Capital One has launched a money market account that offers miles for saving your money. But is it a good deal?

The offer sounds good on its surface: A decent yield for no minimum deposit, and an opportunity to earn some points by saving your cash. Today’s yield is 4.66% APY, and you get 1 mile for every $20 average balance in your account per month. So an average balance of $5000 should yield 250 miles. (You get a bonus of 2500 miles to start up the account with $500 or more.)

But these aren’t airline miles. They’re Capital One miles. And not even that many of them.

As I’ve argued previously, you don’t want to bother with Capital One’s proprietary points if travel is your goal. Your maximum value is 1 cent per mile.

So you’re not getting points that are worth a lot, and you’re not even earning that many miles to begin with. Plus, you’re taking an interest rate cut in lieu of the miles. The non-mileage earning account at Capital One gives a 0.44% higher rate. You could do even better elsewhere.

If you want to earn airline frequent flyer miles for your savings, UFB (who?!?) offers savings and checking accounts that earn American AAdvantage miles. But it’s a lousy deal: You earn less than 1% interest, and you don’t earn miles on running balances. To really earn AA miles with UFB, you need to be using direct deposit and bill-pay services.

Continental Airlines has also partnered with Chase and First Hawaiian Bank to earn you miles via a checking account, but you only earn miles when you use your debit card.

You’re far better off using your savings to make money, rather than collect miles. Credit, that’s another story. But don’t let a few piddling miles make your investment and savings decisions for you.

Related:
- Reader mail: Can I use credit card miles to upgrade a ticket?
- Reader mail: What kind of point-earning credit card is best?

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