I move my assets to different brokerages and banks to take advantage of the following types of offers. Moving securities is easy. The new broker will do it for you. However, be sure to ask if there is a maintenance fee, or a fee to close the account.

Cautions:

• Many of the brokers, banks, and mutual funds making these offers restrict you to 1 offer in your lifetime. So plan carefully. If you don't have enough money to receive the maximum number of miles now, consider waiting until you have more, taking the risk of the offer disappearing, of course. Your guess is as good as mine whether or not the offers will be increased or decreased or cancelled. (I regret accepting the then maximum 10,000 miles for opening an E*Trade account years ago. Had I waited, I could have received 75,000. However, had I waited even longer, I would have received no miles at all, since E*Trade no longer offers them.)
• Before you accept any offer, be sure to make a copy of the offer and all of its terms and conditions. Mail a copy with the application, along with a note saying that you are accepting that offer. And keep a copy in case anything goes wrong.
• I have made no investigation of the financial stability or performance history of any of the investment companies I list on this page. You are on your own to do appropriate due diligence before giving these companies any of your assets. (Occasionally I will give you some help on how to do that due diligence.)

Stock and Bond Brokers

For most or all offers listed here, you can meet the minimums by funding the account with secures from other brokerage accounts, and sometimes from mutual fund accounts. The receiving broker does all the work for you. Ask if this is permitted and, if so, by what deadline after opening the account, before committing to the deal. And be sure to get it in writing, and do screen shots of the offer and your acceptance of it if you apply on line.

Be sure to find the page on the broker's website (often well hidden) that lists all fees. Beware especially of maintenance fees for low balances, and fees to close the account. You must include these fees in your calculations of how much your miles will cost.

Before accepting any of these offers, you may want to read about the experiences of others on the Epinions page on brokers.

U.S. brokers are supposed to be insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Be sure to read about the limits of that insurance and exactly what it does and does not insure.

The SIPC posts a warning on its website about a brokerage identity theft scam that every investor should read. You can look up a broker on the SIPC's Member Database to see if it is a member. Be sure the address listed is the address of the company with which you are thinking of doing business.

You may also look up useful information about a U.S. broker on the website of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) on its NASD BrokerCheck page.

I have no information on non-U.S. brokers except for what I say about the offers that I list below. I do not know if they are insured. You are very much on your own in doing due diligence for any prospective investment, but especially with one with a foreign company.

On March 31, 2007, a reader wrote:

"My wife and I have a joint account with TD Ameritrade. I called and asked if this disqualified me from taking advantage of the miles offer. I was told as long as the new account was in my name only and that new monies (no interior transfers) were used to make the account, I would qualify."

Apex clients (over $100,000 in assets, I think) are offered elite Gold treatment with the Starwood Preferred Guest program. "Get room upgrades, 4 p.m. checkouts, free newspapers and more. Hit Gold status with only five stays to earn 50% more Starpoints per visit toward hotel stays or even air miles." After opening your account and gaining access to it online, click on the Client Services > Promotions tab to see this offer.

I and others have had success with getting additional miles or points for adding more assets to and existing TD Ameritrade account. Sometimes they offer merchandise I don't want for adding these assents. I ask if they will give me miles or points instead. They have done so in the past. One reader simply waited until all of his miles posted for his initial deposit, then successfully requested more by offering to deposit more. I don't know if all of this depends on having an Apex account. It doesn't hurt to ask, but do ask before counting on the bonus. You need the agreement to give you what you want first.

Note: You can do me a favor by allowing me to refer you before you apply for an Ameritrade account. First check my What's New page to see if I am traveling, so you will have an expected response time. I need your name, the email address you will use for the account, and complete mailing address to do this referral. This will cost you nothing, and will give me a few free trades. You can get any offer mentioned below, or any other offer you find from TD Ameritrade, but I can refer you to a Save Yourself account only if you plan to fund it with a minimum of $2,000 within 90 days. Thanks.

Special offer for existing clients (Expires September 30, 2010.) Perhaps you could open an account now for the opening bonus and then add more for the special offer to existing account holders.
Delta
Continental
U.S. Airways

Transfer of deposit	Miles earned
$300,000	75,000
$150,000	50,000
$50,000	25,000

Offers for opening an account:

• American (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• Delta (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• United (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• Continental (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• U.S. Airways (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• Starwood (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Points earned
  $2,000	3,000
  $10,000	10,000
  $25,000	20,000

  Note:

  • Since 20,000 Starwood points gets you 25,000 miles on a large number of airlines (except United or Continental), the $25,000 Starwood offer is by far the best for initial deposits of $25,000 or more.

• Amtrak (Expires September 30, 2010.)

  Initial Deposit	Points earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• The Fidelity account must remain open with minimum funding for six months. Additional deposits to the eligible account will earn the customer a higher mileage award provided such deposits put the cumulative deposits above the next eligibility tier (up to a maximum of 25,000 miles). Initial and subsequent deposits must be made within 90 days of account opening.
• This flyertalk discussion suggests a way to get the full 25,000 miles without actually depositing $50,000 in assets, at least until Fidelity figures this out.
• Each offer says "Offer valid for new customers only." However, for a previous United Airlines offer, I was able to simply add equity to my existing brokerage account to get the miles. Ask. Also note that this is for a non-retirement brokerage account. If you have other types of accounts with Fidelity (mutual fund, retirement, etc), you are probably still eligible for this offer. Read this FlyerTalk discussion, then ask Fidelity.
• Each offer says "Limit one per household, per lifetime." This means that if you get a 5,000 mile offer now for a particular airline, then after 90 days of opening an account, you will never be able to get a better offer later for that airline, ever.
• On December 5, 2006, a Fidelity rep carefully checked my account and then confirmed that since I had already received United Airlines miles from them, I could not also receive American Airlines miles.
• Be careful. Read all of the terms and conditions.
• United Airlines offer. Expires December 31, 2010.

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $2,500	5,000
  $10,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000

• American Airlines offer. September 30, 2012.
• Delta Airlines offer. Expires Expires March 31, 2011.

  Initial Deposit	Miles earned
  $25,000	15,000
  $50,000	25,000
  $100,000	50,000

• American Express Membership Rewards offer. 25,000 points for $50,000 deposit only. You must first have an American Express credit card that gives Membership Rewards points. The Fidelity offer Expires September 30, 2010. Membership Rewards are convertible to the miles of many airlines at a 1:1 ratio, with a tiny fee. They are also convertible to the points of several hotel chains.

