It's easy to get caught up in the mindset that points and miles are for premium travel experiences only. But the reality is, they can be used for so much more, whether to help someone in need or to bring a child's dreams to life. I'm thrilled to announce that TPG is teaming up with Make-A-Wish to help make wishes come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Many of you have already heard of the organization and the amazing work it does to grant wishes to kids who are battling critical illnesses. Nationally, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 34 minutes — and wishes range anywhere from collecting seashells on the beach to meeting Justin Bieber. What's sometimes overlooked, though, is the travel that's required to get these wish kids where they want to go, whether it's to Great Barrier Reef or a stop on a musician's tour. And for that part of the wish, the organization relies on points and miles.
As you can imagine, Make-A-Wish needs a lot of them to fulfill all the wishes that come its way — more than 2.8 billion miles are needed to cover every travel wish this year alone. Last year, Make-A-Wish received 176 million miles in donations, which were put toward flights to grant 15,300 wishes. And with plans to increase the number of granted wishes to 17,000 by 2020, Make-A-Wish needs your help.
Thanks to our new collaboration with Make-A-Wish, there is now a way to contribute.
During the month of August, we're going to be featuring a story from one Make-A-Wish airline partner per week. Nationally, Make-A- Wish receives support from six major airlines including, American, United, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and Allegiant to help grant travel wishes. Some kids have airline-specific wishes, like becoming a United pilot for the day, while some carriers give wish kids something special to help them remember their big day, such as Delta's send-off celebrations. Here's a look at when we'll be highlighting each of Make-A-Wish's airline partners this month.
- Week 1 (July 30–August 7) — American Airlines
- Week 2 (August 8–14) — Southwest Airlines
- Week 3 (August 15–21) — United Airlines
- Week 4 (August 22–28) — Delta Air Lines
How to Donate Your Miles to Make-A-Wish
Starting today, you can donate your points and miles — AAdvantage miles, Southwest Rapid Rewards points, United MileagePlus miles or Delta SkyMiles — to Make-A-Wish through Make-A-Wish and TPG's donate miles page. Although we're not highlighting JetBlue with a week and story this month, you can donate your TrueBlue points through our campaign as well. Several other carriers also accept miles including: Alaska Airlines, Sun Country and Hawaiian Airlines. Once you've donated, send an email to donatemiles@thepointsguy.com with a screenshot of how many miles you've donated and you'll be entered to win a special one-on-one meal and consultation with me in New York City. I'm giving away five meet-ups, and I'll teach you how to replenish the points and miles you just donated. Every 5,000 miles you donate (regardless of from which program) will give you one entry into the contest. So, the more you donate, the more chances you'll have to win. View the official TPG sweepstakes rules here.
Make-A-Wish makes it incredibly easy to donate your miles. So, if you have a surplus from any of the aforementioned programs, this is the perfect opportunity to pay it forward. Your donations are guaranteed to help make a child's wish come true, whether it's flying them to Paris for a dream trip or to a Carrie Underwood concert across the country.
If you don't have any points or miles to spare from United, Delta, JetBlue or Southwest, keep in mind that you can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou points or American Express Membership Rewards points. Here's how it breaks down for each loyalty program:
- Delta Air Lines
- American Express Membership Rewards — 1:1 ratio, transfers instantly
- Minimum donation: 1,000 miles
- JetBlue Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- Chase Ultimate Rewards — 1:1 ratio, transfers instantly
- Minimum donation: 2,000 points
- United Airlines
- Chase Ultimate Rewards — 1:1 ratio, transfers instantly
- Minimum donation: 500 miles
- American Airlines
- Does not transfer directly from Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou points
- Minimum donation: 1,000 miles
Nothing is more rewarding than giving back. I'm happy to be working with Make-A-Wish on this and I encourage you to donate whatever you can. Let's grant some wishes!
