crimsonAA

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swag

My BD checking routing number is 111024331. Do you know if MMA is different, or did you just Google for it?

crimsonAA

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crimsonAA

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Chrisw94

I am thinking of jumping into BD AA miles program but need some advice as BD website is not too clear. I have $50K I can put into new account, but want to of course, maximize my return. Can someone offer up advice on how to best structure new account for maximum miles? Help appreciated!

fromfall98

The easiest , most effective and used by FTers way would be to open up a 'mileage checking with interest' account.

+es:
1. Money is 'liquid', you can take out any amount any time.
2. You get 5000 miles per month for 50K deposit (beyond 50K, it is not at all lucrative).
3. You could try to get additional bonus miles for direct deposit, refer a friend, check card usage etc., though this is quite hard to get from BD.

-es:
1. There is a $12 monthly fee for the account.
2. Mileage accrual rate is slashed after 50K deposit.

By the way, there is a huge (and at times a bit angered) discussion on pros / cons of BD in this thread. You may want to spend an afternoon on this thread with a cup of coffee (or beer if it is a weekend ) if you would like to learn more.

Cheers!

IMH

That's a decent summary, fromfall98.

Depending on your tax situation, and using an online deposit account for comparison, you can get 60,000 miles a year for between approx. 0.6 and 0.95 cents each.

Most people here would say that's a good price, although there are cheaper miles to be had via credit card applications and even cheaper miles if you're happy playing games with reload cards.

swag

I don't know if this is new, or just new-to-me, but an insert in my last statement mentioned that BD customers now get fee-free withdrawals at Allpoint ATMs, 55K of them nationwide.

With many ATMs now charging more than the maximum $2.50 that BD will reimburse, this is a nice feature. It's also a boon for anyone who likes to hit the ATM more than 4x/month.

http://www.bankdirect.com/services/c...tab=atmlocator

Doctor of Credit

For those discussing whether it's worth depositing funds or not, I created this little calculator.

You enter your tax rate, amount deposited, AA mile value rate, and interest rate you could be getting elsewhere then it tells you the monthly value of both bankdirect and the other account and where your money should be opened.

Hopefully somebody finds it semi interesting. I'm trying to learn to code at the moment so I'll make it into a proper web application if there is interest. Does anybody know how to get google docs to allow edits but not allow the changes to save?

ma91pmh

Has anyone churned the sign up bonuses on this account?

I used to have an account which I closed a year or two account when they culled the earning rate and introduced the fees. However I now have a lot of cash sitting around and could easily max the $50k out, am curious if I can also get sign up bonuses?

fromfall98

So, you are asking if one could churn the 1000 miles sign up bonus? This requires one to fill out several forms, mail them to BD, wait for their approval etc. (may need a few back and forth) for opening an account then wait for 1K sign up bonus miles, close the account (which requires its own paperwork), wait a few months, get another referral and open another account going through same process and voila!!! another 1000 miles are in!

I am sure I am missing something, not sure what though .

crimsonAA

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rajuabju

Bringing up a semi-old topic here... I've had my BD Checking account "maxed" at $50k for a long time now.

The question is, should I open a second account, MM account? I have another $30k that I need to keep liquid (very liquid, so no Fidelity or other options that I need to have a waiting period to get). The MM account offers 50 miles per 1000, but no monthly fee.

Best I can do at a different bank is about 1% these days. I'm in the highest tax bracket (plus hit by another 13% in CA State Income Taxes)

Seems like BD MM earning the 50 miles per $1000 is the better bet for this additional $30k...?

jasonz9238

I apologize if this has been answered before but I wasn't able to find it with search. I understand that no 1099 is sent for the miles earned but what about for the interest earned in the checking account?

seawolf

Yes you will get a 1099 for the interest unless it is below a certain threshold but even if your interest is below that, you are still required to report it.