MeLike2Travel

You're right, it adds up. But, I don't count the 1% cash back, as that's an opportunity cost versus an outright expense (like the other fees are). Also, I deposit the money I withdraw into an interest bearing account (interest is right around 1.5%). So that reduces my out of pocket expense, but is somewhat difficult to quantify due to the timing of paying my credit card bill, how long the money sits in my account, etc. Regardless, I consider my out of pocket expense to $42/month. That comes out to less than a half cent per mile.

The other unsaid benefit of this is I'm using it as a means to become 1MM on AA. I personally value being lifetime gold, and someday platinum. But that's an intangible benefit that can't be quantified.

Additionally, I'm saving up the miles to fly international first class to Europe. That's 125,000 miles. If I were to obtain all of those miles from this method, it will have cost me $583. That's definitely a good deal for a first class ticket.

Everyone is going to value this deal differently. Like I said before, I don't count the opportunity cost of a cash back card. But I also don't count the interest I get from having the money for a short period of time. Nor do I count the time I spend going to the ATM, depositing the money in the bank, etc. Everyone's going to look at this differently. But for me, I've determined that it's well worth it, and am very happy to obtain these miles using this method.