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Update 12/1/22: Bask Bank Mileage Savings Accounts now offer 2 American AAdvantage® miles per $1 saved annually.
Update 5/1/23: The Bask Bank Mileage Savings Account now earns 2.5 Miles per $1 Saved Annually.
Update 11/1/24: The Bask Bank Mileage Savings account now earns 2 miles per $1 saved annually.
A Bask Savings Account earns 1 American Airlines AAdvantage® mile per dollar saved annually. The account has no fees. And earning these miles can make a lot more sense than earning interest right now, with rates so low.
The product is unique because it lets you earn large amounts of miles, offers earning that you can receive year after year without limit, and doesn’t require spending any money.
And good news, the account opening bonus offer for the no-fee Bask Savings Account has been extended. You earn an extra 1,000 bonus miles when you hold a minimum daily balance of $5,000 for 90 consecutive days within 120 days of opening an account. This offer has been extended to June 30, 2021.
2020 has been a hard year, but it’s almost behind us. And I’m excited to start traveling again, I’ve been plotting out several trips for the summer and fall of 2021. I’m only booking my airfare with miles, though, because of how flexible that can be.
- Given all the uncertainty in the world, I don’t want to make firm commitments.
- American Airlines AAdvantage® miles have become even more valuable since they’ve made the huge move to eliminate mileage redeposit fees. You can book an award ticket, and if you decide to cancel your trip you can get the miles back with no fee – just cancel before your first flight is scheduled to depart.
- This makes miles the right way to book trips in an uncertain time, and makes the miles you’re earning worth more because of their flexibility. (Unfortunately this option is unique to American Airlines – it’s not something we’ve seen other airlines match.)
At the top of my list of trips to plan are several I want to use AAdvantage® miles for.
- Qantas family trip. Qantas first class is my favorite way to travel to Australia, and I’m looking forward to seeing my family there again as soon as I’m permitted to. Since I’ll be looking for three seats now (since my daughter turned two) I’ll probably redeem for business class. It’s important to me to see the two new kids my cousins have had since we’ve been apart.
Sydney Opera House - Qatar Airways for their world-leading business class. There are several resorts in the Mideast I’d like to try, and Qatar Airways is a great option for flying to the Maldives which is the beach destination abroad I’ve been to the most. (And I’ve taken my daughter to Bora Bora, but not yet the Maldives.) The great thing is that AAdvantage® miles offer the best redemption rate on Qatar Airways business class, and their ‘QSuites’ are perfect for a traveling family since four seats can become a shared pod.
Credit: Qatar Airways - Japan Airlines for sushi, and more. My hometown of Austin is great for barbecue, but the thing I gave up that I missed most living here is the Asian food that’s so good in the DC area. I had an amazing trip to Tokyo a couple of years ago, trying out some of the best sushi in the country (like Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi and Sushi Masuda), and I’d like to try more places I haven’t visited yet.
I recently wrote about good premium cabin award space on Japan Airlines and Tokyo makes a convenient stop enroute to Southeast Asia – perhaps to hit the Singapore Hawker stalls again.
Red Hill Road Hawker Center, Singapore
Regular readers know that I don’t just write this blog. I have a full-time job in the DC area (living in Austin, remote work was nothing new to me in 2020). I’ve just received my year-end bonus and plan to deposit it into my Bask Savings Account while I consider what I should be doing with it.
Miles are more valuable now, and the right way to book. A Bask Savings Account is a great way to earn these miles, and it’s great that the new customer bonus offer has been extended. Bask Bank is a division of Texas Capital Bank, N.A. I’ve been a customer of Texas Capital Bank since 2003, and have earned hundreds of thousands of miles with them over the years. It’s free, quick and easy to sign up and earning miles for your savings is a better deal than you’ll find from most savings accounts.
Bask Bank and BankDirect are divisions of Texas Capital Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. The sum of your total deposits with (i) Bask Bank; (ii) BankDirect; and (iii) Texas Capital Bank, N.A. are insured up to $250,000. Additional coverage may be available depending on how your assets are held.
Account Opening Award valid through June 30, 2021. Accounts must be funded within 90 days of opening. AAdvantage® bonus miles are awarded within 10 business days upon meeting offer qualifications and may take 6-8 weeks to post to your AAdvantage® account. The value of this offer will be reported to the IRS and the recipient is responsible for any federal, state or local taxes on this offer.
Thanks for the reminder, Gary. We are retirees and have a portfolio 1/3 cash, sitting there as a cushion, doing nothing at the moment. (I’m concerned about the future debt we will all have to pay, post-covid, and how it will affect the stock market, etc). You mention there is no limit to miles earned. Is it just one 1099 based on total miles earned in that particular fiscal? calendar year? How is the value of those miles calculated?
@Gary, since they can’t accept an account titled in the name of a trust (they DO offer to add it as a POD), what are your thoughts for those who try to keep everything in their trust? Tia.