• I was under the impression that is illegal for a financial institution to offer incentives for transferring your 401(k) or other retirement savings from your employer plan to the financial institution. Apparently I was wrong. Fidelity now offers commission free trades for making such a transfer. Details.

   

• 2,500 Alaska Airlines bonus miles are offered when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security. Active ShareBuilder accounts earn an additional 1,500 miles at each anniversary date when you invest each month. Mileage Plan members can earn up to a maximum of 10,000 miles.

• 2,500 U.S. Airways bonus miles are offered when you open a new ShareBuilder account after your first stock purchase. 500 additional bonus miles each quarter when subscribed to the Standard or Advantage pricing program, whatever that means.

• 2,000 Delta Airlines bonus miles are offered when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security. If you're a Delta Skymiles Medallion member, you are offered 3,500 bonus miles after your first investment. Also the opportunity to earn 500 additional bonus miles each quarter are offered when you are actively subscribed to the Standard or Advantage Investing Program.

• 2,000 Continental Airlines bonus miles are offered when you open a new ShareBuilder account and purchase your first security, plus 175 bonus miles each subsequent month you subscribe to the Standard or Advantage Investing Program.

• By comparison, there are cash offers for opening an account:
  • $30 bonus offer from Pentagon Federal Credit Union. It is not clear if you have to be a member of that credit union to get this offer. The system enters an offer code in the application process, but see no place to enter credit union information on the first page of the application, which is as far as I could get without actually opening an account. But anyone can join the credit union, one way or another, and it has an excellent credit card offer, which you can read about in my Credit Card page on the Free Cards page in the Cash Back Cards section.
  • FrugalTravelGuy passes on the story of one of his readers getting 21,000 miles for his family for $45.
  • A reader writes: "A simple Yahoo search for Sharebuilder Promotion Code prior to opening a new account will bring up several codes that will allow a $20 or $25 credit for making 1 purchase of as little as $5 in any stock. Additionally, this can be done over and over. I have earned $150 of my current $600 portfolio just from Sharebuilder thru their offers." So use your favorite search engine to look for "Sharebuilder bonus" to find cash bonuses for opening an account which may be competitive with the miles offers. (I even received 11 Swagbucks for doing this...). There is some commentary on blogs that you can received both the cash bonus and the miles, but I haven't figured out exactly how to do this. Please tell me how to do this if you know. Thanks.
  • These bonuses are probably taxable income, but I don't know this for sure. If I am correct, you would be paying $30 - $50 minus the taxes you would pay on your marginal tax rate for the miles you would get from the other offers. (The miles are not taxable.) Do the math.

Note: This is a very different type of investment account. It is designed for regular purchases of stock or mutual funds intended to be held for a long period of time. Be sure you understand all aspects of the deal before opening an account. For example: It is not clear on the ShareBuilder web site how your purchases are priced. Ask.

As I read the rules on 11/20/2002 (but read them yourself to confirm), you can make market order purchases in real time and make limit orders for a higher fee. Purchases are limited to a list of several thousand stocks and mutual funds. There are many other fees, so be sure you are aware of them before you open an account. (Note that there are three schedules of fees. Use the pull-down menu to read all three.) Note the $50 transfer out fee, in case you were thinking of acquiring some miles for just $4.

This is a very different type of investment program. It appears to be a way to automatically invest in the stock market. I know nothing about the company or its program. Be sure to thoroughly understand what you are signing up for before accepting either offer. I suspect the cautions and considerations I mention in my writeup of ShareBuilder above may be appropriate.

Offers of interest as of July 27, 2006. (Please tell me when they change or disappear.)

• Offer of up to 15,000 miles investing in Deka's fund of the month.
• Offer of 6,666 miles for opening a Trader 6x6 account at Cortal Consors.
• Offer 1,500 award miles for starting a savings plan at DWS Investments.

Banks

Before accepting any of these offers, you may want to see if anyone has written about their experiences with the bank you are considering on the Epinions pages on banks and on internet banks.

Click here to see if a U.S. Bank is indeed F.D.I.C. insured. If you are thinking of depositing more than the $100,000 limit of insurance in a F.D.I.C. insured account, Bankrate has a useful service that rates the financial stability of banks.

I do list offers from some banks outside of the U.S. I do not know if these banks are in any way insured by their governments, and have no knowledge of their financial stability, and I don't intend to research this. You are on your own to do due diligence with any investment you make in any bank or financial institution, but especially with foreign banks.

The purchase of $1 coins under the Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program is a cash equivalent or cash-like transaction. Ordinarily, such purchases are not eligible for credit card rewards, cash-back, cash rebate, and similar programs. Check with your card issuer for its terms and conditions.

If you are using this program to meet a minimum purchase requirement for a large bonus on a credit card offer and have no other way to meet this requirement, paying the cash advance fee and the interest for a short time may still be cost effective. I leave the math to you. Be sure to pay off the balance immediately after the cash advance posts to your account.

This flyertalk thread tells you how to buy Presidential or Native American Dollar coins from the U.S. Mint at face value and earn miles or cash back from your credit card.

• Buy the coins direct from the U.S. Mint.
• This is an excellent, easy way to do the minimum spend required on some airline credit card offers to get the advertised bonus miles.
• From comments starting on post #306 on page 16, it appears that the purchases are charged as purchases, not cash advances. This has been my personal experience on two orders, one on my Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa card, and the other on my American Airlines personal Mastercard.
• The shipping charges are waived. When placing an order, the pull-down shipping option may list a standard shipping price of $4.95. When you continue to the next screen, you should see the shipping amount change to "Shipping and Handling $0.00" on the order summary/review screen before you submit your order.
• Purchases are in $250 increments. So that's probably 250 miles or some cash back from your credit card. For example, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa card will give you 1.25% back = $3.13, tax free. Or the Schwab card would give you $5, though I haven't tested this.
• There is a $500 limit per president.
• The coins weigh about 5 pounds/$250. If you plan to take them to a bank, consider the hassle and expense of this.
• Consider that you bank may charge you money for depositing the coins, though there are some comments that banks can't get enough of these and appreciate your bringing them in.
• Think about how you might actually spend these coins in places where you can't or do not want to use your credit card. Bridge and road tolls? Tips? Vending machines? Public transit fares? There are many suggestions in the flyertalk discussion.
• The coins are delivered to your doorstep without a demand that you be there to sign for them. They are delivered by various delivery companies (DHL, UPS, etc.) Will they be safe if you aren't there? I had mine delivered to my P.O. box. They came via very secure registered mail. Slow, but safe.

