Compare the Features and Benefits of Aer Lingus Visa Signature Credit Card and
Capital One Spark Miles for Business

This card often has a very generous signup bonus and Chase’s Aer Lingus credit card earns 3x Avios on British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL, and Aer Lingus as well as 2x Avios on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel.

Avios can be shared between any Avios program, which also includes Qatar Airways (home of the QSuite) and you can redeem British Airways Avios for award tickets on oneworld airlines like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and more.

While with the British Airways version of Avios, we tend to talk about short haul flights on oneworld carriers like American Airlines as the best value, the Aer Lingus version of Avios has a different sweet spot:

When flying off-peak, you can fly from the East Coast of the US (think cities like NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Toronto, Minneapolis and Chicago) to/from Ireland on Aer Lingus metal for just 13,000 Avios in Economy or 50,000 Avios in Business Class.

You’ll pay 16,500 instead of 13,000 Avios for an economy ticket from elsewhere in the United States and 62,500 for Business Class.

The other main benefit of this card is the Companion Ticket, which requires spend of $30,000 or more in a calendar year on your Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card to activate.

You’ll receive an economy companion ticket good for 12 months on Aer Lingus operated flights, based on flight availability. While it’s not as good a deal as if there was no spend requirement to earn (obviously!) at least no taxes or fees are added to the companion ticket.

The Companion Ticket is issued as a voucher that can be used for an economy companion ticket in conjunction with a paid economy flight.

Still, if your goal is geared more towards more earning points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve also earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card points on these airlines and on all airlines, hotels, cruises and other travel and can even be transferred to Avios if you’d like – not to mention a range of other travel partners, like World of Hyatt which offers fantastic value.

Note: Per Chase’s 5/24 Rule, you will only be approved for a Chase card like the British Airways Visa card if you have applied for fewer than 5 personal credit cards within the last 24 months from any issuer. (Business cards do not count against the total, except for Capital One Spark Cash Select and Spark Miles plus Discover, but are subject to the policy).

💳 This card earns Capital One Miles. Capital One often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 30%, 40% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!

You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from Capital One Miles here.

Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔

The Spark Miles is a uniquely simple small business credit card.

With 2X Capital One Miles earned per dollar spent on all eligible purchases (plus the option to earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel), you can really rack up the miles fast.

And while Capital One Miles used to simply be worth a penny each towards travel, that’s changed entirely since Capital One made their miles transferable.

Many small business owners don’t worry about bonus categories, but they do want as many rewards points for their business spend as possible. And they want, on top of that simplicity, to know they are getting a top end rate of return on spend.

The Spark Miles accomplishes both goals. 2X miles on everything with no limit is among the best options among all small business credit cards. While the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express also earns 2X points on purchases, it is capped at $50,000 in spend per year whereas the Capital One Spark Miles has no limit.

And then for redeeming your points, you can simply spend them for travel at a penny a point, or you can use the airline and hotel transfer partners.

As for card benefits, the card comes with Primary Car Rental CDW coverage, as long as you are renting for business purposes and also carries extended warranty and purchase protection benefits, provided by Visa Business Signature. Some of these benefits don’t even display on the Capital One marketing pages, but they are on the guide to benefits.

Overall, it’s a super simple card that is an excellent choice for small business owners that love to travel on their time off.

Need to Know: Capital One generally will make an credit inquiry with all three credit bureaus. Your card and revolving balance will also be reported to your personal credit file. That likely doesn’t bother you unless you’re maxing out the card, but if it does, you can browse other credit cards that do not report the credit line to your personal credit profile.