Do we benefit from open the account thru' referal ?

There are referral bonuses so that's worth it alone, but I still dunno... I think you have to just have money already to wanna do this.

Maybe Gary's got an extra $2500 laying around that just generates this supposedly easy mile-income and if he really needs the money he can go get it and replace with new $$?? Who knows. I do not have an extra $2500 laying around, and nor do most people I know. I mean, we assume a certain level of income, lifestyle and propensity to consume when talking mileage in here with each other, but not everyone makes the same or has the same needs. I think the basic understanding is that people have steady income from one source or another, we like to travel, and we like to leverage our money against ways to get the best returns from it. If spending also generates miles we somehow feel complete. But there are limits and I guess it depends on what one is willing to spend, risk, move or let sit in an account generating either interest or miles. If the pay off for miles is greater than the actual cash return after all things considered, we again feel like we made out. Perhaps for some who can see it more clearly, it does. I think there is a certain threashold though, and maybe I am not there yet. That, I think, is what I am trying to discover in this thread. What is needed as my "base" to even make this worth while?

Another similar example of this would be when people did that Dash to the Gate thing with Delta. It was a simpler, more clear cut instance where you laid out $150 up front and could come home with more than 30k DL miles plus status on a hotel account too. It makes sense when looking at the fact that it actually worked, but when going in, many of us were wondering if it was really going to pan out and if it was worth it. If you just sit on the miles and never use them, it would be a waste. If you do redeem, it is worth it.

Some deals require investments that can pay off later, and some happen right away. I suppose the long-run ones require a higher income and much more patience.

Anyway, with this gig, I was once offered a referral by someone and his info is saved somewhere in my yahoo mail account, so if I ever got entice to actually do this bank direct thing I would contact that person, but right now, I aint convinced yet either so far...

:)MM

Yep, there is a benefit. Both parties get 1,000 bonus miles. PM me with your email address and name if you'd like a referral :)

So, there is no limit on the amount of miles I can earn?

Theoretically, if I got a million dollars together and put it in this account--

Thats 100,000 miles a month and 1.2 million at the end of the year?

That means I would be flying free forever just for keeping money in a specific bank--I suppose that would be weighed against the return on investment elsewhere.

edited out for horrendously bad math. :rolleyes:

Check your math?
 

I would suggest that 3% x 1,000,000 = 30k / yr. ;)

Let's try this again
 

For some reason, the math was off in the above example, so just in case you guys haven't already done it yourselves, here is a little more accurate picture (still overly simplistic as it does not take compounding and many other real world senarios into consideration):

1,000,000 at 3.00% at ING = $30,000
1,000,000 at 0.75% at BD = $7,500 + 1,200,000 Miles

40% Tax Bracket:
ING Yields $18,000 After Tax
BD Yields $4,500 After Tax + 1,200,000 Miles

Real cost of Miles = $13,500 (or $0.01125 per mile)

25% Tax Bracket
ING Yields $22,500 After Tax
BD Yields $5,625 After Tax

Real Cost of Miles = $16,875 (or approx. $0.014 per mile)

At just over a penny a mile, one could at least argue that it worth a look.

OK, out of stupidity, I want to say oops. My mistake on the math, I was working a few equations and obviously misfired with my numbers.

At .012 a mile, would someone be interested in earning 150k to take a flight 1st class to Tahiti or Australia for $1,800 out of pocket for travel?

Seems there are many options to buy miles at .004 or .006 a mile, which would be half that number?

Ken in Phx

Considering coach typically runs about $1400 to those destinations, $1800 for first class seems pretty decent. Not to mention Hawaii, which at just over $300 to upgrade from coach is a real bargain if you are in the Midwest or East Coast.

Other than wasting time on mileage runs (which is way more cost prohibitive than this option for many of us), where can one buy miles for .5 cents a mile? (no sarcasim intended, I am pretty new here and am slowly picking up tricks from all you gurus)

But on to the topic: it seems AA is perfectly willing to sell 1,000,000 miles and Lifetime Gold Status for $11,250 (and 2MM + Lifetime Platinum for $22,500). I would think many people would be interested in such deals. Since they are already willing to do it by virtue of this deal, maybe this could be a new Money Maker for AA? :D I would certainly think long and hard about upgrading for life.

1/2 cent a mile deals were VisaBuxx .004/mile (currently) and others in the past Charter One, Texas State Bank etc.

And as for life ( of course you mean life of the AA program, right ;)

Of course ;)

As for Visabuxx... thanks for pointing me to it. The current thread indicates it just died though. Anyone out there with current deals better than 1.2 cents per mile (not incl. milage runs)? Thanks in advance!

