Bask Bank Launches New 5,000 AAdvantage^® Mile Bonus. Here's How to Maximize Those Miles.

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In early 2020, Bask Bank launched a game-changing savings account that earns American Airlines AAdvantage^® miles instead of cash interest. The Bask Mileage Savings Account has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, and you now earn 2.5 AAdvantage^® miles for every dollar saved annually.

If you've been on the fence about opening an account, now's a great time to open one. Bask Bank is currently offering a solid bonus to new account holders. New Bask Mileage Savings Account holders can earn 5,000 bonus AAdvantage^® miles through this offer. But you'll need to sign up and deposit funds by November 30, 2023 to qualify.

This is a much better bonus compared to past Bask Bank welcome offers, which generally offer new account holders just 2,000 bonus AAdvantage^® miles. If you're a saver who's collecting AAdvantage miles, there’s no reason to miss out on such an easy way to earn extra miles. Here's the link to open a Bask Mileage Savings Account with this offer.

Here are the details of this promotion. Plus, we’ll dive deep into just how useful those miles can be. With two dozen partner airlines that can take you to over 1,000 destinations, the AAdvantage^® program offers some amazing ways to spend the miles you'll earn with your new Bask Mileage Savings Account.

Bask Mileage Savings Account Bonus Offer

Through November 30, 2023, new Bask Mileage Savings Account holders can earn 5,000 bonus AAdvantage^® miles. In order to get this bonus, you'll need to deposit $25,000 into a Bask Mileage Savings Account within 15 business days of opening your new account. Then you'll need to maintain that balance for at least 90 consecutive days out of the first 120 days after account opening.

Bask Bank will pay out the bonus miles within 10 business days of meeting the terms. Bask Bank notes that it may take 6-8 weeks for the bonus to post to your AAdvantage account. However, I've found that Bank Bank mileage awards post quickly.

If you deposit exactly $25,000 for 90 days, you'll earn around 15,411 miles from everyday savings, plus you'll earn 5,000 bonus miles if you meet all other qualifications. That's over 20,400 AAdvantage miles from three months of savings — effectively earning more than 3.3 AAdvantage^® miles per dollar saved annually!

Why AAdvantage^® Partners Matter

For award flights on American Airlines, there's really no telling what award flights will cost. You may score an award to fly across the country for just 6,000 miles. But you may have to pay a ton of miles to fly during the holidays. With American Airlines' flexible award pricing, it's hard to plan for how many miles you'll need for a trip.

However, AAdvantage^® maintains a static award chart for award flights on its partners. As long as you can find award availability, you can book award flights on partners for a set number of miles. That means you can calculate how much and how long you'll need to save through a Bask Mileage Savings Account to book the award you want.

And there's no shortage of AAdvantage^® partners. American Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance^® — an alliance of 13 airlines that collectively serve over 900 destinations across 170 countries and territories. In addition, American Airlines partners with 10 airlines outside the Oneworld alliance.

Put together, you can use AAdvantage^® miles to fly almost anywhere in the world you might want to go.

So, let's take a closer look at American's many partners and where you can fly with AAdvantage^® miles.

AAdvantage^® Partners for Travel Closer to Home

In addition to numerous routes served by American Airlines, the AAdvantage^® program has several partners that offer additional coverage in North America, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. Let's start by taking a look at these.

Alaska Airlines

American and Alaska have a complicated history. But, that's water under the bridge now. The once-frenemies are now close partners and both are members of the Oneworld alliance. Thanks to this partnership, you can use AAdvantage^® miles to fly with Alaska Airlines.

Award flights within the U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada cost:

• 12,500 miles each way in economy
• 25,000 miles each way in first class

One-way Alaska Airlines award flights to other parts of North America cost:

• Alaska: 15,000 miles in economy or 30,000 miles in business class
• Caribbean, Mexico, or Central America: 17,500 miles in economy or 27,500 miles in business class
• Hawaii: 22,500 miles in economy or 55,000 miles in business class

Hawaiian Airlines

As a non-alliance partner, there are some restrictions on how you can use AAdvantage^® miles on Hawaiian Airlines. You can only use AAdvantage^® miles to fly within Hawaii or between Hawaii and Asia or the South Pacific. That means you won't be able to use AAdvantage^® miles to fly Hawaiian Airlines between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii.

