HI Leslie, sure..below is taken directly from the Bank Direct site. Also, 2nd below is a current thread on this program from Flyer Talk.
Before I deposited the significant amount
to earn 20K/mo checked with our CPA...he said as long as we keep the amount under the FDIC insured amount..happy flying. Plan to have
Ida open her Bank Direct milage account in next month to earn either 10-15K month. Per BDirect
rules u are limited to two accounts per household. My logic is the interest rate
on our AMA is near zero, ff miles are non taxable
besides with our one to two cruises per year (while Ida works) the deposits easily pay for
our overseas award seats.

Also, I learn/glean many of these "free" (except for the time it takes to sign up), ff offers from what I consider the best ff blog site around (have earned over 500K ff miles in last two years following his tips):

http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com/
Lastly, Leslie if u decide to open an account, please consider using me (my email is in the LCT directory) as a referral...I will get 1000 AA miles if you do, thanks.


Bank Direct Mileage Checking account info:

http://www.bankdirect.com/products/checkingmileage.aspx

Flyer Talk Thread here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/1047553-questions-bankdirect.html

When I go to the website, the Visa Signature card is only offering 30,000 miles am I doing something wrong or is the promo over?
Thanks

Thanks Wes - I will investigate and use you as a referral if I decide to open an account, although lately I've been thinking about simplifying the various accounts and cards we have. I qualified for AA lifetime Platinum status recently and am now trying to run up Brad's miles over the 2 million threshold so he can be one too.

Emma, the promo is probably over, but it seems to come and go periodically so keep watching for it.

Thanks I will keep an eye on it!

WoW Leslie 2million Lifetime Plat status, I'm impressed--I bet most of those are "Butt in Seat" miles not the credit card churning, bank, dining deals for AA miles I get. Congrats!

ps..did Brad and u see "Up in Air" with George
Clooney..we saw it at home last nite and enjoyed it.

Up in the Air is on its way from Netflix right now - should arrive tomorrow. Not sure how many "butt in seat" miles I've done, but a lot of those miles came from the triple mile promotions of the early years, double mile bonuses and other perks and 12 plus years of Citibank charges.

The 100k miles posted this week; we are now over 200k household.

For those looking to use BA miles, be aware that often the best bang for the buck and miles is buying World Traveler Plus tickets and using miles to upgrade to Club World.

for those of you with BA Chase Visa, there is now
an offer (good for 5000 BA Miles (10,000 miles if both husband and wife have card and add user) (between 1Apr-15 May) if you add an authorized user, pls see flyer talk thread below (phone: 800-577-0633):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/othe...isa-5k-bonus-adding-authorized-user.html

We got something in the mail today about this...might as well add Tom as a user to mine and visa versa and pick up another 10,000 miles!

This deal is back - see http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemi...-visa-100000-mile-sign-up-bonus-is-back/ - and the sign up link is http://www.britishairways.com/travel/creditcards/public/en_us? - Sign up by 5/6/11 - 50,000 miles after first purchase and 50,000 miles after spending $2,500 within first 3 months.

With all the fees for these tickets, it is really a worthwhile deal? Arlene wants to go to London for Jubilee next year so will do this if we really can get two coach tickets.

Marc, the higher tax applies only flying in and out of London (as far as I know) and IMO, still a good deal because the Biz class gets such rave reviews and they're miles you wouldn't have had to begin with. We each got the BA card and combined into a family account. We're using the first of many miles in our account to fly on AA to JFK next month.

WE got two FIRST class tickets to South Africa. Miles for one and the companion ticket for the other. Yes the taxes were high with Heathrow but still a DEAL for two first class round trip tickets.

We are using the same companion ticket for NILE 2 in fact booked that yesterday, miles for one and free for the other.

My son used his to upgrade coming back from London miles he would not have had.

I think this is one of the best deals around.

Gee, I forgot about the companion ticket. I booked two roundtrip on BA just now. Could I have used a Companion ticket to save the miles on the second ticket? I didn't think you could do that with a free ticket.

I guess I need to learn about the BA program. How do companion tickets work? If we get two cards, the only problem will be trying to spend $5000 in three months as almost all of our expenses are direct to Amex.

The "free" companion tickets require that you spend IIRC $30,000 in one year on one of your cards. Mark and I (and my mother each got the card last year) and householded our accounts. The miles are targetted for Mark & I to go to Bangkok on Cathay in First in October.

Peter, thanks. The companion tickets are not of real use to us as they need to be on BA metal (according to what I read on BA site). All of BA routings from HSV go through either DFW or ORD on American. I assume they fly out of ATL but that is a real added expense for us.

