You can donate the miles and and points that you’ve collected from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or JetBlue Airways to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is a non-profit organization that aims to fulfill the wishes of children between the ages of 2 and a half to 18 who are battling life-threatening medical conditions.
More than 77% of the Wishes that Children specify involve travel for them and their families. The Organization has partnered with these five airlines to ensure that any donated miles to the Foundation do not expire, so therefore, any amount that you donate could help a family of a sick child take a trip of a lifetime for years to come.
We all have spare miles we can afford to donate. TripIt users alone have allegedly donated 6 million miles over the past four holiday seasons to make this possible. That is a heck of a lot of miles, and the stories from children who are able to benefit from this generosity are heartwarming and inspiring.
If you don’t have miles, you can also donate money. Any little bit helps for these individuals and their families! To get a sense of the minimum donation amounts (in miles) and the corresponding valuations, based on The Points Guy’s December 2017 Miles and Points valuations, here is what you can expect:
- Delta SkyMiles: 1,000 SkyMiles minimum (~$12 USD, valued at 1.2 cents per mile)
- American AAdvantage: Any amount, valued at 1.4 cents per mile (e.g. 1,000 AAdvantage miles translates to $14)
- United MileagePlus: 500-mile minimum (~$7 USD, valued at 1.4 cents per mile)
- Southwest Airlines RapidRewards: Any amount, valued at 1.5 cents per point (e.g. 1,000 RapidRewards points translates to $15)
- JetBlue TrueBlue Points: Any amount, valued at 1.3 cents per point (e.g. 1,000 TrueBlue points equates to $13).
The donation form is very easy to use and has not varied significantly from prior years.
I love doing this every year, and I encourage you to consider making a donation today!
