Easy Ways to Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles to Haiti
Welcome to 2010! You have probably noticed that we have been sparse in our blog posts throughout the last half of 2009, and for this we are sorry. We made a group decision that our limited resources (i.e., a bootstrapping start-up) would be better utilized building our site, working on partnerships, and launching it this quarter! However you can expect our blog posts to resume a normal schedule as we get closer to launch. Thanks for your patience.
The issue we are talking about today must be covered in our blog because it deals with saving human lives in Haiti. Many of you have frequent flyer miles that aren’t being used and perhaps never will be so we are asking you to please consider donating them to the Haiti relief. We’re happy to report that many of the top airlines and hotels are making it very easy to do so - and sometimes even throwing in an incentive to boot.
There are a ton of different options for donating points and I am going to briefly go over all of ones we have found. Click on any of the links for more information on each offer.
United Airlines is allowing Mileage Plus program members to donate any number miles to Red Cross. As of 2:30 P.M. MST today, members have donated 1,122,500 miles! Awesome.
Furthermore, the United Airlines Foundation has committed to matching up to $50,000 that is donated to the American Red Cross by UA customers and employees though its International Response Fund.
American Airlines is offering a pretty sweet kickback of 250 bonus miles frequent flyer miles for every cash donation of $50 or 500 bonus miles for donations of $100 or more to the Red Cross. (Side note - they ARE NOT offering free flights to Haiti, despite Twitter rumors).
Starwood’s Preferred Guest (SPG) program is letting customers donate miles in the form of cash to Red Cross. Here’s the breakdown:
- 4,000 points is $50
- 8,000 points is $100
- 12,000 points is $150
- 6,000 points is $200
Marriott has a standard donation policy in place through the Red Cross using Marriott Rewards points. Here is their breakdown:
- 18,000 Points: $50 American Red Cross Marriott Cheque
- 33,000: $100 American Red Cross Marriott Cheque
- 60,000: $250 American Red Cross Marriott Cheque
- 180,000: $1000 American Red Cross Marriott Cheque
US Airways, Continental, Delta, Hyatt, Wydham, and many others also let members donate to a variety of charities including the Red Cross, so just go to the ‘use miles’ section of their website to find their charities and see what they’re offering.
Last but definitely not least, Spirit Airlines is actually running a giveaway that awards the first 200,000 people who donate $5 or more to Yele Haiti, UNICEF or the American Red Cross with 5,000 bonus miles - enough for a FREE flight! This is definitely the best offer I’ve seen and I commend Spirit Air for taking such an aggressive stance in their relief efforts.
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For those of us who don’t have enough miles to donate in any program or just can’t bare to part with them (you know who you are), there is a VERY SIMPLE way to donate $10 to the Red Cross right now. Simply text ‘Haiti’ to 90999 to donate. You will receive a response to text YES to confirm your donation. It charges $10 to your phone bill automatically (pretty slick) and literally takes 10 seconds.
