CHAPTER 5 ANNUAL FEES

Chapter 4:

Checking account bonus points offers

But if you are looking to gain as many benefits for your funds as possible look at the amounts required versus the miles offered. The silver account requiring a $1,500.00 minimum won’t get you enough miles for a one-way flight to any location. You can actually take the cash amount of $1,500.00 and book a round trip flight to Hawaii yourself! The $10,000.00 invested for 30,000 miles will get you a round trip from Charlotte NC to Fort Lauderdale, FL. You couldn’t even fly to Miami, FL with only 30,000 miles!

If you decided to open an airline credit card your spending requirement in 3 months would range between $1,000.00 and $5,000.00. Since we learned previously to make payments in full, we won’t have to pay interest charges! A great credit card offer would give you 60,000 miles for a minimum spend of $3,000.00 in 3 months. After you have met the minimum spending amount those 60,000 miles are now yours. This is such a better offer than the checking account example given above. With our checking account offer example you would have to transfer $200,000.00 or more for those same 60,000 miles! This seems a bit excessive!

If you are still curious about opening the checking account for the miles or point rewards, make sure to call the bank offering the rewards. You want to determine the length of time your funds must remain in this account. Is it 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months? It is most certain that you are not able to close this account within a month of receiving those rewards without some sort of penalty. In fact, your FICO score will return to its original score after applying for a credit card before you can transfer funds out of this new checking account. The two examples provided are both options for you to use at your discretion. The second example with credit usage allows for you to be free of commitment after you have met the minimum requirements. While the banks may vary in their determination of length of time for the checking account offer. Take a moment and think through all scenarios before deciding.