• 1,000 miles for each new interest bearing Mileage Checking Account or Mileage Money Market Account. (Limit 2 Mileage transaction accounts per customer.)
• An additional 1,000 miles if you allow me to refer you before you open an account. I need your first and last names, and the email address you will use for this account. First check my What's New page to see if I am traveling (so you will have an expected response time), then click here to request a referral. I get 1,000 miles for the referral (thanks).
• 1,000 miles for each successful referral you make to the bank. (Consider family members, for example.) (Caution: There is a secret 10,000 mile limit on this. After that, neither you nor those you refer get the 1,000 mile bonus.)
• 1,000 miles to convert your Regular Checking or Regular MMA to an interest bearing Mileage Checking Account or Mileage Money Market Account
• 5,000 miles for signing up for payroll direct deposit into a Mileage Checking Account. (Offer good for only one mileage checking account per customer.)
• 2,000 miles for using BankDirect's bill pay service for 12 consecutive months from a Mileage Checking Account. (You must pay at least one bill a month from a BankDirect Mileage Checking Account through its online bill payment system for 12 consecutive months. The 2000 miles are paid out at the end of the 12-month period.)
• 100 miles per month for every $1,000.00 maintained in an interest bearing Mileage Checking Account.
• 50 miles per month for every $1,000.00 maintained in a Mileage Money Market Account.
• 1,000 miles for every $1,000.00 invested in a two-year Mileage CD purchase.
• 500 miles for every $1,000.00 invested in a one-year Mileage CD purchase.
• 250 miles for every $1,000.00 invested in a 6-month Mileage CD purchase.

• You get a free ATM debit card with your checking account. BankDirect charges no fees for using that card at any ATM anywhere in the world (thought the owner of the ATM might charge a fee). Very nice for foreign travel.
• They say to wait 6 - 8 weeks for miles to post after you earn them. But it took only 2 days for my initial opening miles to post.
• There are fees for not maintaining minimum balances on these accounts. For example, the minimum balance to avoid a monthly fee on the mileage checking account is $2,500, and $10,000 for a mileage money market account.
• There is a $5.00 per month inactivity fee may be assessed for checking accounts that show no activity (no credits or debits - posting of interest is not considered an activity) for 90 days. But you are going to use the free online bill paying feature at least once a month to get 2,000 miles, so this will be no problem for you, right?
• Here is a page that has links to the bank's schedule of fees and other disclosures. Note no fee listed for ATM use anywhere in the world.
• The interest rates for these accounts are lower than those for non mileage bearing accounts, but the miles you get can be worth the loss of interest. For example, suppose you were to open the account via a referral, maintain the $2,500 minimum in a mileage checking account for a year, pay a bill a month a year via its bill paying service, and do a monthly payroll direct deposit to the account. You would earn
  • 1,000 miles for opening the account
  • 1,000 miles for being referred to the account
  • 2,000 miles for the bill paying service
  • 5,000 miles for the direct deposit, and
  • 3,000 miles for the 100 miles per month per $1,000 deposited
  for a total of 12,000 miles. The account would earn 0.5%, where you could be earning higher rates at Virtual Bank or ING bank. Do he math on what that would cost you in lost higher interest, but remember that you would have to pay income taxes on that money, and you do not have to pay income tax on miles. If, say, you are in the 28% federal tax bracket and pay no state income taxes (lucky you), the lost interest money to your pocket at, say, 3.5% is only $63. For that you get 12,000 miles, for a cheap cost of 0.525 cents per mile. That price per mile gets better if you are in a higher tax bracket or have to pay state or local income taxes, and gets much better if you earn more miles by referring people.
• The interest rates on Mileage CD's are substantially lower that those you can get from regular CD's from BankDirect, and lower still that CD's you can find elsewhere. So investing in Mileage C.D's for the purpose of acquiring miles is not particularly attractive.

I wanted to let you know that I had an account with UFB Bank as part of an AA promotion, and yesterday I got a notice from the FDIC that the bank was being closed.

A search on the FDIC website indicates produces this result:

The financial institution about which you have inquired, Union Federal Savings Bank Of Indianapolis (FDIC Cert: 32614), is no longer doing business under that name. The active successor institution is The Huntington National Bank (FDIC Cert: 6560).

Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis offers American Airlines miles for some of its accounts:

• 1,000 miles for opening a Mileage Checking or Savings Account with at least $200.
• 5,000 miles on 12 month anniversary of participating in bill pay service on your checking account.
• 5,000 miles after 3 consecutive months of direct deposit activity.
• 500 miles for opening a Traveler Savings account and funding the account with at least $500 and maintaining an average monthly balance of $500 for 90 days from the funding date. These miles are not particularly impressive, but take a look at the attractive interest rate.
• Checking accounts can be linked to money market or savings accounts. So you can leave a $1 balance in the checking account, write a check, and funds will automatically be withdrawn from your money market or savings account to cover the check. This means your money earns interest until the check clears your account.

• Mileage Checking.
• Mileage Savings.
• Travel Savings.
• A more complete description of all of the accounts offered.

Note carefully the fee schedule. Of particular interest are the $30 fee for closing your account within 120 days of opening it, and the bill payment fees of $6 if your balance falls below $1,500, and $0.50 per bill paid over 25 bills per month.

The Mileage Checking Account and Savings accounts pay small rates of interest on minimum balances. You would probably be better off maintaining a pretty good High Yield Money Market Savings account with the bank and transferring money into the checking account as needed.

On April 16, 2007, a reader wrote

"FYI, if a depositor authorizes direct deposit on *both* savings & checking at UFB, they offer 5,000 AA miles for EACH account. Their CSR told me there's no minimum amount for direct deposit. Most employers can set up more than one bank account for direct deposit. Employees indicate how much to deposit in each account."

"I split my direct deposit between UFB savings and checking. I received the bonus twice."

