Another Way I'm Earning Miles for Free Travel

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This blog isn’t a big corporation with deep pockets. I’m just a lady in Texas who loves to travel. I share how I earn miles and points and how I redeem them. The best part is actually going on the trip and experiencing a new destination. Without miles and points, my family would be traveling a lot less.

My main way of earning miles and points isn’t butt-in-seat travel. I get most of my miles through credit card sign-up bonuses. However, I’ve recently added another tool to my toolbox for earning miles.

two airplanes on the runway — Photo by Damian Hutter on Unsplash

Bask Bank Mileage Savings Account

My husband and I both recently opened savings accounts with Bask Bank. I am not affiliated with this bank, nor do I earn money from referrals. Many people opened up accounts with Bask Bank last year when the bank was offering a larger incentive. At the time, I had my emergency fund savings in another online account and didn’t feel compelled to move it. But, based on some recent great AA award web specials, I decided to take the leap and move our savings to Bask.

Bask Bank is an online bank affiliate of Texas Capital Bank. With the Mileage Savings account, you earn American Airlines miles instead of cash interest. Miles are calculated by taking your average cash balance for the prior month and dividing it by 365 and then multiplying it by the number of days in the month. For example, if you have $50,000 dollars in your account in January, the math is: 50,000/365 * 31 = 4247 miles. Over the course of one year, if your balance remains the same, you would earn 50,000 AA miles.

The miles you earn are taxed at the rate of .42 cents per mile. So, every 10,000 AA miles you earn is counted as $42 in taxable income.

Currently, the bank offers a bonus of 1000 AA miles if you deposit $5000 and hold it there for 90 days. Deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000.

The Process of Opening an Account

Bask Bank’s website is fairly straightforward. To open an account, I had to provide basic information plus my social security number (for tax purposes). I could link my funding bank account during the process and initiate a transfer. After my account was created, it was easy to link my AAdvantage account.

I repeated the entire process for my husband’s account. In total, each account set-up took less than 5 minutes.

Is Bask Bank Worth It?

I am not a financial expert. Everyone’s personal finances will be different. Since interest rates are so low right now, I feel that earning AA miles on our emergency fund savings is a good move. But when interest rates start to go up? Maybe I’ll move our savings.

I know that people love to poop on AA miles. But, the reality is that my family has gotten a lot of good use out of them. Recently, I booked flights to Los Angeles over Thanksgiving week for 7500 miles each. And that ain’t too shabby!