20,000 AA Miles, If You Have $50K to Park

Here's one for anyone sitting on a pile of cash. Bask Bank, the online bank that pays you in American Airlines miles instead of interest, is giving 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for opening a new Mileage Savings Account.

The catch is real: you have to park $50,000 and keep it there for 90 of your first 120 days. So this only works if you've got that kind of cash to sit still for a few months. If you don't, scroll on, no hard feelings.

If you do, it's a tidy deal. That balance also earns Bask's regular 1.75 AAdvantage miles per dollar saved each year, so you pile base miles on top of the 20,000. Just weigh it against the interest that $50k would have earned in a normal high-yield savings account.

Fine print: new Mileage Savings customers only, open by August 31 and fund within 15 business days, link your AAdvantage number, and the bonus lands about 6 to 8 weeks after you qualify. FDIC insured.

Idle cash, meet free miles.