have applied for a Capital One credit card 2 or more times in the last 30 days.
  • I have 5 or more open credit card accounts with Capital One.

This is a charge card not a credit card

The full balance is due every month.

My Business doesn’t spend $30k in 3 months. Keep reading.

Are there expenses that your business pays that it isn’t putting on a credit card ? Like taxes, rent, club dues, educational services, etc? These expenses could be a way for your business to hit a minimum spend requirement and earn a large welcome bonus.

Services like Plastiq allow you to pay those bills through them for a fee – Plastiq is ordinarily 2.5%

Even though you’re paying an additional fee, the total cost of doing so could end up being far less than the value of the rewards you earn. Make sure you crunch the numbers and make a decision with the most information.

Overall

Capital One has changed its presence significantly, and certainly piqued this blogger’s interest in their entire program. Transfer partners is a must these days, and Capital One has changed with the times. Having a welcome bonus that is absolutely monstrous is akin to when the Count of Monte Cristo threw a lavish party to announce his arrival on the scene. Who is that Count? He looks so familiar, but feels so fresh and new and attractive. I must put him in my wallet, and a year after it’s big splashy party…he’s back splashing again.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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