"I just received my 5,000 AA miles for 12 months of bill pay. The representative confirmed that this is a one-time bonus. I mention this because the wording on their site and on yours implies it may happen on every anniversary, '5,000 miles on 12 month anniversary of participating in bill pay service on your checking account.' ."

Fatwallet has a discussion on this offer.

Guaranty Bank is offering 2,000 American Airlines miles to open a checking account, plus 1,000 more miles if you sign up for direct deposit, plus 1 mile per $10 average monthly balance. The checking account earns a tiny amount of interest. A reader tells me that Guaranty Bank will allow a pre-authorized Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer (min. $250) from another bank to count as a direct deposit, while BankDirect will not. (They want it to be Payroll.) Ask.

The American Airlines website says that the bank offers 1,000 American Airlines miles for successfully referring a friend to the bank. I have been unable to find mention of this on the bank's website. Please give me the link if you find it. Thanks.

On April 1, 2009 the offer said

"There's no monthly service charge unless your minimum daily balance falls below $2,500 and your average daily balance falls below $3,500 during the statement cycle, which results in a $10 fee."

Beware of the fees for failure to maintain minimums, and for closing the account after less than 181 days. Click here for details.

Annual fees are $20 or $55.

The offer is available to residents of AL, AR, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, WV, VA, and DC only.

• FreeNet Checking Account
  • 2,500 points.
  • Customer must apply, be approved and fund a FreeNet Checking Account with a minimum deposit of $1,500.
  • Customer must maintain an average monthly balance of not less than $2,500 for at least one statement period during the first three statement periods after account opening.
  • Otherwise, no minimum balance.
  • Customer may not be a current or former FreeNet Checking Account customer of EverBank.
  • No EverBank ATM surcharge fees. EverBank will reimburse you up to $6 per month in ATM fees charged by other financial institutions.
• Yield Pledge Money Market Account
  • 5,000 points.
  • Customer must apply, be approved and fund a Yield Pledge Money Market Account with a minimum deposit of $1,500.
  • Customer must maintain an average monthly balance of not less than $5,000 for at least one statement period during the first three statement periods after account opening.
  • $4.95 fee for any statement period during which the balance falls below $1,500.
  • Customer may not be a current or former Yield Pledge Money Market Account customer of EverBank.
• Yield Pledge Certificate of Deposit
  • 2,500 points.
  • Customer must apply, be approved and fund a Yield Pledge Certificate of Deposit with a minimum of $10,000 for a minimum term of six months.
  • Customer may not be a current or former Certificate of Deposit customer of EverBank.
• For all accounts:
  • Rewards can be earned for one or a combination of account types, for a period of six months from opening date of first account. Rewards can only be paid to those customers opening the account(s) from the promotional page, and meeting ALL the qualifying terms.
  • If the account is closed within 180 days of funding, EverBank reserves the right to recapture the value of the reward paid to the customer.
    • Note that for the checking account if you don't like the account's regular rate, you can deal with this restriction by simply bringing the account balance to $1 for the second 3 months
    • For the money market account, you must maintain $1,500 for those three months, so do the math to average your yield over the second 3 months. A large balance for the first three months will make that average still quite attractive.
  • Deposits and withdrawals can be via ACH electronic transfer initiated by EverBank or another financial institution.
  • Be sure to read and fully understand all fees associated with the accounts. Note especially the $25 fee for closing the account within 30 days of opening it.

• The Basic card offers 2,000 American Airlines miles up front and costs $25 a year, for a cost of 1.25 cents per mile. It earns 1 mile per $2 spent, but earns no miles on PIN transactions.
• The Premium card offers 4,000 American Airlines miles up front and costs $65 a year, for a cost of 1.625 cents per mile. It earns 1 mile per $1 spent, but earns no miles on PIN transactions. Do the math to see if this is best for you.

• $25 each for a personal account.
• $10 each for a student account.
• $50 each for a business account.

Bank of America does not offer miles for opening an account, but it does offer up front miles for buying a Visa check/debit card for one of their accounts. The annual fee is $30. Each card gives only 1 mile per $2 spent, so using a mileage producing credit card when possible would probably always be better mileagewise. But the up front miles might be worthwhile, depending on how you value your miles. Each card has its own cap on the number of miles you can earn each year. You can read full information on the cards here.

• The Alaska Airlines debit card gives 3,000 bonus miles for your first purchase with the card, for a cost of 1 cent/mile. The card also offers 1,000 Bonus Miles for each traveler in the reservation for every ticket purchased at alaskaair.com using the card for payment.
• The US Airways debit card gives 3,000 bonus miles for your first purchase with the card, for a cost of 1 cent/mile.

• KeyMiles® Debit Card. The annual fee is $30 for a cost of 0.75 cent/mile. one mile for every $2 in purchases when you sign your name, one mile for every $6 in spend when you use your PIN, and one mile for every $1 spent on Continental Airlines tickets purchased directly from Continental Airlines
• KeyMiles Preferred Debit Card, for Key Privilege Select clients. No annual fee, one mile for every $1 in purchases when you sign your name, one mile for every $6 when you use your PIN, and 1.5 miles for every $1 spent on Continental Airlines tickets purchased directly from Continental Airline.
• KeyMiles Business Debit Card. No annual fee for the first year. Annual Enrollment Fee of $30 is refunded in future years when you spend at least $30,000 on your KeyMiles Debit Card. The card gives one mile for every $2 in purchases when you sign, one mile for every $6 when you use your PIN, and one mile for every $1 spent on Continental Airlines tickets purchased directly from Continental Airlines.

• 10,000 Continental Airlines miles when you open a Chase Checking account and and make 5 debit card purchases or set up direct deposit.
• 15,000 additional Continental Airlines miles after the first qualifying purchase is made with your Chase Continental Airlines Preferred Debit Card or Chase Continental Airlines Debit Card. Earn 1 mile/$1 spent in qualifying purchases with the Chase Continental Airlines Preferred Debit Card for a $65 annual fee per checking account, or 1 mile/$2 spent in qualifying purchases with the Chase Continental Airlines Debit Card, for a $25 annual fee per checking account.
• Check your first bag without ever paying a fee (a $30 round trip savings).
• Limit one personal checking account-related reward per customer, per calendar year. So maybe we can open another checking account for a bonus next year?
• Read the terms and conditions to understand what else you must do to get the miles.
• There is a similar offer for a business checking account, but it requires purchase of the $65/year Chase Continental Airlines Business Debit Card.
• Offer valid through September 30, 2010.
• Be sure you understand the early closing fee and how to avoid monthly fees for your checking account associated with these cards.

