Update – January 2024: Over the last year I have tried twice to accomplish what I detail below – to no avail. Even supervisors had no idea what I was talking about and insisted this did not exist. SO it’s possible you may no longer be able to get a permanent fee waiver, although I did get the fee waived both last year and again this year – as a “one time courtesy.”
If you’ve had any luck and this is indeed still alive, please sound off in the comments!
Both the Capital One Spark Business credit cards, the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business (no longer available; replaced with the Spark Cash Plus charge product) and the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business, are solid cards.
In this article
Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business vs. Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business
The Spark® Cash (no longer available) pays 2% cash back on everything while the Spark® Miles earns 2 miles per dollar spent. Those miles can be redeemed for travel at a penny a point (essentially the same cash back as the Spark Cash, but only for travel spend) or transferred out to a list of airline partners:
| Capital One Miles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time | |
| Air Canada (Aeroplan) | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca Lifemiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Aeromexico | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | TBD |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Nearly instant |
| Choice Hotels | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Finnair | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| TAP Air Portugal | 1:1 | TBD |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | TBD |
| Wyndham Rewards Hotel Program | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA | 2:1.5 | 1-2 days |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) Hotel Program | 2:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 | TBD |
If you have a Spark Cash, you can move that cash back over to a Spark Miles card you also have, so if you have both, you can earn on the Spark Cash and preserve your flexibility in cashing out for straight cash (no travel purchase needed) or you can transfer to the Spark Miles if you want to trade for airline miles.
The Spark Business Card’s Annual Fees
While both Spark cards mentioned above have no-annual fee versions (called Select) that earn just 1.5% in cash back or 1.5X in miles, it’s obviously better to earn 2 per dollar. However, both of the 2X cards carry $95 annual fees.
Can you get a waiver on the Capital One Spark Annual Fees?
I’ve had the Spark® Cash for years. I first got it in 2011 and I think it was during a great promotion called “Match My Miles” for a $1,000 bonus.
It’s long been in the back of my head that I had called in to cancel that card when the annual fee hit, only to have the agent proactively offer to convert my card to a no-fee version of the same card. I’d originally thought he meant a downgrade, but he clarified that it would be the exact same cash back card earning 2%, just with no annual fee. This isn’t a one time fee waiver. It’s a permanent fee waiver.
Score.
This past year I got a Spark® Miles with a bonus offer of 200,000 bonus miles for spending $50,000 in 6 months. It just came up for renewal and I couldn’t help but wonder…. When I got the waiver on the Spark® Cash, was that an anomaly?
In this call, I asked for exactly what I was hoping for. I explained I’d gotten a permanent fee waiver on my Spark® Cash and might that be available on the Spark® Miles card?
It didn’t take long, but he did clarify for me that this was a standard offer only for certain for qualifying customers, but far from all customers. So, you need to know you may not be eligible. You won’t know if you don’t call, however!
The criteria seems to be a combination of a decent level of spend (not a few thousand your first month and nothing else, for example) and a great on-time payment history. I can’t say if there are any other hidden factors. Clearly a computer formula determines if they want to keep you enough to waive the fee based on expected long-term profitability (and low risk).
The regular front line agent can help with this, no beating around the bush about cancelling or speaking to a retention department is required.
Current Offers:
I do have personal referral links for both the Spark® Cash Plus and and an affiliate link for the Spark® Miles.
On the Spark® Cash Plus: Earn a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months. Get cash back on the purchases that you make every day.
If you spend $4,500 within three months on the Spark® Miles, you will get 50,000 bonus Capital One miles.
The Spark® Cash Plus will not report to your personal credit after approval (it will still pull the 3 credit bureaus to qualify you) while the Spark® Miles will.
Have you been granted a permanent annual fee waiver on your Spark® Cash or Spark® Miles cards?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
FYI, I got the no fee 2% version without the level of spend you require. I basically just hit the SUB and stopped using the card.