Best miles/points reward for checking or saving account [Consolidated]
 

hi, i was going through the threads and just found about bankdirect and aa miles. so went through the entire thread and more info was there on citi account. so i need your help in maximizing deposits for around 200k.

there are 3 options, for 200k
1. bankdirect and aa miles
2. citi gold account but i dont have any citi cards
3. fidelity, 2 accounts @ 100k each and get 100k delta skymiles

so is there a way to douple or triple dip and get miles from all 3 options.

did i miss out any other options.

thanks in advance.

need help to maximize bank deposits
 

You could do Fidelity and withdraw after 6 months and then do BD - but BD earns based on time on deposit (monthly) so there's no way to trick that. It's the best thing going as far as banking, though, especially since earned miles aren't taxed!

with citi gold, there are bonuses for $400 worth of thank you points from time to time. fidelity followd by bank direct is best option. additionally, i'd recommend setting aside 10k for citi and chase just to establish banking relationship with them if u haven't already. will make churning easier.

No options to double dip at the same time.
I suggest Fidelity followed by BD. You can do citigold account in parallel. It doesn't require much balance.
Why delta miles from fidelity instead if UA or AA miles?

Citi 30/15/5 checking account mailer
 

I did a search, but only got through the 5th page, so it may be out there somewhere, but I'm curious how long it takes Citi to get you the 30k miles...

Also, if I fund the account with $50k+, wait for the miles to post, order checks (which I'm assuming are free for the "gold" account), and then drop down to the "basic" checking which only requires something like $150 balance to avoid fees, am I good? Or are they going to try to claw back the miles? I'm looking to change banks anyways, but I'm not willing to keep $50k in my checking account just for a few miles...

bankDirect wil give you 55-60k AA miles per year with that cash hoard...

Edit: Thanks Mia! So many deals, such little time!

Perhaps you mean BankDirect?

I'm really not interested in churning points through a bank for what really doesn't amount to very many miles. I'm basically looking to switch banks and 30k AA would probably put me over the top toward choosing Citi if I can get it without parking $50k in a checking account to avoid fees...

Keep in mind that you'll get a 1099 from Citi, at a fairly high valuation for the miles. There's a dedicated thread for this here. Depending on your tax rate and valuation for that 30k miles, you may find it not worth your while.

Welp... that seals the deal. I get enough legitimately, that getting any sort of 1099 makes it not worth it.

Thanks

I believe things have changed since tax year 2012. The offer now requires you to spend $750 for the 30K offer. Coincidentally, that's 2.5cpm - the amount Citibank had previously valued each mile. Because of forcing the customer to spend for the miles, the miles are now classified as a rebate. No more 1099 for the miles. But, you may receive a 1099 for any interest earned in the account, which will probably amount to a few dollars.

Where is this offer? I'd like to earn 50k AA miles through it!

Looks like my information was outdated then! This certainly changes how I think about Citi checking bonuses. Thanks for pointing this out.

I can't speak for the 1099 on miles, I was curious how that would end up this tax year. Is there a definitive answer yet?

As for the bonus, it generally specifies 90 days from completion of required activity. So, say you open the account 3/1/13. You deposit the 50K for Citigold, and spend the $750 or whatever your offer requires, by 3/15/13. Often those promos require a direct deposit or a bill payment for 2 months, or something like that. Basically, it's within 90 days of the COMPLETION of activities. Once you get the miles, they're yours, and Citi won't claw them back. Even before you get them, you should be able to convert your account to Basic ($1500 minimum), and still get the Citigold level of miles.

tl;dr version: 3 months minimum, 6 months maximum, and yes you can convert to basic and pull your $50K back out.

Interesting ... forgot about the direct deposit. What types of activities qualify? I'm self employed, so direct deposit by employer is out... I'm about to become an S-Corp, though, so I may be able to pay myself when that happens... Anything else work?