Chase Bank offers

• 15,000 Priority Club points when you open a Chase Checking account and initiate a repeating direct deposit. You should be able to get the 15,000 miles for each of the personal and business accounts. For the business account only, you may do 5 debit card transactions per month instead of initiating the repeating direct deposit.
• Offer valid through March 31, 2010.
• Be sure you understand the early closing fee and how to avoid monthly fees for your checking account associated with this card.

Debit card standard offers:

Continental Airlines

• 2,500 Continental Airlines miles up front for buying a Mastercard check/debit card for one of their accounts, plus 1 mile per $2 using the card. The annual fee is $25, for a cost of 1 cent/mile. Purchases authorized with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) do not earn miles.
• 2,500 Continental Airlines miles up front for buying a Mastercard check/debit card for one of their accounts, plus 1 mile per $1 using the card. The annual fee is $65, for an expensive cost of 2.6 cents/mile. Purchases authorized with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) do not earn miles.
• Get an additional 2,500 bonus miles for each card you add for others on your joint checking account - maximum of 3 cards.
• Be sure you understand the early closing fee and how to avoid monthly fees for your checking account associated with these cards.

United Airlines

• 2,500 United Airlines miles up front for buying a Visa check/debit card for one of their accounts, plus 1 mile per $2 using the card. The annual fee is $25, for a cost of 1 cent/mile. Purchases authorized with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) do not earn miles.
• 2,500 United Airlines miles up front for buying a Mastercard check/debit card for one of their accounts, plus 1 mile per $1 using the card. The annual fee is $65, for an expensive cost of 2.6 cents/mile. Purchases authorized with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) do not earn miles.
• Get an additional 2,500 bonus miles for each card you add for others on your joint checking account - maximum of 3 cards.
• Be sure you understand the early closing fee and how to avoid monthly fees for your checking account associated with these cards.

Bank of Hawaii offers a business check (debit) card for $2/month that earns 1 mile/$1 spent on purchases that do not use the "debit" function of a merchant terminal. On May 28, 2008, the website said they will waive the monthly fee for a year. Please tell me when this offer disappears or changes. Thanks.

The bank offers a business check (debit) card that seems the same as the personal card, except it costs $25/year and offers free primary rental car insurance.

Offers of interest as of July 27, 2006. (Please tell me when they change or disappear.)

• Offer of up to 30,000 miles from Deutsch Bank.

American Bank offers $20 to new customers who open any interest-bearing checking, savings or money market account with a minimum deposit of $100 and maintain at least $500 in it for 90 days, if are referred by a current account holder. That $20 represents an annualized rate of over 16% for that $500. Try to beat that with any 90 day C.D. I would be happy to refer you, as I get some credit for it at no cost to you. Just ask, after first checking my What's New page to see if I am traveling. I need your first and last names, and your email address.

The American Gold checking account for people over 50 years old usually offers an attractive higher interest rate than its other checking accounts. You can see this offer on the bank's checking account rates page.

• After opening your account, you may refer others and receive $40/successful referral. Referred individuals may not reside within your household, but I see nothing that says you can't refer children, parents, or other relatives who reside elsewhere.
• Note that there are several American Banks. This one is not the bank at americanbank.com, which is in Texas. The American Bank described here is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and does online business nationwide. Its website is at http://www.pcbanker.com (because AmericanBank.com was already taken).
• American Bank does not charge for use of its Visa Check (Debit) card in any ATM machine worldwide. (However, Visa will charge you the usual 1%.) I find this most useful to me when traveling in foreign countries. I used to maintain $1 in my American Gold Checking account, except when I am traveling, when I put more money into it. I carry this ATM card, along with others, whenever I travel.
• If you choose the AMERICAN e-CHECKING account, you earn some interest on your money, and when your average daily balance is $1,000.00 or more on the date that the ATM withdrawal posts to your account, your account will receive an ATM rebate of up to $4.75 per transaction, with a maximum rebate of $6.00 during that statement cycle. This applies to ATM withdrawals within the United States. Rebates for ATM withdrawals outside of the United States are subject to rebate limitations and may vary.
• If all you want is the $20, the Free Checking or Gold Checking account would be appropriate, since they require no minimum to avoid fees.
• There is a $20 closing fee for closing your account within 60 days of opening it.

RevolutionMoneyExchange

Note: Apparently the $25 offer is gone. But you can still sign up for free, then refer family and friends for $10 for each successful referral. Please click on the banner to join.

RevolutionMoneyExchange offers $10 per successful referral of new customers, up to $500/year. Those referrals can be accomplished by your causing RevolutionMoneyExchange to send an email to the new customer, or by putting a banner on your website on which your readers may click. Thus I hope you will click on mine.

For each of your first 3 purchases of $25 or more using the RevolutionMoneyExchange MoneyExchange RevolutionCard, they will add $5 to your MoneyExchange account. Details. Read them very carefully.

• This company is direct competition to PayPal. So far as I can tell, it does pretty much the same thing.
• I have successfully moved my $25 and some referral money to my checking account. Easy,
• After you open your account, you could then refer you spouse for another $10 to you.
• From the bottom of the page you get: "Revolution MoneyExchange Account issued by First Bank and Trust, Brookings, SD, Member FDIC and part of the Fishback Financial Corporation."
• I found some links to articles and discussions that convince me that this is a legitimate business intending to compete with PayPal.
  • Apparently Ted Leonsis of AOL is the Chairman of Revolution Money. You can read his blog, Ted's Take, about the venture.
  • Washington Post article.
  • USA Today article.
  • PR Newswire article.
  • Tech-Geeks Blog discussion.
• Recommendation: Customer service seems to range from louzy to non-existent. I have five email requests to them, starting in February 2008, which have not been answered. Hold time for phone inquiries can be over an hour. But the $10 referral bonuses and transfer of money to your checking account are automated and seem to work well. I suggest you just go for the free money from the bonuses and wait until they get their act together before actually using the service.

