For many of us, the holiday season is often a time of sharing our blessings and prosperity with those in need. In fact, charitable donations can take many shapes these days. Of course it can be in the form of money, clothes, and volunteering your time. However, did you know that you can even donate airline miles to a worthy cause? I'd like to share some useful tips for anyone interested in donating their miles.
1. Know your mileage balance and membership number: Before embarking on any donation opportunity, it is important to know how many miles you have in your account and what your membership number is. This is critical information that you are going to need no matter who you give it to. It is also important to create an online account with the airline mileage club so that you can easily navigate things over the Internet when you are ready to donate.
2. Explore airline websites: The easiest way to identify mileage donation options is to do an Internet search on your airline of choice and include the phrase “donation of miles.” I tried this with United Airlines and American Airlines, and both searches took me to a specific page on the airline website that summarized all of the mileage donation options. In some cases, the miles would be donated to the airline’s own charitable activities that they organized. In other cases, the airline had partnered with well-recognized organizations and listed many options. Overall, I found the process to be quite straightforward and easy to follow. If you are not tech savvy, another option is to call the airline and donate miles over the phone.