Intra-Hawaii flights cost just 7,500 miles each way in economy or 15,000 miles each way in business class. Even without a bonus, you'd only need to save $6,100 in a Bask Mileage Savings Account for six months to get a free flight within Hawaii. And award availability is usually wide open:

If you're based in Hawaii — or building a multi-stop award trip — you can book Hawaiian Airlines award flights to Japan or Korea for:

• 32,500 miles each way in economy
• 52,500 miles each way in business class

You also can fly Hawaiian Airlines between Hawaii and the South Pacific for:

• 37,500 miles each way in economy
• 65,000 miles each way in business class

Silver Airways

Silver Airways operates intra-Caribbean flights between San Juan, Puerto Rico and parts of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands using a fleet of small planes. And you can even redeem AAdvantage^® miles for these flights, starting at 7,500 AAdvantage^® miles each way. This can be an excellent use of your AAdvantage^® miles, as these flights can cost hundreds of dollars.

You can get enough miles to book one of these routes with AAdvantage^® miles by saving $6,000 in a Bask Mileage Savings Account for six months. That's much better than the cash interest you'd earn on your savings.

Use AAdvantage^® Miles to Visit International Destinations

Between the Oneworld alliance and American's eclectic mix of non-alliance partners, you can use your AAdvantage^® miles to fly all over the world — including some world-class cities that may be on your bucket list.

• London nonstop on British Airways from 27 U.S. airports
• Tokyo nonstop on Japan Airlines from 10 U.S. airports
• Madrid and Barcelona nonstop on Iberia from eight U.S. airports
• Hong Kong nonstop on Cathay Pacific from six U.S. airports
• Sydney and Melbourne nonstop on Qantas from five U.S. airports
• Doha nonstop on Qatar Airways from 12 U.S. airports

Don't live near one of the U.S. gateway airports served by these partners? No problem! AAdvantage^® has no limitations on combining partners, meaning you can mix and match airlines to get you from point A to point B. You can connect from an Alaska flight to an American flight to catch a Qatar flight if that's the best way to get there!

Hop to South Pacific Islands Using AAdvantage^® Miles

Looking for a more tropical destination? It's possible to use your AAdvantage^® miles to visit two of the most popular islands in the South Pacific. Fly from anywhere in the contiguous U.S. to Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) on Air Tahiti Nui via Los Angeles (LAX). Alternatively, fly on Oneworld connect airline Fiji Airways to Nadi, Fiji (NAN) via Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or Seattle (SEA).

Both of these incredible destinations cost:

• 40,000 miles each way in economy
• 65,000 miles each way in premium economy
• 80,000 miles each way in business class

Booking World-Class Premium Cabins With AAdvantage^® Miles

One of the best things about frequent flyer miles is that they give you access to travel experiences you could never justify if you had to pay for them in cash. And when it comes to flying some of the best business- and first-class cabins in the world, the AAdvantage^® program truly outshines the competition.

AAdvantage^® partners with Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, and Japan Airlines — all of which take their premium-cabin offerings to a whole different level.

Qatar Qsuite

Qatar's Qsuite product is widely considered one of the best business-class products in the skies. Qatar Qsuite is especially great for couples. You can fly and even sleep side-by-side — complete with closing doors on either side of the suite.

Qatar Qsuite can be converted into a double bed for couples flying together!

You can redeem AAdvantage^® miles to fly between the U.S. and the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent for just 70,000 miles each way:

Or fly Qsuite for over 24 hours from Los Angeles to Cape Town via Doha for just 75,000 miles each way:

During this new Bask Bank bonus miles offer, you'd earn enough for a one-way flight in Qsuite by saving $50,000 for six months. You'll earn around 61,644 AAdvantage^® miles from standard earnings plus 20,000 bonus AAdvantage^® miles if you maintain the $50k deposit for six months. That's more than 80k AAdvantage^® miles right there!

Cathay Pacific First Class

Likewise, Cathay Pacific is considered one of the best first-class products in the world. And it's another incredible experience that you can book using AAdvantage^® miles.

One-way award flights between anywhere in the U.S. and Hong Kong or Southeast Asia cost:

• 37,500 miles in economy
• 50,000 miles in premium economy
• 70,000 miles in business class
• 110,000 miles in first class

Booking the longest flights possible will provide maximum value. To do this, connect onward to another destination in Southeast Asia, and enjoy Cathay Pacific's incredible first-class lounges in Hong Kong.