For the following banks

• All of the offers are for money market accounts. The interest rate varies, but all offer some of the highest rates available nationwide. You can confirm this at BankRate.com. Select CD's and Investments in the pull down menu in the Compare Rates box, then click on MMAs, then MMAs/Savings Accounts, then Search by 100 highest yields. Note that this page is usually out of date. But it gives you a point of comparison to the rate you would get from the bank you are investigating.
• All use the ACH system to allow you to make deposits and withdrawals electronically. You link the account to one or more of your other checking accounts, then go online transfer money between accounts. The transfer usually is completed within 2 business days, sometimes 3.
• You may do an unlimited number of deposits to each account. All allow a maximum of 6 withdrawals per statement cycle. If checks are offered with the account, no more than 3 can clear the account per statement cycle.
• All have good telephone customer service.
• I have maintained personal accounts with all of these banks for at least two years, and usually much longer. I am very satisfied with all of them. The websites of all of them work quite well.
• You can check to be sure the accounts are insured by the FDIC at FDIC web site. Click on "Bank Find" in the left menu, enter the name of the bank.
• All of these banks think (rightly, in my opinion) that once you see what they have to offer, you will keep the account you open. The bonuses and referral fees they pay is are very inexpensive ways for them to acquire new accounts.
• Be sure you fully understand the terms, conditions, and fees for each type of account before opening one.

• Virtual Bank offers $20 for opening an eMoney Market account with them, if you are referred to them by a current account holder like me.
  • The minimum to open an account is $100.
  • Each of us receives $20 if I refer you to an "eMoney Market account.
  • All deposits and withdrawals must be done online via the link to your checking account. (But there is telephone customer service.) You may connect up to 4 personal checking accounts to your Virtual Bank account.
  • There are fees associated with this account, one of which is $50 for closing the account within 90 days of opening it. But there are no monthly maintenance or low balance fees. So if you find you don't link the account, just maintain $1 in it for those 90 days, then close it. To find the fees for this particular type of account, search the fee page for "eMoney Market", which is the type of account you would be opening.

  Remember, to receive the $20, you must be referred. I have a limited number of referrals available, but I don't want to waste any on someone who does not actually open an account. But if you have done your due diligence, have definitely decided to open an account, and would like the $20 for being referred, I would be happy to refer you.

  • First check my What's New page to see if I am traveling, so you will have an expected response time. Then send me an email with your first name, your last name, and the email address to which you would like the bank to send you the information you need to open the account.
  • Please add a sentence saying that you have actually decided to open an account, since you would waste one of my limited number of referrals if you were to ask for one and not open an account. (Thanks.) As of April 29, 2006, I referred 31 people, but only 23 opened an account. This wasted $160 for both me and them. This sort of thing causes me to wonder why I do this website at all. So I will not refer unless you tell me that you will actually open an account.
  • You must use the link in the email the bank sends to you to open the account to receive your $20.
  • I can send only one referral per email address, so if you want me to offer this deal to family members and friends, I will need separate information for each.

• ING Bank offers $50 for opening an Electric Orange account. activating your Electric Orange Debit MasterCard®, and using it to make at least 3 signature-based purchases within 45 days of account opening. It offers $25 for opening an Orange Savings account if you are referred to them by a current account holder. They give the referrer $10. Please You must open the account for at least $250 to get the $25 bonus, but there is no minimum to maintain the account. The account has no fees.

  Please allow me to refer you to the Orange Savings account. I need your first name, your last name, and the email address to which you would like the bank to send you the information you need to open the account. First check my What's New page to see if I am traveling, so you will have an expected response time. (Thanks.) You must use the link in the email the bank sends to you to open the account to receive your $25. Please add a sentence saying that you have actually decided to open an account, since you would waste my time and one of my limited number of referrals if you were to ask for one and not open an account. (Thanks.)

  I can obtain only one referral per email address, so if you want referrals for family members and friends, I will need separate information for each.

  • All deposits and withdrawals must be done online or via telephone via the link to your checking account. You may connect up to 3 personal checking accounts to your ING Bank account.
  • The minimum to open an account is $250, and this is done completely electronically. No postage, no deposit slip, super easy.
  • There are no fees for this account. This bank does things the old fashioned way. They have your money. That's enough.
  • The $25 posts to your account about 30 days after you open it and fund it with at least $250. You must keep the account open until the $25 posts.
  • The choice of Orange Savings or Electric Orange depends on the balance you intend to maintain. Higher balances earn higher interest in the Electric Orange account.

   

Mutual Funds

Offer of 1.5 award miles/euro invested in selected funds from DWS Investments.

Home Buying

These miles do cost the lender or broker money. So be sure to compare their rates to those who don't offer miles - the latter may offer better deals. Note also that you may be able to negotiate a lower commission or a lower loan rate by offering to give up the miles.

• LendingTree partners with many airlines. For comparison, you can get the non-miles offers from Lending Tree's website. If you go the non-miles route, please help me by using my link to get to LendingTree. Thanks.

SmarterTravel has a good article on these offers.

A reader describes how he earned 170,000 United Airlines Miles for $100 in this thread on FlyerTalk. Note that the deal is via Awards for Mortgage, which has associations with several other airlines, most of which are also offering bonuses. Click on the page you are reading now and do a word search on Awards for Mortgage to find them. I have no knowledge of whether or not there are extra fees on these offers that were not found on the United offer. Ask. I suggest you closely follow the discussion. Some good questions and expert advice appear there.

Please tell me about any programs you come across. I will add them here after I check them out. You can often find them through the web site of your favorite airline. Look for the partners of its frequent flyer program. Here are the ones I know about:

• Alaska Airlines
  • Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate - home loans, real estate agents, and moving services.
  • LendingTree. Mortgages, refinance, home equity, real estate agent, auto loans, and student loans.
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.

• United Airlines.
  • Loan, real estate agent, and relocation programs are listed here.
  • AirMiles for Moving offers United Airlines miles for mortgages, real estate agents, and moving.
  • LendingTree offers are listed here.
    • 10,000 miles for closing a refinance. Submit your request December 31, 2010. Use Reservation Code UN33-15. I leave it to you to read the details.
    • 10,000 miles for closing a mortgage or home equity. Submit your request December 31, 2010. Use Reservation Code UN25-15. I leave it to you to read the details.
    • See the special page of LendingTree - United Airlines bonuses.
  • I understand that North American Mortgage is offering United miles for borrowing money from them. Call (800) 500-6262 for details.
  • United lists its bonus offers for home buying and related services here. There are usually several that I have not mentioned above.

