ETRADE or Ameritrade?
 

Hi all

I am thinking about opening an online account with one of these two websites. I would like to earn the maximum airline miles that I can (I know that also depends on how much I invest).

I am also wondering which one is easier, cheaper, better to use. Past experiences?

Thanks!

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Delta GM, United Premier, Hilton Gold, Starwood Gold

[This message has been edited by SkyTeam777 (edited 11-05-2002).]

Ameritrade gives you little incentive to sign up.

But as an online broker, it is IMHO without a doubt easier, cheaper, and far more reliable, based on my experience with both over the past four years.

Ameritrade got a much better review in a Wall Street Journal summary I read a few months ago. They did a chart of all the main online and a few other ones and it ended up being their best pick over all, all things considered. I may be able to find the article and either retype some of this in here or somehow send you a PDF or scan of it. BUT I do remember it being AMERITRADE. I have yet to do any of these. Do lots of research, take time and ask tons of questions, IMHO.

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If speed is not your thing, distance may as well be. Enjoy and embrace it all!

Do both. Once you get the miles posted from the first broker, close the account and open one with the second. No reason to limit yourself.

Actually, you can get up to 25K DL miles from Ameritrade:
http://www.ameritrade.com/delta/

I had an etrade account about 2-3 years ago and closed it - I wasn't happy with the service and fees. I opened an Ameritrade account this spring and I'm happy so far.

You can get AA miles from Waterhouse. I've had accounts with them for years; the service is great but the ever-rising commissions are not.

I have ET and I am not a big fan of it. I signed up back in the day when they gave cash bonuses. I find the fees and vigorish too high for a small-time trader, and sometimes they take their sweet time with my market orders.

Which one you pick will probably depend more on the frequency and type of trades you make, and not so much the miles offered. Some brokers will be thousands of dollars cheaper for you in the long run if you are an active trader; others will give you super-low commissions if you only make a couple of trades a month. Don't get locked into a bad brokerage for a couple hundred bucks worth of miles. The ones that don't offer miles usually have some other teaser, such as free trades, cash bonus, etc.

You can find cash bonuses for Ameritrade. I got $75 for opening my account last year after I got a promo in the mail. Search the web.

You can earn United miles if you open a ameritrade acct

Deposit $1000 ==> 3000 bonus miles
Deposit $5000 ==> 8000 bonus miles
Deposit $50000 ==> 25000 bonus miles

I was an etrade customer 3 years ago, they were absolutely terrible. They are expensive and slowwwww!

I was told datek was better, so I switched, and they were 100x better than etrade. now datek is apart of ameritrade.

miles.HotDealz up-to-date directory of bonus mile offers



[This message has been edited by milehunter (edited 11-21-2002).]

I like ETRADE the best but Ameritrade is good too and it is cheaper.


I haven't logged on to either one in months. It's depressing. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Ameritrade does not sweep to money market accounts, and has no electronic means to get your money. (You have to ask them to send you a check.) But they have very cheap trades, and everything works so far. I use them for secrities that do not earn dividends or interest.

You can get full info on all of tbe offers of both brokers, plus others, on my web site below. Click on Free Frequent Flyer Miles in the left menu, then on Financial Offers in the top menu.

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The Personal Travel Experience of Gary Steiger - including how to get free frequent flyer miles on the web.

I like Ameritrade's system better, but Etrade has a bank linked to it which is a big advantage. Etrade is a little more costly but not significantly so.

I say Ameritrade and here's why. Customer service at A is good, and poor at E. Also, E gyped me out of 30,000 miles--I opened 2 new accounts and kept them open 6 months then they make up a rule (I already received a bonus for that account type) that was not disclosed earlier. Do a search here--there have been other people who have had problems with Etrade.

I still haven't gotten my points and will be contacting some regulators about it. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

I transferred assets to brokerage accounts with Ameritrade and Waterhouse for 25,000 miles per account. Both quickly posted only half the miles and will post the balance in six months. This stipulation is to keep people from getting the miles and closing the account. I have not been bothered by reps
wanting to generate other business, which was a pleasant surprise.

My experience with datek(now ameritrade) has been great. Their execution are really fast, and their website doesn't lockup like etrade's.

there is NOTHING I can think of that would justify etrade's high commission.

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miles.HotDealz up-to-date directory of bonus mile offers


[This message has been edited by milehunter (edited 11-06-2002).]

Both ETrade and Ameritrade have closing account fees (Etrade has a $50 closing account fee, I was charged, I am not sure how much Ameritrade charges). Scottrade has no fees. No bonuses either. Except referral, 3 trades free for both (just mention #EWBD590003 when you apply, $7 for market orders).

can someone post a place to get a $75 signup bonus for ameritrade?

I agree with the others who are disappointed with ETRADE's service and fees.

I had an account with them and tried to transfer some shares of ONE stock i had to a different brokerage. This normally does not cost anything. Instead, they went ahead and transferred the WHOLE account over, including the $50 DEBT i "owed" them for closing my account!

