Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles To Charity : Help Others & Gain Good Karma!

Web: www.thetravelstrategist.com — E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

12/12/2008 – Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles To Charity : Help Others Gain Good Karma!

All around the world this time of year many people are looking for not only gifts, but also ways to give back. The holidays are coming and we’re in a more giving mood, while we should be in a giving mood all year round, this is always seems to be the best time of year to remind folks to give back.

This year why not look in your frequent flyer accounts and see what miles you can spare and donate them.   Yup, that’s right I said donate your frequent flyer miles!   You need 35,000 miles for that next vacation and have 39,476 miles?  Why not part with those extra 4,476 miles and help someone in need?

Websites such as MileDonor.com have detailed lists of airlines and their charity organizations, or you can view your donations options by specific charity.  You can look up Delta Airline’s SkyWish, Air Canada’s Beyond Miles, Lufthansa (Swiss Air Lines, Air One, Austrian Airlines) Miles & More Charities, Cathay Pacific’s Charities and 20 other airline, credit card and hotel frequent flyer donation programs.

These programs include supporting St. Judes, ORBIS, March of Dimes, Make A Wish Foundations, Fisher House Foundation, Shriners Hospitals and dozens and dozens of other worthy organizations.

What does donating your miles do?

Donating your miles allows non-profit organizations to access airline seats to fly people in need, or put people in need in a hotel room.   What does this mean? It means a child can have their Make A Wish dream trip; Habitat for Humanity can put construction experts in place to build homes; someone in critical medical need can fly from their small town to a major medical center for a life saving surgery, a family can stay in a hotel near the hospital of a loved one who is far from home.

Hotels and airline seats cost money to access, and frequent flyer miles can pay for these seats and hotel rooms.  While there is no tax benefit, there is a Good Karma benefit.

To find out who you can donate to from your preferred airline frequent flyer account visit : www.miledonor.com (MileDonor.com, a not-for-profit web site, happens to be part of the Frequent Flyer Network, which maintains Boarding Area…..which hosts Flying With Fish)

You can also visit some specific airlines at:

Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines
Midwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
US Airways
United Airlines

…….you can also donate miles/points from various credit card companies, including American Express and Diners Club, as well as from Hilton HHonors, Starwood and Priority Pass.

As for me? I plan on clearing out one of my Star Alliance frequent flyer accounts at the start of January 2009 to be donated (most likely to the Make-A-Wish Foundation).

Happy Holidays and Happy Flying!