• American Airlines.
  • LendingTree. Miles for home loans and realtors.
    • 2,000 miles for completing home loan request. Use reservation code AA25-15 and submit your request before December 31, 2010 to qualify.
    • 10,000 miles for closing a mortgage or home equity loan by December 31, 2010. I leave it to you to read the details.
  • Citibank. Miles for mortgage. Click on Benefits to read the offer.
    • This FlyerTalk discussion describes a 25,000 mile bonus for a home equity line of credit from Citibank.
  • Wells Fargo Bank mortgage program.
  • Chase mortgage offer. 3,500 miles for each $10,000 borrowed at closing, up to 25,000 miles, last I looked.
  • Cendant Real Estate. Miles for choosing one of their real estate agents, and for moving.
  • SIRVA. Miles for choosing one of their real estate agents, and for moving. More info here.
  • The American Airlines website has a page dedicated to real estate offers. If my link doesn't work, go to www.aa.com, and in the left column hover over AAdvantage > Partners & Mileage Programs, and click on Real Estate & Mortgage.

• Delta Airlines.
  • Some real estate and loan programs are listed on Delta's Real Estate & Financial Partners page.
  • Realestate.com offers for mortgages, brokers, and home equity loans.
  • LendingTree offers for brokers and mortgages, home equity, car, and student loans.
    • Up to 10,000 bonus miles after closing a mortgage or home equity loan by December 31, 2010. I leave it to you to read the details.
    • See the LendingTree page for Delta bonuses and the Delta page for LendingTree bonuses.
  • AirMiles for Moving offers for brokers, mortgages, and moving.
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.
  • Also see Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate - Delta bonuses.
  • Chase Bank may directly offer a better deal for a Home Equity or Line of Credit loan that it does via Awards For Mortgage and Real Estate.

• Continental Airlines
  • LendingTree
    Special Offers:
    • See the special page of LendingTree - Continental Airlines bonuses.
  • RealEstate.com. Mortgages, re-finance, home equity loans, and real estate broker referrals.
  • Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate program for home loans, real estate agents, and moving services.
    Special offers:
    • See the special page of Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate- Continental Airlines bonuses. Read the terms and conditions.
  • Prudential Real Estate broker offer.

• U.S. Airways.
  • U.S. Airways real estate loans and brokers financial offers page.
  • Real estate and auto lending, and real estate brokers, from LendingTree. Info here, or call (866) 255-7775.
    • 10,000 bonus miles for closing a mortgage or real estate transaction, and 5,000 miles for a refinance loan. Submit your application by Decamber 31, 2010, using Reservation Code US31-15. I leave it to you to read the details.
    • See the special page of LendingTree - US Airways bonuses.
  • Refinance, mortgage or home equity from Home Loan Center. 1,750 miles for every $10,000 financed.
  • Chase Home Home equity loans and lines of credit. The offer is mentioned on the U.S. Airways finance page, but its link goes to a Chase page that does not mention the offer.
  • RealEstate.com miles offers for home loans and brokerage services.
  • iNest. Search and compare new homes from leading home builders and get 5,000 Dividend Miles/$10,000 home purchase, up to 200,000 miles.

• Midwest Airlines.
  • HomeLoanCenter.com.
  • Chase bank home mortgage and home equity loan offers.
  • Note that you can use Midwest Airlines miles to get tickets on Frontier Airlines and KLM.

• Hawaiian Airlines
  • Real Estate brokerage services on O‘ahu and the Big Island from Hawaiian Island Homes Ltd.
  • I have an email from Hawaiian Airlines dated September 2, 2009, that says that Sandwich Islands Realty offers up to 100,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles for its services. The link on that email brings me to a page that does not mention this offer. Ask.
  • Home loan services from HomeLoanCenter.com (search on Services, then Financial).
  • Miles4RealEstate offers 10,000 airline miles/$100,000 of real estate transaction value for brokerage, Mortgage and title insurance, moving and relocation, and other unspecified home services.
  • Guardian Cargo Logistics International Moving offers 1 Hawaiian Airlines mile/$1 spent on your relocation.

• Frontier Airlines.
  • Home loan services from HomeLoanCenter.com.

• AMTRAK.
  • Points for Home Loans from E-LOAN.
  • Points for Moving. Amtrak points for real estate agents, mortgages, and moving services.

• Hilton HHonors.
  • Countrywide Home Loans.
  • iBank real estate loans.
  • Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate. Home loans, real estate agents, and moving services.
  • Sirva Relocation real estate services.
  • You may read about the Hilton HHonors program and what it has to do with airline miles in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

• American Express Membership Rewards.
  • Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate. Home loans, real estate agents, and moving services.
  • You may read what little I know about the American Express Membership Rewards program and what it has to do with airline miles on the Annual Fee Cards page of my Credit Card section.

• Priority Club (InterContinental Hotels Group)
  • LendingTree. Points for real estate and auto lending, and real estate brokers.
  • Chase Home Equity. Points for equity loans and lines of credit.
  • You may read about the Priority Club program and what it has to do with miles in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

• TripRewards
  • TripRewards Real Estate Resources. Real estate referral and moving.
  • You may read about the TripRewards program and what it has to do with miles in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

• MyPoints
  • MyPoints often offers points for LendingTree transactions. You may read about the MyPoints program and what it has to do with miles and money in the Click for Miles section of my Click for Miles, Money, and Good Causes page.

• Gold Crown Club (Best Western)
  • Home123. Points for home loans.
  • You may read about the Gold Crown Club program and what it has to do with miles in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

• MyPoints
  • LendingTree. Points for real estate and auto lending, and real estate brokers.
  • You may read about the MyPoints program and what it has to do with miles in the Click for Miles section of my Click for Miles, Money, and Good Causes page.

• Qantas
  • Three Mortgage programs.
  • Real Estate agent program within Australia.

• Air Canada
  • Mortgage program.
  • Real Estate agent referral program
  • Moving program
  • Atlas Van Lines

• All Nippon Airways.
  • Earn miles when you move between the U.S. and Japan and within Japan or the United States.
  • Other housing services are listed here.

