Do you have a bank of airline frequent flyer miles that are getting ready to expire? Do you have over 1000 miles with an airline you use infrequently that you don’t know what to do with? How about those massive amounts of frequent flyer miles that we collect when we fly for business?
Today is Giving Tuesday
It’s a good day to remind ourselves to step away from the frenzy of shopping for holiday gifts, and turn, at least for one day, to holiday GIVING. We all know about giving cash donations to various organizations; we’ve all done that annual cleaning of closets ritual to take the bags of rarely worn clothing to the local donation bin; we all have those favorite charities that we donate our time to – all are worthy and wonderful things to do today, and frequently throughout the year.
But, did you know that you can donate frequent flyer miles to charities? For instance, ever wonder how all of those American Red Cross volunteers get to emergency zones? Certainly, some shuttle over in buses and vans if they are nearby, others use donated funds to purchase flights, but some of these volunteers get to disaster areas by drawing from a pool of donated frequent flyer miles. Other organizations use donated miles as they would use donations of other goods – they sell them (in this case, to mileage brokers), then use the funds to provide needed services and/or research through their programs.
Several airlines coordinate these donations for you – including American, Delta, jetBlue, Southwest, and United.
Several organizations can benefit from your donated miles, and you can specify the charity of your choice when filling out your donation form – Make A Wish, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, American Red Cross, Stand Up to Cancer, Susan G. Komen, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, and many, many more.
Login to your Frequent Flyer program today, now, while you’re thinking about it, and donate those miles!
HERE ARE SOME USEFUL LINKS THAT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THE ‘MILES FOR CHARITY’ PAGES OF THESE AIRLINES:
