SMART TRAVELLER

Donating air miles to charity

Miles (or points) are a perk of frequent travel and can be redeemed on future flights, upgrades, experiences, merchandise, car hire, accommodation and so on. But sometimes it’s hard to spend them – air tickets may be restricted by time and destination, for instance. Rather than waste them, here are some schemes that allow miles to be donated to partnered charities.

AIR FRANCE-KLM

Flying Blue lists 18 charities to which its members may donate miles, including the French Red Cross, WWF and Aviation Sans Frontières, which provides air transport during humanitarian crises. flyingblue.com

AMERICAN AIRLINES

AAdvantage focuses on three types of charitable organisations – those that work to support social good, well-being or heroes. A minimum of 1,000 miles is required, although members with fewer than this can donate their entire balance. aa.com

AUSTRIAN AIRLINES, LUFTHANSA AND SWISS

Miles and More has partnered with two aid organisations – Help Alliance, which promotes nutrition, health and hygiene, and My Climate, for certified climate protection projects. You can either make a free donation, which is then allocated to the project most in need, or support a specific cause. miles-and-more.com

CATHAY PACIFIC, CATHAY DRAGON

Flyers who earn Asia Miles can donate to five charities including Unicef HK, Oxfam Hong Kong and Hong Kong Red Cross. Miles can also be contributed to carbon offset programme Fly Greener. asiamiles.com

DELTA AIR LINES

Through Sky Miles, travellers can donate to 26 charities, which you can browse by region. In Europe they include Unicef, Habitat for Humanity and Make a Wish International, and up to five charities can be processed in one transaction. delta.com

EMIRATES

Organisations for Skywards members to donate to include the Emirates Airline Foundation, Sightsavers, Dubai Cares and Care International. emirates.com

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Etihad Guest sponsors charities such as the UN Refugee Agency, the Fred Hollows Foundation and Climate Care. Since the initiative began in 2007, more than 200 million miles have been donated. etihadguest.com

FINNAIR

Finnair Plus members can give to one of eight partnered charities, which include UN Women and Cancer Foundation: Pink Ribbon. finnair.com

GARUDA INDONESIA

Using Garuda Miles, members can support education charities including Indonesia Mengajar and Balas Budi Guru – plus the Sedekah Umroh programme, which helps underprivileged Indonesian Muslims to perform an Islamic pilgrimage. garudamiles.com

JAPAN AIRLINES

JAL Mileage Bank members can donate to a number of campaigns carried out by its charity partners, which include disaster relief and environmental conservation. jap.co.jp

JETBLUE

The True Blue scheme gives members an option to contribute a minimum of 500 points to one of 18 organisations, including the American Red Cross, Carbonfund.org and Concern Worldwide. jetblue.com

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Krisflyer works with Make a Wish Singapore to grant the wishes of children with lifethreatening illnesses. A minimum of 1,000 miles is required per donation, and a maximum of 100,000 can be donated per transaction. singaporeair.com

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

The US airline’s Rapid Rewards scheme enables donations of miles to All Hands and Hearts, which addresses the needs of communities affected by natural disasters, and Dream Foundation, which helps terminally ill adults. southwest.com

UNITED

Mileage Plus has 20 charity partners and runs campaigns. Members can donate a minimum of 1,000 miles to a campaign; if it doesn’t reach its goal within 28 days, the points are returned. unitedmileageplus.com

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Flying Club partners with WE (formerly Free the Children), which empowers people in rural international communities to break free of the cycle of poverty. Members can donate a minimum of 2,000 miles to fly volunteers to help efforts. virgin-atlantic.com