I suggest that you read this article which says that you are not protected when using a debit card:
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/07/11/livi...rate/index.htm

I just thought I'd mention an experience I had with Compubank (when they used to give ClickMiles which I would then use to transfer to AA). First, you had to use the card at the merchant as if it was a credit transaction (generally meaning you sign your name, and no PIN required). I assume that this is because then the merchant pays a credit card merchant fee which ultimately is a source of funds for the mileage program at the card issuing bank. However, the charge then hit my Compubank checking account as a "debit". Generally, as soon as I made a purchase on the card, I would see a hold on my checking account for the amount of the "charge". The actual charge would of course come through shortly thereafter or days later and, in some cases, the hold on the account was removed at the same time as the real charge hit my account. Other times, however, I was not so lucky. Sometimes, the hold would stay on for a day or two after the charge had been posted to my account, thereby tying up otherwise available funds for those one or two days. Had this been my primary checking account, checks would have bouced, etc. during these days when my account had these "dangling holds". At the time, Compubank told me that this phenomenom was common with debit cards and that there was nothing that could be done -- the hold time was established at the time of the charge and did not necessarily fall off when the charge came through.

Hopefuly, this was just a Compubank issue and maybe not all banks have this problem. I just thought I'd warn those who get one of these cards for the first time. Leave some cushion in the account at least until you know the bank's policy on this --- and have seen it in action.

Thanks, deepdishus, for the Northwest/US Bank debit card info. The link for it is http://www.usbank.com/cgi/cfm/checki...res_wpccc.cfm. I added this info to my web site.

Jasonheard: I can't find a reference to the Wells Fargo deal on their site. Do you remember which airline was involved, or do you have a phone number or website for the program?

Thanks.

Can you please provide more information about the miles earned from Wells Fargo debit card?

I bank with WF and would be very interested in this program, particularly if miles can be earned for AAdvantage.

Is the information you received perhaps for a credit card and not a debit card? When looking through the WF website, I was only able to find info about miles for their credit card.

Citibank has just introduced an AAdvantage debit card. It's very similar to the Chase Continental debit card, in that it has two levels:

Basic: $25/yr., 1 AAdvantage mile/$2 spent, maximum of 60,000 miles/yr.

Premium: $65/yr, 1 AAdvantage mile/$1 spent, maximum of 100,000 miles/yr.

(For those keeping score, that's $5 less than Chase for the basic card and the same price as Chase's premium card. Citi doesn't offer some of the bennies that Chase does, such as President's Club passes.)

I haven't seen an official announcement, but product information is available on Citibank's online banking site:

https://web.da-us.citibank.com/cgi-b...ntageDebit&M=S

That's great news. I've been banking with citi for years and use my debit card all the time. I just signed up! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Flip

Alaska Airlines has one through Bank of America too.

As does US Air.

If you are doing European currency, be aware that Citi charges 3% for charges, and about 7% for cash withdraw on the Visa/master card.

The ATM fee on my $450 in italian lira was $25, and my $350 was $11. The lira were further discounted about 3%.

Recapping the costs of getting a cash advance on a Citi Visa/MC:

Since Cirrus and Star charge 1% foreign exchange fees for ATM transactions, you need to add the extra 2% you lose to find out your total charges (i.e. you need to add the hidden charges to the disclosed ones): $25 + $9 + $11 + 7 = $72

If you divide the 800 miles by 72, then you get a cost per mile of 11.1 cents, or about 7.5 times as much what a mile is worth (about 1.5 cent).

Yuck!

For those who prefer the debit card to credit card, simply because it is one less bill, or concern they will forget to pay - the First USA folks, which have the United Mileage Plus cards allow you to link the card to your checking, and have it paid every month on the final date due.

This won't hold down your spending, but it allows you to possibly earn interest rather than pay right away, and earn miles - without the possibility of screwing up.

Citibank's credit cards also have the automatic payment feature. I'm with bp888 and ILTE_Miles - I'm not trying to be judgmental, but I'm having a hard time understanding how someone can sign up for a $2:1 mile card, effectively losing 1/2 their miles when so many 1:1 cards are available.

If you carry a PDA, just keep a running total of your charges on it. You can do the same thing with a small piece of paper in your purse/wallet.

Bank of America offers a US Airways debit/check card. I believe the annual fee is $30.

Questions regarding the miles earning debit cards that earn at a ratio of 1 mile per 2 dollars spent:

When you make a purchase using a mileage earning debit card do you hit "ATM" or "credit" for the purchase????

It's not really "ATM", correct, because the card has a Visa or MC logo on it, right?

If you need to hit "credit", please continue reading my questions below:

If you go to the post office and buy a $600 money order using your mileage earning debit card (the P.O. allows you to buy money orders only using debit cards, no credit cards allowed for known reasons!), how many miles do you get for the transaction?

If you go to the supermarket and buy a $0.25 candy bar and they allow you to get $50 cash back for a debit transaction meaning a total purchase of $50.25, how many miles do you get for the transaction with your miles earning debit card?

From my experience with CompuBank and USAA's checkcards, I had to choose credit card option over debit card option in order to receive the award.

The payment scheme is different for credit card from the debit card; the banks get the usual fee on credit card purchase vs none (?) for debit card. I'm sure that there is someone who is more knowlegible on this matter than I. I heard that are banks who gives award on both debit and credit card options but can't recall...

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