After a bunch of calls, they finally said they'd repay me the $50 if i moved the shares back. Reluctantly i did, and I was refunded. So, i then sold the shares i had in the account. Unfortunately, they split one of my orders into TWO orders (one for 100 shares, another for 15 shares), which cost me TWO transaction fees. They refused to credit me for the extra transaction cost (who would have thought that etrade would actually do a SEPARATE transaction for 15 shares??).

Exhausted, i finally had a check made out to me for the remaining cash in my account (and was able to avoid another $50 fee).

Amazingly, i still get monthly statements sent to me (forwarded from my previous address that i had on file with them). Apparently, i received $0.01 of interest from the cash that was there for a few days.

ETRADE is just a bunch of thieves. Never again.

Scottrade, Scottrade, Scottrade. $7 market orders, and no hidden fees. Not to mention they have local offices everywhere if you want to see a broker face-to-face, or get a check out of your account.

That bonus was for adding $7500 to existing accounts only. The promotion no longer exists.

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The Personal Travel Experience of Gary Steiger - including how to get free frequent flyer miles on the web.

Has anyone who had a problem with them ever gotten satisfaciton and have any advice?

As I recall, after I closed my etrade account, I also ended up with a balance (fifteen cents or so) from accrued interest. I called them to make sure I wouldn't get hit with inactivity fees. The rep offered to zero out the balance, but I was sufficiently annoyed at 'em that I made them send me the check http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And while we're *****ing about brokerages, I got a note from Waterhouse today. As a result of the spinnoff from Citi, I have odd lots (less than 100 shares) of both Travelers A and Travelers B. Travelers is trying to cut costs from having lots of small holders, so they've issued a tender offer to buy up the odd lots from folks who have them but haven't sold because they don't want to pay commissions.

The problem - if I accept the offer, Waterhouse will charge me a $25 "reorganization" fee. That's more than the commission would be if I just sold myself! So what's the d*** point?

I've had $0.03 cents sitting with TD Waterhouse for over a year for the same reason. Once a quarter I get 1 mile posted to my AA account.

[This message has been edited by singlemalt (edited 11-07-2002).]

Please be careful about getting the points. Please see my posting above about Charles Schwab.

Any monetary incentives out there for signing up? or for referring people?

Yes.
http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com

What does etrade offer me to get airline miles? I believe the Delta and NW programs have expired. I don't think you can get hotel points either.

Any recent e*trade offers?

Etrade I dont know but miles wise, TD Waterhouse still works with American Airlines. Also they have an Ipod Nano promotion as does Ameritrade I beleive...

Etrade phone assistantce : you could wait up to an hour.

I thought Ameritrade and TDWaterhouse were merging?

This is only my personal opinion but i would go with someone like
interactivebrokers.com. The money you save in commissions will more than offset any upfront miles or $50 or $100 you will get from other brokers. Their fee is half a cent per share. So you buy 200 shares and pay only 1 dollar. Buy 1000 shares and pay only 5 dollars. Other advantages. You can buy stocks on Toronto stock exchange, London stock exchage and many others. Very low margin rates.

Disclaimer. I am an account holder at IB.

How is their phone service?

Not good. I have been with Ameritrade for some of my accounts and one account with IB. IB is only good for advanced traders. Some of their policies are quite strange. They hold checks for 14 business days, ACH deposits take a min f 5 biz days to clear. Others brokers clear funds immediately. Dealing with them on the phone for cust service isssues can be an adventure. If you make a ton of trades and or trade options IB is for you. If you dont trade a ton go with Ameritrade or Etrade

Rob

I never really had any issue so there was never any need to contact them via phone. I also do not like their ACH hold policy as stated by robert477 but since i am not an active trader, it does not bother me when my funds sit idle for 4 days. I do make occasional trades but invest certain amount each month in couple of canadian energy trusts ( TSE listed ) and one or two NYSE listed stocks. It works out well for me. I simply could not think about doing this with ameritrade since i would pay 10.99 for each trade. I do have account with ameritrade and am happy with the service but i don't like to pay that much for trades.

I would go with Ameritrade. Etrade's execution is sloow! I has had issue with Etrade posting the bonus. Eventually I just closed all my accounts at Etrade and never look back.

I've had/have accounts with both Ameritrade and E*Trade. As others have already pointed out, trades are faster with Ameritrade, and in general I have found Ameritrade easier to work with.

Since this is the MilesBuzz forum, let me add something about miles. When I initially opened my E*Trade account, I clearly qualified for the signup bonus. When no miles appeared even after having waited beyond the prescribed waiting period, I contacted E*Trade. They waffled on the miles, and it took several rounds of back and forth emails to finally get said miles.

I've used both Ameri % E trade. Go w/ Ameritrade. Two years ago I got 20K SPG for opening an acct w/ I recall $20K. Good deal!

Recently analyzed all of the broker/banking offers and decided that Ameritrade offered the best combination of miles + lowest fees if you are a frequent trader. Since we plan to buy (and hold) mostly mutual funds, Fidelity was a better option for us.

We received a nice chunk of UA miles from Fidelity, but I was told that this offer recently expired. The miles posted within 2 weeks of opening the account. ^

Here's a little detail on Ameritrade and Starwood: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...financial.html

Does Ameritrade offer any incentive, other than free trades, to add money to your account? Any good promos out there?