Japan Airlines First Class

For flights to Japan, it's hard to beat the luxury of Japan Airlines First Class. And again, Japan Airlines business- and first-class awards are surprisingly cheap using AAdvantage^® miles. For flights between the U.S. and Japan or Korea, you'll have to pay just:

• 60,000 miles each way in business class
• 80,000 miles each way in first class

That rate looks especially good compared to the recently-devalued Alaska Airlines awards on Japan Airlines.

Why You Should Get a Bask Mileage Savings Account

The idea behind the Bask Mileage Savings Account is pretty simple. Rather than earning cash interest, you'll earn 2.5 AAdvantage^® miles per dollar saved per year. And you don't have to wait a full year to get your miles. Bask Bank deposits miles monthly.

Say you deposit $1,460 in a Bask Mileage Savings Account. You'll earn 10 AAdvantage^® miles per day. A few days after the end of a 30-day month, Bask Bank will deposit 300 miles in your AAdvantage^® account.

There are many reasons why you might want to open a Bask Mileage Savings Account. For starters, earning AAdvantage^® miles each month is a great way to ensure your AAdvantage^® miles don't expire from inactivity.

However, the main reason to save with Bask Bank is the great return you can get on your savings. That's especially true now, as the average cash-earning savings account only yields 0.43% interest. At the very least, you can get 1 cent in value per AAdvantage^® mile (e.g., reserving seats)

Then there are the after-tax earnings. In short, the value that you have to pay taxes on is likely to be far less than the value that you can obtain from those AAdvantage^® miles. Even compared to a savings account yielding 4%, the after-tax return on earning AAdvantage^® miles should be higher than your after-tax earnings from cash savings.

Earning AAdvantage^® Miles

Bask Bank is a great way to put your AAdvantage^® mileage earnings on auto-pilot. For those with substantial savings, it's a great way to build a large balance of AAdvantage^® miles to redeem for the incredible awards we detailed in this post.

If you don't have a large amount of savings, saving even a small balance with Bask Bank can help you supplement other methods of earning AAdvantage^® miles. And there are plenty of ways to earn AAdvantage^® miles. These include flying on American Airlines or partner airlines, earning bonus miles through the AAdvantage^® Dining Program, shopping through the AAdvantage^® eShopping portal, or opening a new AAdvantage^® credit card.

Final Thoughts

American Airlines AAdvantage^® is one of our favorite airline loyalty programs. Through its nearly two dozen partner airlines, you can fly to over 1,000 destinations around the world — and travel in some of the best business- and first-class products in the skies. And especially after repeated devaluations from Delta and United, American Airlines partner awards seem downright cheap.

One of our favorite ways to earn AAdvantage^® miles is by saving through Bask Bank. I believe it's such a good deal that I personally keep my cash savings in a mixture of the Bask Mileage Savings Account and Bask Interest Savings Account.

Plus, you can earn 5,000 bonus AAdvantage^® miles by opening a new account and maintaining that balance for 90 consecutive days. This offer expires on November 30, 2023.

Terms & Disclosures:
Bask Bank is a division of Texas Capital Bank. Member FDIC. The sum of your total deposits with (i) Bask Bank and (ii) Texas Capital Bank are insured up to $250,000. Additional coverage may be available depending on how your assets are held.
 
The annual percentage yield is effective as of Monday, June 12, 2023. Rate is variable and subject to change after account opening. There are no monthly account fees. If an account remains unfunded for fifteen (15) days, we reserve the right to close that account. Read Terms and Disclosures here.

AAdvantage^® bonus miles are awarded within 10 business days upon meeting offer qualifications and may take 6 to 8 weeks to post to your AAdvantage^® account. The value of this bonus offer will be reported to the IRS, and the recipient is responsible for any federal, state or local taxes on this offer.
 
American Airlines reserves the right to change the AAdvantage^® program and its terms and conditions at any time without notice and to end the AAdvantage^® program with six months notice. Any such changes may affect your ability to use the awards or mileage credits that you have accumulated. Unless specified, AAdvantage^® miles earned through this promotion/offer do not count toward elite-status qualification or AAdvantage^® Million Miler™ status. American Airlines is not responsible for products or services offered by other participating companies. For complete details about the AAdvantage^® program, visit aa.com/aadvantage.

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