How you can donate your points and miles to charity

Your points and miles can do a great many things, and one of those things is to give back. It isn’t always the highest cent-per-point return for your points, but even small contributions can make a huge difference in another person’s life.

The holiday period may have you reflecting on what you have to be thankful for and how you might be able to show generosity to help those less fortunate and those in need.

Before Giving Tuesday, here are some opportunities to put your points or miles to work to help with charitable causes.

Related: Giving Tuesday: The 6 best credit cards to maximize your charitable donation

Miles4Migrants

Founded in 2016, Miles4Migrants is a nonprofit that accepts donations of points and miles and uses them to book airfare for migrants with financial hardships. Using over 775 million points and miles, Miles4Migrants has helped over 43,000 people, from refugees to asylum-seekers.

You can donate from rewards, airline loyalty and credit card programs. This includes all major transferable credit card currencies and airline programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, Alaska Mileage Plan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, JetBlue TrueBlue and United Airlines MileagePlus.

To donate, most programs require a pledge of a minimum of 1,000 points or miles. Once you submit a pledge, the flight booking team at Miles4Migrants will match the miles donated to an individual in need.

Keep in mind that the matching process can take weeks. Miles4Migrants will update you with the recipient’s photo and story of how your contribution has helped them.

You can donate travel vouchers and cash in addition to frequent flyer miles. Miles4Migrants currently accepts most vouchers from Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and Allegiant Air.

Additionally, cash donations also help to cover any award taxes, fees and surcharges.

How it works

A former TPG staffer pledged to donate 15,000 JetBlue TrueBlue points. Shortly after, she received an email thanking her for the donation and information on the next steps. Then, she filled out a Google Form with her contact information.

Sometimes, the turnaround is fast, so you’ll want to provide the best way the organization can reach you. Miles4Migrants will also ask if you have a preference for whom you’d like your miles to be used and how you’d like the reservation to be made.

You must sign an electronic donor agreement and then provide the flight booking team with your contact information so they can discuss using your miles with you.

JustGiving

JustGiving is a fundraising platform with more than 1.5 million nonprofits registered, including Malala Fund. American Express has partnered with JustGiving so that you can donate your Membership Rewards points to a charity of your choice.

You must have an Amex Membership Rewards-earning card to participate in this program. Once you create an account and link your eligible card, you can apply your points at checkout. The donation amount can be covered entirely or partially by points.

When donating, your Membership Rewards points are worth 0.7 cents each, lower than TPG’s November 2024 valuation of 2 cents per point.

Despite that, donating points instead of using cash at checkout can help offset your donation and is a solid option to consider.

Give a Mile

Give a Mile assists with helping loved ones come together to give their final goodbyes.

It has provided close to 1,200 flights and donated over 54 million miles. Give a Mile primarily operates using Aeroplan points but does accept donations from United MileagePlus and other programs.

Donating credit card points to charity

You can make donations using credit card points by using a fixed-value card to pay for donations and then use your points to “pay” for the charge on your statement.

As a part of Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature, Chase Sapphire Reserve® customers and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (and various other Chase Freedom and Ink Business) customers can redeem Ultimate Rewards points toward donations to eligible nonprofit organizations at 1.5 cents and 1.25 cents, respectively, until at least the end of the year.

Eligible nonprofits include the following mix of social and racial justice groups:

• American Red Cross
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Feeding America
• GLSEN
• Habitat for Humanity
• International Medical Corps
• International Rescue Committee
• Leadership Conference Education Fund
• Make-A-Wish America
• NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
• National Urban League
• Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
• SAGE
• Thurgood Marshall College Fund
• United Negro College Fund
• UNICEF USA
• United Way
• World Central Kitchen

Citi also has charity partner redemption options, including the American Red Cross and UNICEF, starting at 1,000 points. You can now donate ThankYou Rewards points at a rate of 1 cent apiece to a set list of nonprofits.

Donating airline miles to charity

Frequent flyer programs offer an option to donate your rewards to partner organizations. Head to the airline program of your choice for more information about charities you can support with your airline miles:

Giving back through these partnerships can be a great way to donate smaller balances of points and miles. It’s also one of the easiest ways to keep your miles from expiring in programs that expire miles based on account inactivity.

International airlines have similar charity partnerships, so you’ll likely find options for donating miles in whichever domestic or international program you prefer.

Donating hotel loyalty points to charity

In addition to airline loyalty programs, these hotel loyalty programs offer donation opportunities. Head to the hotel program of your choice for more information about charities you can support with your hotel points:

• Point Worthy: Link your Hilton Honors account and donate your points to a charity of your choice.
• Marriott Bonvoy Giving: Donate a minimum of 2,500 Marriott Bonvoy points to various organizations
• IHG One Rewards Giving: You can donate a minimum of 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 IHG One Rewards points to various charitable causes

Bottom line

While the TPG team loves to use points and miles for travel, donating them can go a long way to help someone in need, especially if you have rewards you otherwise won’t use, or you want to help a cause but don’t have the cash to dedicate toward that right now.

While some points and miles donations may be considered tax-deductible, it’s best to double-check with a tax professional regarding a specific donation.