Update 5/1/23: The Bask Bank Mileage Savings Account now earns 2.5 Miles per $1 Saved Annually.
Effective today Bask Bank is now awarding 2 American AAdvantage miles per dollar annually on its Bask Mileage Savings Account, an increase of 1/3 over the previous 1.5 miles per dollar and double where the earn rate was in July.
Regular earn is now 2 AAdvantage miles per dollar annually. I value American Airlines AAdvantage® miles at 1.3 cents apiece so earning 2 miles per dollar on deposit per year is equivalent in my view to ~ 2.6% APY. And of course I can get a lot more value out of the miles than that. American Airlines AAdvantage miles are the currency I’ve redeemed the most, for premium cabin awards on Etihad; Qantas; Cathay Pacific; Japan Airlines; British Airways and more.
It’s even better on a tax-adjusted basis. Bask Bank did a good job determining how they should be reporting the miles earned as a return on accounts. Bask Bank’s terms and conditions say “[m]iles are currently valued at 0.42 cents per mile, the equivalent of 0.42% annual percentage yield.” So for every 10,000 miles earned on deposits they report a value of $42. Net of taxes at a 39% marginal rate the return is roughly equivalent to a savings account that pays 3.725% which is close to top of market. That’s before the value of the account opening bonus. And of course many (most?) would value the AAdvantage miles more highly than I do, making it even more advantageous still.
Is this new: ” Please note, however, that AAdvantage® miles awarded through Bask Bank do not apply toward boosting your elite status.”
Hey Gary, one of the paragraphs in this post still mentions the old rate of 1.5, probably just forgot to update it FYI.
Gary, Does one get paid the AA miles on a yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis?
@Buddy You’ll get paid monthly. So if you need to top off 40K miles AND you have $480,000 laying around. You could put it in the account for a month.
Correction, $240,000
@Buddy M. – monthly
@Rawlinson – not new, Bask Bank earning has not counted towards Loyalty Points – except for the current limited time new account offer that runs through December 15
So I have to have an AA card already to qualify for an account? I have one but just wanted to clarify. At 2 miles I think it’s time to pull the trigger on this. My bank is paying me crap anyway.
I tried opening an account here today and was summarily denied without explanation after providing them with my SSN, photo, ID, and other personal information etc. I googled them a bit and saw a complaint page with many similar stories as well as stories of difficulties transferring money out of Bask. All of my documentation is in order and I have multiple other checking/savings accounts with established US banks, so, very odd and a bit sketchy.
So, despite the tempting interest rates, I guess I’ll go with another bank.
I have had high interest accounts through Marcus (Goldman Sachs); Barclays and SallieMae as well as the CD offerings through Fidelity. I was leery for a long time about Bask, but tried today by opening both an interest and mileage account. Enrolling was easy and the website is simple and easy to use. On a $200,000 deposit in an interest account I will earn about $8000 in one year. The same deposit in a Bask mileage account will yield 400,000 AA miles at the end of the year. The loss of $8000 in interest will be made up by what I can get for 400,000 AA miles.
I have already re-qualified for Ex. Plat so I don’t need the 5000 LP’s now….I would like to receive them after March 1, 2023 when the new status qualifying period of only 12 months, not like the current 14 months, begins. If the 5000 LP’s are awarded after 3 months of maintaining the required minimum savings balance of $25,000, then if I open an account this week (before the December 15th cut off date for the offer), then I should receive the 5000 LP’s after March 1, 2023. Am I correct?
@todikaios – correct… 3 months from now it will be March..