If you don't mind me asking, where is your son going to go to school? Many schools offer stored-value cards that work like a debit card.

For example, at University of Texas, there's a Dining Dollars and BevoBucks program that allow students and parents to load money on the ID and the students can only use that money where DD/BB are accepted.

I work in this industry and just graduated from college in May, so I'd be happy to advise you on how do "divy" up the allowance.

I signed up for Citibank AAdvantage as a college freshman and have accumulated over 100K since signing up. Now look at me, the FF junkie...

It's been said that >50% of college students carry a balance. Play the odds game and realize that credit cards are not a good idea.

Citi Offers Air Miles for Some Debit Transactions

Sixteen months after replacing its automated teller machine cards with MasterCard debit cards, Citibank has introduced another debit card program with a new perk: airline miles for purchases.

The Citigroup Inc. unit said last week that it had expanded its 15-year-old partnership with American Airlines to include the new Citibank AAdvantage debit cards, sister products to the successful AAdvantage credit card.

The Citibank frequent-flier debit program is the fifth such program on the market. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. introduced the first such card program, cobranded with Continental Airlines, in February 1999. In September, Bank of America Corp. introduced three Visa Check cards cobranded with Alaska Airlines, America West, and USAirways.

Citibank�s debit card program differs from the others in one respect, which will no doubt displease merchants: The bank will award miles only for signature-based transactions, not for PIN-based ones, for which merchants are charged lower fees. Morgan Chase and Bank of America award miles for both types of transactions.

�The reason essentially is the cost of the miles,� said Wayne Malone, vice president of distribution management with Citibank�s North American retail banking division. �With a credit card, there are other things besides the interchange fee that generate revenue, but that�s the only thing that generates the revenue for a debit card.�

Randy Petersen, the editor of Inside Flyer magazine and the Web Flyer site, which track frequent-flier programs, said that issuers pay airlines in advance for the miles that cardholders will redeem. He estimated that Citibank paid American around $500 million for miles to be redeemed this year � a relatively high figure that reflects the spending power of the 45 million members of the airline�s AAdvantage program...

Mr. Petersen said that more than half of all frequent-flier miles are earned through purchases other than air travel.

American Banker, 1/29/02

I think the article was in error when it said that the BofA and Chase cards award miles for PIN transactions as well as non-PIN. Does anyone have one of these cards who can verify? If you got miles for a PIN transaction you could simply sit at an ATM all day and withdraw then redeposit your funds!

the funny part is:
1.most merchants don't accept PIN-based transactions. if i go to the mall with my versadebit card, chances are that i'm gonna be paying with credit at all my opportunities.
2.many banks have started charging for the PIN-based debits, and some consider them the same as not-at-that-bank ("foreign") withdrawals. the customer is conditioned not to do what is going to cost her money, so credit it is.

i have a citibank account down here at school, and i will be converting to the basic card, at least, ASAP, and possibly the premium one. chase makes a good case, but i'm weaning myself off CO due to the whole First To Worst problem, and CO's fees are outrageous compared to Citibank's...and they ain't cheap in turn.

I saw an ad for a Citibank card that gives you 5,000-7500 Aadvantage miles for signing up. Any idea if there's a fee and what determines whether you can get all 7500?

"If you got miles for a PIN transaction you could simply sit at an ATM all day and withdraw then redeposit your funds!"

NO banks that offer debit cards allow you to obtain miles from "cash-back" transactions, ATM withdrawals or the purchase of negotiable instruments. A statement to that effect is included in the samll print of EVERY debit card cardholder agreement.

Originally posted by chix:

"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?"

See above reply.

So if you did BOTH of these transactions you would end up with .125 of ONE mile! - (1/2 of your 25� candy bar)

The post office only allows a pin-based transaction to purchase a money order. They do not allow Visa transactions for money orders, whether the card is a CheckCard or not. From the looks of the BofA site, they only award mileage for Visa (non-pin) transactions. They don't ever mention using the card for pin-based transactions.

I have one, so I'll try it and post my findings in about a month (after my statement cycle).

From the Bank of America website:

http://www.bankofamerica.com/checkca...card_usair.cfm

Works like a check. Your Dividend Miles Visa Check Card works like a "plastic check" and can be used at any merchant that accepts Visa. The amount is automatically deducted from your Bank of America checking account.


Provides ATM access.2 You can access your account at more than 14,000 Bank of America ATM machines and over 500,000 PLUS and Visa ATMs around the world. You can withdraw cash, transfer funds or make deposits.

2 Does not earn Dividend Miles for ATM transactions, over the counter cash transactions or on "cash back" amounts at point of sale.

Point Junkie, please E-mail me directly. [email protected]