For a limited time, you can Stand Up to Cancer and score some bonus airline miles. American Airlines is teaming up with SU2C for a new fundraiser that’s also rewarding for donors.
First, from now through September 30th, those who visit the American Airlines’ Stand Up to Cancer link and give $25 or more will earn 25 AAdvantage miles for every dollar they donate. What’s more, those with an AAdvantage credit card earn a total of 50 miles per dollar donated, with a cap of $10,000. However, speaking of caps, American Airlines notes that this particular offer will expire on September 30th or when total qualifying donations hit $5 million (whichever comes first).
To donate and claim your miles, you’ll need to visit the SU2C/AA page. There, you can enter your AAdvantage account number and name, then select your contribution amount. Before completing the transaction, you can also choose to dedicate your donation. Note that, at checkout, you’ll be invited to cover the transaction costs (4.90%, apparently), although you can deselect the checkbox to opt out.
If you’re not familiar with Stand Up to Cancer, they’re a charitable organization that aims to both raise awareness and fund cancer research. Since partnering with American Airlines in 2016, the duo has raised more than $34 million. Plus, in 2019, AA introduced a SU2C livery! That Airbus A321 is still flying today — and has the tail number N162AA if you want to track it.
As for the bonus miles aspect of this partnership, with The Points Guy valuing AAdvantage Miles at 1.4¢ each, the 25 miles per $1 rate would return about 35¢ in value to you while the 50 miles per $1 offer would give you approximately 70¢ back in miles. That’s a pretty stellar return — especially when you consider the good you’ll be doing at the same time. However, opting to cover the transaction fee (which is the most beneficial to the charity) will cut into your return.
Of course, while that’s TPG’s estimated value, it’s not as though every redemption is the same. Personally, I’ve had good luck using points for American’s Web Specials. For example, I once found a flight that was selling for $494 in cash, but just 9,000 AAdvantage miles (plus $5.60). That amounts to a per-point value of 5.43¢. Similarly, I just looked up a round-trip flight to Chicago that would cost 13,000 miles + $11.20 or $637 — amounting to a value of 4.81¢ per point. If you could find deals like that, you’d have even more reason to donate!
Overall, I think this is a smart fundraising strategy for Stand Up to Cancer that could also be beneficial to American Airlines customers. So, if you’re interested, you can give by September 30th to get your miles. And, if you miss that date, I’m sure SU2C would be happy to have your donation any time of year, even without the associated airline miles bonus.