Where You Can Donate Your Points, Miles and Cash This #GivingTuesday
With the arrival of the hectic holiday season comes the pressure to find the best deals and make sure everyone on your shopping list is checked off — but sometimes we forget that it's really a time of giving. This past week, you've (hopefully) taken advantage of the many Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals out there. But, with today being Giving Tuesday, we encourage you to pay it forward as well.
There are thousands of ways you can give back. Below, we're highlighting just a handful of the great donation options from around the industry:
You can start by donating to Points for Peace, TPG's own campaign, which supports the international education program PeaceJam. The campaign raises funds to send PeaceJam staffers and Nobel Peace Prize laureates all over the world — an expense that can easily add up. You can make your cash donations on the Points for Peace website.
For those not familiar, PeaceJam is an organization that brings the teachings of Nobel Peace Prize winners to youth around the world. Creating a change for the better for our future starts with the young, and by empowering children to create an impactful change in their communities through the teachings of Nobel winners, PeaceJam is helping to make a difference. You can read more about PeaceJam here.
AA is giving back by matching your AAdvantage mileage donations to its Charitable Mileage program. If you donate your miles to Miles for Kids in Need, Miles of Hope or Miles for All Who Serve, American will match the donation mile for mile up to one million miles per program.
In addition, you can choose to donate cash to a cause and receive AAdvantage miles in return. You can donate $25 or more to Stand Up To Cancer, and you'll get 10 miles for every dollar you donate. You can also donate to the Susan G. Komen foundation and get 10 miles per dollar by making a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more (up to 600,000 miles in a 12-month period for both aforementioned beneficiaries).
Delta is donating $1.5 million to several nonprofit organizations, including Feeding America, Junior Achievement USA, the Nature Conservancy, UNCF, USO and YMCA.
In addition to the carrier itself giving back, you can choose to donate your Delta SkyMiles to a variety of partner charities. Click here to see the list of national and regional charities that are eligible for your SkyMiles donations.
With JetBlue's "Nonstop Giving" campaign, the carrier is matching up to one million TrueBlue points donated to its charitable partners. If you're thinking about donating, act fast — the airline is only matching donations through tomorrow, November 30.
In addition, JetBlue's teamed up with DonorsChose to help teachers from across the country receive necessary materials for a better school experience for students. Customers on select JetBlue flights today will have the opportunity to give back. Finally, you can enter the JetBlue for Good contest. To enter, submit a photo or video with a short story of how you're giving back for a chance to win a $1,000 donation to the qualifying charity of your choice.
With Southwest, you can donate your Rapid Rewards points to nine different charities. Partner charities include the American Red Cross, Make-A-Wish, the Dream Foundation and more. Click here to see the full list and donate your points.
Throughout the year, you can donate your MileagePlus miles to featured charities on United's site. Options range from the American Cancer Society to Guide Dogs of America and the Wounded Warrior Project.
As you may have heard, for Cyber Monday, Virgin America had its "Tiny Dogs. Tiny Fares" sale, which gave you 30% off flights. Well, as it turns out, that name meant something. Today, Virgin America announced that it's donating $10 for each sale booking that it made to the San Francisco Animal Care & Control.
Additionally, on your next flight, click the Make a Difference section on your Red in-flight entertainment system to donate to one of the charities the carrier partners with.
Bottom Line
Of course, there are plenty of other options for donating your cash or points and miles. So, today especially, let's forget the consumerism that surrounds us every day and give back. Happy holidays!
Are you donating your points or miles or money to a charity today for #GivingTuesday?