Marc, I believe those high fees are only for biz and first, a "luxury tax".

The fees are certainly higher for biz and first, but my understanding is that even coach flights to and from London incur substantial fees compared with other airports and airlines.

--------------

Eugene

The fees for our biz seats with miles to LHR in August were reasonable, but were $300+ to fly out of LHR. So we're flying home from Nice via Madrid rather than LHR and saving around $500.

Just checked the fees to Cairo on a BA business award ticket - $576 ONE WAY pp. from Denver and a couple other gateways - a whopping $744 from Chicago - again ONE WAY. Crazy!

Leslie, I should have said we're on AA in August for WINES on a direct flight from DFW--our return flight is on Iberia Nice to Madrid then a non-stop on AA to DFW. Our taxes on the outbound to LHR were $5 pp. The return on BA/AA through LHR would have been over $350 pp as I recall. It seems like the taxes and fees are going up faster than the fares.

Wondering why I should even apply for that Chase BA card for the points. I would plan to use those points to get to London for I think it is now named SHAMROCK? Would the fare be better to take Regent air and the upgrade, given these fees?

One possible use of the BA points is for connections within Europe. Example CPH back to LHR when Shamrock is over. I find getting to LHR is not too difficult but then there is a connection to where ever and back to LHR. Many time BA is the best alternate. Taxes can be huge sort of but it still is a good deal. My taxes on the BA flight from JNB to LAX after ROAR 3 were over 400 but as it was only 100,000 miles for a first class ticket I still thought it was a good deal.

OMG, at this hour of the night, you cofuse me, Ralph! But I am going to count on your advice as I move forward! Last thing I need on this cruise is problems with air. We have nothing but PORTS day after day !

We did learn some new things today.

BA does ONE WAY flights for 50% mileage award level that really helps in getting seats instead of waiting for the return date to be in the system. If you use a companion ticket on a ONE WAY flight is USED the companion tickets must be used on one locator number.

Taxes for DFW - LHR - Cairo were about $596 each whether you are business or first SAME TAXES.

The Points Guy Blog is running a series of posts on how to use BA miles - His first installment - http://thepointsguy.com/2011/04/how-to-use-british-airways-miles-post-1/ .

Quick reminder - today is the last day to apply for the Chase / BA card for 100,000 miles.

On a separate issue, there are rumors floating around that BA is in the process of redoing its award chart and that there is a huge devaluation coming especially for award flights on partner airlines. So if you have lots of BA miles, you might want to think about how you want to use them and book the awards soon. I need to do this also for our October trip to Bangkok.

We finally got our cards this week. Does anyone remember how they measure the 90 days to get the $2500 in charges? From date of application? Date cards sent? Date cards activated? Date cards first used?

Also, when does BA window for award tickets open; 350 days? We are planning on heading to London for Jubilee next June so need to get our miles fast.

thanks,

Marc,

With your goal of tickets next June, I wouldn't worry about the start of the 90 days (I believe it's the date the card is activated but not absolutely sure - so be on the safe side and figure 90 days from application date although I'm pretty sure that isn't the date).

Marc, all I can say is start saving for the taxes. I'm already groaning over Peter's post about the BA Partner's rewards because I rebanked our miles for WINES, deciding on using DL miles instead and saving $400 each in taxes (even after the redeposit fee). Now I have to figure out what to use the possibly depreciated miles for.

------------

Eugene

Eugene, it is probably a one time deal only. For $95 each plus the taxes, I hope to get two first class tickets to London. If we go coach (save taxes), we will then have enough for two round trips. I never fly American or their other partners. Of course, if I can use for the open jaw GRAND PRIX tickets I can save $1100 per person for not using Regent air.

Eugene, I've used our BA miles on domestic AA so far....no extra taxes. Day will come we'll probably use some for foreign travel and not mind paying extra taxes. Like f.f. miles from Heaven in my mind.

I'm planning on using ours for Bangkok on Cathay in First. Other people have said that taxes on partner awards (on American and LAN) to South America are also very reasonable.

I was disappointed to find out last night that it is 150000 points to get First Class to London; I guess we won't be able to try it out. :(

So much for the 350 day in advance tickets on BA. :(

Because we need to use AA to get to BA, we are limited by AA availability; can't even purchase tickets for cash. As for using BA for domestic AA flights, still no luck on using for flights to LAX. :(

What trip is this for Marc?

We are going to London for Queen's 60th jubilee next June. Already have the hotel; just need to snag air. LAX, just trying to find time to visit father. Given I still work, I am trying to work out a weekend trip.

Good luck Marc...hope it all works out for you guys.