Free Airlines Miles from Online Bank

The BankDirect AAdvantage Program rewards American Airlines miles to customers who bank with BankDirect. With airfares expected to increase even higher in 2008 the offer for free airline miles is looking more tempting than ever. Customer can earn miles by opening checking and money market accounts (1,000 miles), referring friends to the program (10,000 miles), signing up for online bill payment (2,000 miles) and direct deposit (5,000 miles) - as well as 500 miles for every $1,000 placed in a one-year CD and 250 miles for every $1,000 placed in a 6-month CD. Possible rewards are demonstrated below by looking at three hypothetical customers:

Customer #1

This customers transfers a checking account to BankDirect and opens a money market account maintaining an average balance of $5,000 in each. In addition, this customers refers a friend to program. The airline miles rewarded after one year could be as high as:

10,000 miles for Referring a Friend

1,000 miles for converting a checking account to a Mileage Checking Account

1,000 miles for opening a Mileage Money Market

5,000 miles for signing up for direct deposit

2,000 miles for using online bill payment for one year

6,000 miles for monthly balance reward on the Mileage Checking Account

6,000 miles for monthly balance reward on Mileage Money Market Account

Total Miles = 31,000

Customer #2

This customer opens a 6-month CD with BankDirect (currently yielding 1.01%) for $50,000.

Total Miles Rewarded = 12,500

Customer #3

This customer opens a 12-month CD with BankDirect (currently yielding 1.01%) for $100,000.

Total Miles Rewarded = 50,000

The next step in determining how valuable this offer might be is to evaluate the cost of the American Airline tickets which could be earned versus the potential lost interest on the low yielding deposit accounts at BankDirect. There is also some effort (and possible inconvenience)involved in transferring a checking account to BankDirect and to maintain the requirements to earn the airlines miles. BankDirect is a division of Texas Capital Bank based in Dallas, Texas.
A complete list of the BankDirect Mileage Rewards as listed on the bank’s site is below:

Earn 1,000 miles for yourself and a friend from our Refer-A-Friend Program

1,000 miles to convert your Regular Checking or Regular MMA to a Mileage Checking Account or Mileage Money Market Account

1,000 miles for each new Mileage Checking Account or Mileage Money Market Account

5,000 miles for signing up for payroll direct deposit into a Mileage Checking Account

2,000 miles for using BankDirect’s bill pay service for 12 consecutive months from a Mileage Checking Account

100 miles per month for every $1,000.00 of the collected balance in your Mileage Checking Account

50 miles per month for every $1,000.00 of the collected balance in your Mileage Money Market Account

1,000 miles for every $1,000.00 spent on a two-year Mileage CD purchase

500 miles for every $1,000.00 spent on a one-year Mileage CD purchase

250 miles for every $1,000.00 spent on a 6-month Mileage CD purchase

Customers are limited to two mileage accounts per customer. Other restrictions and limitations apply. Visit BankDirect.com for more information. Find more online bank deals at Money-Rates.com.