@Gary–sorry, another question. There doesn’t appear to be a limit. Can we open multiple $250k accounts? We also just sold a house. I know a lot of your readers will think we are crazy to put that kind of money into cash savings for a year, but the rest of our assets are tied up in trusts, real estate, private stock, so we have to keep a fair amount of cash on hand.
For a deposit of $249,999 we make 250k miles. That’s a lot better than the money markets and settlement accounts I have ending out a paltry $400- a year.
There’s no cap, but remember FDIC insurance is capped.
Miles are valued at .0042
Gee why would you want to fly Qantas First Class to Australia when you can book American in business class for 480,000 miles one way?Seats are still available to book 😉 🙂
@KimmieA, FDIC insurance is $250k per account. So, yes, you can insure more than $250k by having different ownerships (you, P2, joint…)
Cheers.
how many dollars will be reported on 1099 .. say for 10,000 miles?
is this better than getting 1% at banks like tmobile money?
Too bad they don’t offer IRA accounts with this feature. Instead of parking liquid IRA funds in an IRA money market account, a BASK IRA Cash Account could potentially offer a much greater return.
I am getting 8.6% APR for holding USD at BlockFi.com
Gary – we too were starting to think about travel next summer/fall with our son. My wife pointed out to me that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were only approved for ages 16 (Pfizer) or 18 ( Moderna) and up. Looks like testing on kids is just beginning and estimated approval will be end of 2021. This could delay or make international travel with kids tricky. Your thoughts on this?
@Brian – that’s correct, my thoughts are..
* Widespread vaccine use should reduce spread to very low levels, making it generally safe for unvaccinated children
* The virus is far less dangerous to children than to adults and especially older people with comorbidities
* Other countries may take longer to have access to the vaccine, and much of the world may not be able to use the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which have strict cold storage requirements. Expect the AstraZeneca, Russian and Chinese vaccines to be more prevalent.
* We don’t know what requirements countries will impose on welcoming tourists, e.g. whether it’s only those vaccinated who will be admitted (we are likely a couple of months off from even knowing the extent to which a vaccine is neutralizing, such that someone who is vaccinated cannot spread the virus), different countries may impose different rules at different times, e.g. some combination of vaccination and testing. On the other hand it may be a requirement only to vaccinate those over a certain age, there’s significant evidence that very young children do not spread the virus much (though again not zero).
My working hypothesis is that widespread vaccine availability will lead to greater opening of much of the world for travel, and that the pandemic will generally come under control, that it’ll be both possible and safe (in Covid terms) to travel in the back half of 2021.
But there are certainly remaining uncertainties. I’m planning *flexible travel* using miles, fully cancellable, precisely because of the remaining uncertainties.. that some countries may not welcome people who have been vaccinated (because of fear they might still spread the virus), that some places may still be experiencing significant spread such that bringing unvaccinated children may be something to think through, their risks are much lower but non-zero.
@PlanMoreTrips – cryptocurrency returns vs an FDIC-insured savings account aren’t really comparable to me
@richard – in the math I’ve done (see for instance https://viewfromthewing.com/bask-bank-savings-account-earn-miles-for-saving-money/) Bask Bank comes out favorably, especially considering tax treatment issues.
@richard see https://www.baskbank.com/sites/default/files/terms-and-conditions.pdf
“[m]iles are currently valued at 0.42 cents per mile, the equivalent of 0.42% annual percentage yield.”
This implies earning 10,000 miles would generate a 1099 tax reporting form showing a value of $42.
@Jeepie – I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking, best return for an account titled in the name of a trust?
@KimmieA – $0.0042/mile, do bear in mind FDIC coverage limits when considering how much cash to park with a bank
@Gary, sorry my question was poorly worded. First, if you want/need to title an account in the name of a trust, are you aware if there is a way to set up a Bask Savings Account? And if not, where’s the best return (government guaranteed)? Tia.
@Gary Is the money saved annually evaluated as 365 days from opening, or at year end? Could be a quick way to rack up a few thousand miles for only parking money for a couple of days at the end of each year.
@gary thanks for answering Brian’s question about kids and the vaccine. I have two younger kids snd we love traveling internationally. I had the same question, so thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I have both TMobile Money and Bask.
The Bask at 1AA/$ is better than TMoney 1%, because an AA mile is probably worth 1.4 less the 1099, which is supposed to be at ?.6?/$ income.
Roughly after you pay the tax on the miles or interest, with either the 1% or the 1.4AA mile, you’re actually even better off with the Bask.
That being said TMoney gives you 4% on the first $3k, which is way better. 1% over $3K, but you need a TMobile account for the extra 3%.
Considering the fact that there is no interest in regular savings this is not a bad deal or get some AA miles while we wait for the Covid mess to end. I would not go to Australia until I have the vaccine and things seem to be as close to normal as possible