Originally Posted by
LifetimeGold
I just yesterday got the Citibank 50,000 mile offer to open a checking account. Going from memory the requirements were pay a qualifying bill with it 2 months in a row (not my Citibank cards, apparently - still need to see what type of bill they mean), and take out $1000 using the debit card. Seems like a no-brainer for 50000 miles. Plus I'm mostly in a credit union and often have trouble using the ATMs without a fee. So I think I'll do it unless there is some big catch I don't know about.
Citi will likely send you a 1099 showing the 50k miles "valued" at up to $0.025 each, so be warned that you might have as much as $1,250 of taxable income you weren't expecting. Of course, you can always argue the value with the IRS. My advice is to stick with credit card offers where the miles are not income.