Even though I don't know the scheduling logistic of how banks process and post the bonus miles, I do know it has nothing do with airline status. I don't have status with AA, but I had bonus miles from Citi creditcards posted within 7-10 days, even before the 1st statement cycle closed, while some AA status holders reporting 1-2 months.

I know I am talking about different banks (Chase vs. Citi) and different airlines (CO/UA vs. AA). Not sure if that makes any difference. Speaking for myself, for promotions on credit card products, Chase usually took longer to post the bonus miles. As for banking products (checking/savings accounts), Chase is still the winner or should I say "loser" since they still take longer in comparison to Citi. Some FTers had different experiences though (go and find the 10K AA promo for Citi Checking account for your reading pleasure ).

Still, I would say 1-2 weeks posting timeframe is simply too high an expectation. Generally speaking, the billing cycle triggers the miles or bonus calculation mechanisms. The miles are "generated" when statements close, then miles reported/transferred to FFP accounts. I've been seeing the sign-up bonuses posted along with either the 1st or 2nd FULL billing cycle. Hence, 6-8 weeks are very reasonable.

I don't collect CO miles so I take upon Chase's offers for UA miles. I am not sure if that's plain bad luck or what, in the last couple of years, when I opened Chase checking accounts for UA miles, my bonuses "almost" always didn't post. I had to "chase" the Chase associates, sometimes the branch managers, after the promised timeframe. Then they would look into it and re-start the clock. For me, 4-6 months were normal to really have my UA bonuses completely posted (checking account promo).

Now you have my UA horror stories for this Holloween. Hopefully, Chase/CO miles won't be as aweful. Who knows, maybe Chase is doing better with CO.