I opened one of these accounts earlier this year and was surprised to discover that BD paid a slightly higher interest rate on my account than my local bank. This monthly fee, however, cancels the miles I'm earning so that'll end my association with BD.

I closed my account today-- had to pay $7 for them to mail me a check.


The hunt continues for more miles...

You had to pay them to give you your money back!?!? Ridiculous.

Exactly. Thank you.


Yes, yes. Thanks again!

My experiences with BD have been almost universally excellent. Excellent telephone customer service; far better than many other banks which do NOT advertise themselves as �internet� banks. Miles always post on time, within the first few days of the month, slightly longer when those days include a weekend; unlike many other miles givers who sometimes take months, and many calls and emails, to credit miles. And for those of us who achieved LT AA status with BD miles, BD has earned a bit of loyalty. And yes, for many of us 120,000 miles for no fee, or 240,000 miles for $144, even with the lost opportunity cost, is VERY well worth it.

Didn't I clearly say that you would need to manage multiple accounts. So I don't know why you are accusing me. Most of these banks will only give you the high rate for balances up to $25k. I am going to quote again the part of your post that I disagreed with.

If you are willing to work a little bit, you can get at least 3% APY risk free for your cash. I also said that if you value the miles more than the cash, BD still gives a good value. I even gave some math to help with the calculation.

Technically, the miles have some value and you would need to declare that as income. Just like with use tax no one bothers about it. Why do you think states want Amazon to collect taxes?

The IRS only doesn't care about miles you receive when you fly for work. Also miles you receive from shopping/credit card bonuses could be construed as reducing the cost basis and so wouldn't count towards income.

Only if you want an official check of your remaining balance. Once your outstanding transactions are settled, just write yourself a check for the exact amount and deposit it elsewhere, and once it clears and your BD account has $0 in it, there will be no need for them to send you an official check or wire you the money because there won't be any left.

Discussion in progress since 11.26.2011, begin reading at post #929:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post17518931


Discussion in progress since 12.03.2011, begin reading at post #13:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...l#post17559296

Still on the fence with this one. I think I am going to keep my account around for a bit, but not sure of the long term.

I don't seem to find there is min. balance for this checking account?
I will transfer out my money and then cancel the account.
I don't want to pay the $7 fee.

Presuming an amount of about $200,000 please tell us how and where we can get 3% APY or more.

I don't know how many times I need to repeat this. You will need multiple accounts for that entire sum to earn 3%. Google "reward checking accounts" and go to the first link.

I just received my letter last week. I just opened an account two months ago and i have to cut ties already. I was so looking forward to my yearly saver pass reward. ugh - oh well.

Yeah, with $200K one needs to open 8 accounts or more, then perform X number of transactions / tasks for each account, just so to get that 3% APY... which then is subject to tax. At a mid-range Federal Tax 28% bracket, that 3% APY is reduced to 2.16% only. That is even before State Income Tax. It is not uncommon for high income folks having a 40% total tax liability if they live in high tax states such as NY and CA.

All the multiple accounts talks are just academic and not practical at all.

I cannot imagine the extra work added come tax time. Just keeping track with all those little balances spread among multiple institutions, and remember to perform the required tasks so to earn that high rate, is enough to eat up enough time each month.

Again, the BD is NOT for those folks who do not have sizable idle cash. It is only good for those who have sizable idle cash, have no need to chase rates for added cash flow, as well as the desire to earn sizable AA miles so to redeem the F seats in the best OneWorld member flights. Plain and Simple.

It is part of the equation but not the total picture.