Donations of frequent-flier miles are a “critical, budget-relieving resource” for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, says Josh deBerge, the foundation’s director of public relations. The charity grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. “We grant 15,000 wishes each year with tens of thousands of wish participants, so airline travel is our largest expense as an organization.”
Donating rewards and perks that might otherwise go to waste is a painless way to help out organizations like Make-A-Wish. About one-third of earned loyalty rewards — worth $16 billion! — weren’t redeemed in 2011, according to the most recent data available from Colloquy, a loyalty marketing research firm.
How it works
These days, most airline, hotel and issuer loyalty programs let you donate miles, points and cash back to charity with just a few clicks. Programs that allow donations are listed in the next section. Here’s how you can contribute:
1. Go to your loyalty program’s charity page and log in to your account.
2. Select a charity. Most programs let you donate to big-name nonprofits, such as the Red Cross, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and UNICEF. Others are more specialized. Hawaiian Airlines, for example, offers a selection of Hawaii-based charities.
3. Indicate how many points or miles or how much cash back you want to donate. Generally, rewards will be deducted from your balance right away, and you’ll get a confirmation email from your loyalty program or the charity.
Loyalty programs usually count donations as “account activity.” That means that if your points or miles are due to expire because of inactivity, a small donation could restart the clock. If you’ve been sitting on a mother lode of miles because you’re waiting for a sweet flight deal, making a mileage donation could keep those miles active.