• Cathay Pacific. Links Relocations. Miles for moving internationally.

• The Finance Page of MyPoints often has offers for home buying and mortgages. You can find that page in the Earn Points section. You can read about the MyPoints program on my Miles for Clicking page of the web site you are currently reading.

• PenFed Realty, a member of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Family, does not offer miles, but does offer 1% of the sale of the home cash back to both the buyer and seller.

Car Loans

I do not recommend borrowing money for buying a car. You are almost always much better off making your old car last a few more years, saving up money for the new car, and earning interest on the money saved. That interest alone would probably exceed the value of the miles you would receive from the offers listed on this page, let alone the savings on the interest you would pay on the loan.

Caution: You may be paying for these miles bonuses via higher interest rates. Shop before you accept a loan deal.

• PeopleFirst.com offers 5,000 America West Airlines miles or 7000 Hilton HHonors bonus points for getting your automobile loan with them. Or try (800) 218-1980

• E-loan.
  • 3,500 United Airlines miles for financing or refinancing your new or used car with them. Details.
  • 4,000 Amtrak points for vehicle loans. Details.

• LendingTree offers miles or points for financing your automobile purchase with them. Links to the offers can be found in the Home Buying section of this page. To find them, click anywhere on this page (not the menu to the left - important), then do a word search on "LendingTree".

• Capital One offers 5,000 American or Alaska miles for funding your car loan through them.

  HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union offers auto loans. Hawaiian Airlines says it offers an unspecified number of miles for loans from this lender.

Other Loans

It appears that banks are just beginning to experiment with the idea of awarding miles for loans other than those for the home. Please tell me about any other of these types of offers you find. Thanks.

iBank offers 2500 Hilton HHonors points per $10000 borrowed on a commercial loan.

If you are looking for a smaller short term loan (less than a year), I may have 0% balance transfer offers listed for certain credit cards. For some, you can get a check for your full credit limit, and then make minimum payments until the 0% offer ends. You can often get another check for that minimum amount you pay once the payment posts. The best way to find these offers is to look on my Free Money page.

Student Finance

Here I list miles producing and cash back offers for savings plans and loans for tuition and other student expenses.

If you or your parents are saving for your college education, it appears to me that it would be a very worthwhile hour of time spent studying this program. Most of your questions are found on the Frequently Asked Questions page (which I found by clicking on the Help link at the top of the front page of the website. However, there are still two questions the answer to which I was unable to find:

• Minimums for transfer to a 529 are alluded to, but never stated. What are they?
• Which 529 plans are on your list for eligibility? (And specifically is yours on it?)

The reader who told me about this program says

"...most 529 plans have annual fees exceeding average consumer's Upromise earnings, so people should decide if it's worth it for them to participate, based on their shopping habits. It doesn't mean they shouldn't join Upromise, of course. There is a way to request a check from Upromise, not subject to any 529 penalties, and something they obviously do not advertise."

PhoneHog often has an offer on your personal page for signing up for Upromise. You may read about the advantages of PhoneHog and why I list it on my miles website on my Telephone page.

"A Canadian Trust Plan / RESP is a registered education savings program. It's a fund which parents put money into every month, which can be cashed when the child is 18 to use on education."

Loan to Learn offers up to 15,000 American Airlines for student loans obtained from them. Read the details, terms, and conditions.

Insurance

Be sure to ask if your insurance company accepts credit cards (mileage producing, of course) for payment of premiums. On Janary 27, 2009, a reader wrote

"GEICO has been accepting ONLINE credit card payments for quite a while now -- a couple of years, if not more. (I used to pay GEICO by phone using a miles/points earning cc, but much prefer to pay online.) In fact, they now even accept online payments for one's umbrella policy as well. GEICO accepts Visa/Master/Amex/Discover credit cards."

"GEICO now has a credit card; Platinum VISA or MC, I think. No airline miles, no annual fee. I don't have the info on me, but the main benefit is that GEICO customers don't have to pay the recurring "convenience fee" if they are paying premiums monthly, saving $48 a year and stretching out payments."

• State Farm.
• Liberty Mutual .
• Encompass (part of Allstate) via an automated telephone system.
• Progressive
• Met Auto (division of Met Life)
• GMAC
• AIG
• Travelers
• AMICA
• Nationwide
• Erie Insurance Group
• Esurance

Please tell me about any other insurance offers offering miles that you know about. Thanks.

• American
• Delta

Sentry Insurance offers residents of AZ, CO, IL, IN, KS, MN, MO, OH, TN and WI 1,500 Delta Airlines miles for obtaining a free quote for automobile insurance from them.

Sentry Insurance offers residents of AZ, CO, IL, IN, KS, KY, MN, MO, OH, TN and WI 1,500 American Airlines miles for obtaining a free quote for automobile insurance from them.

Sentry Insurance offers 1,500 U.S. Airways miles to residents of AZ, CO, IL, IN, KS, MN, MO, OH, TN and WI for obtaining a free quote for automobile or home owner's insurance from them.

21st Century Insurance offers 200 U. S. Airways miles for getting an auto insurance quote from them and an additional 2,000 miles when you purchase a policy.

Investment Advice

Taxes

H&R Block offers miles or points for your allowing it to prepare your taxes.

Continental Airlines offers miles for use of TaxCut and TurboTax.

Wyndham Rewards offers 500 points for using Jackson Hewitt's tax preparation service.

RewardsDB maintains pages of miles and other offers for purchase of TurboTax, TaxCut, and Complete Tax tax preparation products, so I won't bother. FreeTaxUSA
"Online tax preparation, e-filing, and printing of your federal income return are FREE if you live in one of the following states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NE, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, UT, VA, or WV and if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $52,000 or less."
I know nothing about this outfit.

• The IRS has a nifty page showing numerous methods for obtaining e-filing for free. Most require that your Adjusted Gross Income be $50,000 or less.
• Often the payment agencies arrange special offers for payment of taxes:
  • Official Payments Corporation
  • LINK2GOV
• American Express lists which state and federal taxes you can pay by credit card. Presumably this includes Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
• Mastercard has a nifty list of which states accept its card, and via which agents. Presumably those states also accept other cards.
• Redeem American Express Membership Rewards points to credit your Card account for the cost of the convenience fee (200 Membership Rewards points = $1).