Visabuxx still working for me, but i fear that mine will come to an end soon also. I will post when I find another working deal for 1/2 cent a mile.

Ken in Phx

and it is for this reason that those of us savvy to the world of gift cards keep on looking for new deals that pop up under the radars allllll the time!
;)MM

Do NetBank or Bank Direct offer miles for opening CDs? Anyone know about mileage offers for Virtual Bank?

BankDirect does.

I'm thinking of opening a Savings Account with Bankdirect.. not sure if this counts for the referral bonus.. but I guess it still asks for Referrer's name/email online.

I'd be happy to refer you. (Both of us benefit.)

I'll send you a PM.

thanks!

Emigrant Bank, Bank Direct, Ing Bank
 

Although Ing Bank does not pay the highest interest rate, bank transaction such as transfers and other business activities are quite easy and painless.

Bank Direct does not allow for direct access for my checking account. Every transaction is either with hard copies and is very slow and requires telephone calls to verify it. Interest rates are very low.

Emigrant Bank advertises high rates but is about many times slower than Bank Direct. I transferred funds there about 3 weeks ago and I am still unable to access my account. Does anyone have similar experiences with these banks any other internet banks?

any codes for citibanks thank you network for opening a checkign account?

My experience with ING is positive as well. ^

No direct access? :confused: I use standard checks like any other bank. I also use their electronic bill paying service, and have had no problems. I also direct deposit into the account, and can perform ACH transfers both in and out at no charge. I use my ING account as the "clearinghouse" to perform the ACH transfers - just "link" your accounts.....

Yes, the interest rate is low, but if you add up the account opening bonuses, bill pay bonus, and direct deposit bonus, the cost per mile is not that bad, especially if you only keep the $2,500 minimum to avoid the monthly fee. Also, interest is taxable, miles are not (at least not yet).

I have no experience with Emigrant internet banking.

Netbank and Virtualbank
 

If you are a new customer for Netbank, you could earn up to 9000 UAL miles. Here's the link: http://www.netbank.com/pro085.htm

I don't think VirtualBank offer bonus miles incentive other than referral bonus. If you plan to open a new account with Virtualbank, I can refer you so both of us will get $20. :)

Just PM me with your email account.

I switched to Emigrantdirect.com (part of Emigrant bank, which has been around since the mid 1800's) a few months ago. The beginning process really sucks, but once you are in, the 4% interest is nice. It justifies the mileage I was earning at bank direct. I do still have a bank direct account for my bill pay and direct deposit, and when I have any left over funds, I move them over to Emigrant.

You can earn miles from "regular" banks (Chase, Bank of America, etc...) if you get a debit card. See andrewcram.com for more information.

i have the united debit card. you get 2500 miles to open, with a $25 annual fee. through chase.

Are there any of thes banking programs where you can churn money (5 figure) through and earn serious miles?

Ahhh...I've always wondered who some of the other texas state bankers were. :)

That was never posted here (and thankfully so or might not have lasted more than one week esp with the fatwallet lurkers)...I found it myself through a lot of googling and researching, but knew other ft'ers must be onto is especially as its fee got raised to $10/reload in the end. I figured the "secret" must've gotten shared with too many people or some folks must've started to go really overboard with the reloads.

It was good while it lasted.

Not sure what you mean by churn, but say you let $100k sit in your BankDirect checking account... you earn 10k miles per month, 120k miles per year.

Say that you put $1m in the account, you'd earn 1.2m miles in a year (lifetime Gold after 10 months, lifetime Plat after 20 months).

gleff, correct me if I am wrong, but that works out to $0.03333 per mile compared to earning 4% in a money market account. To me that is not a good deal.

Good point. In fact, money market fund rates are currently @ 4% and going up every month. In addition, anyone who has $1M in the bank probably has implemented effective tax avoidance schemes and does not pay anywhere near 40% tax (and may live in a no income tax state like NV, TX or FL). Not to mention that someone with $1M lying around probably knows that he can earn an average of 8% per year in the stock market, and would likely pay a capital gains tax rate of 15% when he cashes in. :cool:

The point is that the real after-tax cost per mile is much much higher for the savvy investor. But for someone who wants to keep a few thousand in the bank and doesn't need branches, they can decide whether the $ per mile rate is worth the tradeoff.

Yes, well, there are tax issues to think through and BankDirect does also pay interest. It's a complicated calculation to make that will vary by individual situation. But it certainly isn't a no-brainer for everyone.

Guaranty Bank
 

I want to open a 'My Checking' Acct w/ Guaranty Bank. This acct allows me to get Membership Rewards which I use because of their flexibility. Can anyone refer me? We will both get 1000 points.

e-mail: [email protected]