Mile Nerd

For whatever reason, I got a bunch of emails yesterday about structuring and depositing money orders. Instead of responding to the questions individually, I thought I’d do it as a post. Here are my answers:

• First, I’m not a lawyer. If you do ever get in real trouble because of structuring, my advice will mean nothing. You’ll be facing a real shitstorm and the insight of ol’ MileNerd will be the last thing you need. You’ll be too busy cutting a big check to an attorney and cursing the day you ever learned about miles and points.
• Yes, I do know multiple people who drew unwanted attention for depositing large amounts of money orders.
• Structuring – the wording of these laws can seem vague to some and incredibly complicated to others. Again, I’m not a lawyer, but I would never advise anyone to split up deposits.
• Justifying reasons why you split up your deposits on Flyertalk is cute banter between friends. What isn’t cute is when you try to make those justifications to people who aren’t playing games. It’s not easy to prove intent (or lack thereof). Once again, the penalties are real. The stress is very real. And the bill from your lawyer can get painfully real.
• Personally? I’d be more comfortable making a $15,000 deposit at one bank. Splitting that up into multiple deposits at multiple banks is not for me. Of course, that might get my account closed. But there are definitely worse problems to have (see: bulleted list above).
• All of this (plus the lack of time in my day) is why I don’t mess with large amounts of money orders. If you do things differently, please beware of the consequences. They do exist.