Fidelity Investments used to offer one of the best mileage bonuses in the business, offering you up to 50,000 miles for opening a new account or depositing money into an existing one. The offer would expire every year on March 31 but, like the swallows who supposedly returned to Capistrano every year, Fidelity would extend it by a year upon expiration. That streak ended this year.
Fidelity Shoots Mileage Offer
The new screen when searching for Fidelity’s mileage offer
Flyertalk had discussed the possibility of the offer dying this year but, since it had been renewed every year in the past, many hoped that they may do so as well, this year. The offer would give you miles on American, Delta or United, based on how much you deposited. Bonuses for opening brokerage accounts aren’t exactly new, given their hopes that increased assets would eventually lead to trading fees. Apparently, though, those deposits weren’t generating enough cash to offset the cost of the miles. Goodbye, great deal.
Brokers offer other incentives for opening accounts, usually cash. Fidelity was the only one that offered miles, though, and those miles had the potential to generate value greater than the equivalent cash that other firms would give you. There are still plenty of great mileage deals available,* but the Fidelity Investments transfers were always among the most reliable.
*Beginner’s Hint: If you have some cash available and want to use it to earn miles, since nobody pays much interest these days, read this thread about BankDirect. BD is an FDIC-insured internet bank that gives you miles based on your balances with them. It’s not as strong a promo as it used to be, but it’s still a way to pick up some fast points. Sadly, they only offer miles on American Airlines.
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