How To Donate Your Unused Airline Rewards To The People Of Ukraine

As the devastating images of the war in Ukraine permeate our newsfeeds, it’s not uncommon to feel like there’s nothing you can do to help.

Thankfully, several airline rewards programs are reversing that sentiment by giving Canadians ways they can give back by donating their unused airline rewards and points.

Below is a list of the loyalty programs contributing, the charitable organizations involved, and how you can donate your leftover rewards to help them support the people of Ukraine through this ongoing tragedy and humanitarian crisis.

Donate Aeroplan points to Ukraine

Aeroplan has established the Ukrainian Relief Fund where 100% of all Aeroplan points donated through its Aeroplan Member Donation Program will be redistributed through The Air Canada Foundation to organizations providing critical aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Since the establishment of the Aeroplan Member Donation Program in 2006, the program has contributed 1,404,707,490 points to 1,434 causes. Aeroplan is hoping to donate 1 million Aeroplan points to Ukrainian relief efforts by the end of 2022 and its members have already raised 127,360 points since it began its relief effort on March 21st.

There are over 300 organizations that will benefit from the Aeroplan Ukrainian Relief Fund. If you want to donate your Aeroplan points, here’s what you do:

1. Log in to your Aeroplan account, select the “donations page” under the redemptions tab, and follow the prompts.
2. Alternatively, you can go to the “Charities” page, select the charity you want to donate to that’s providing relief to Ukrainian refugees, and sign into your Aeroplan account to donate your points.

Doctors Without Borders

Your unused Aeroplan points can also be donated to Doctors Without Borders. The international humanitarian aid organization provides emergency medical care and treatment to those affected by conflict, crisis, and neglect around the world.

They recently announced they will be halting all other efforts and focusing exclusively on the war in Ukraine for the foreseeable future. Your donation will help them save on air travel costs as they send doctors directly to the war zone and provide medical aid to Ukrainian refugees.

To donate your Aeroplan points to Doctors Without Borders, follow the steps above and select them as your chosen charity.

Miles4Migrants

For those who don’t belong to Aeroplan and are looking for ways to help, you can always donate your rewards from any frequent flier program to Miles4Migrants.

This organization uses donated airline reward miles to provide free flights to asylum seekers and those escaping conflict zones around the world.

Though they recently announced they cannot help Ukrainians escaping the country at the moment (as all flights have been suspended), they have assured that they will be helping anyone wishing to escape the war zone as soon as they are able to and into the future.

To donate to Miles4Migrants visit their page today and click “Support a Flight.”

Other airline rewards programs supporting Ukraine

Though Westjet has donated $25,000 to Ukraine relief efforts, Westjet Rewards members cannot currently donate their Westjet Dollars to Ukrainian refugees directly. The Air Miles program has also not set up anything to donate Air Miles specifically to Ukraine.

That being said, several other airlines are accepting airline rewards donations of their own through their loyalty programs and Canadians can transfer their airline rewards 1:1 into those airline rewards programs that are donating.

Marriott Bonvoy members can use the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card and Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^® Card to transfer their rewards points into the loyalty programs of various airlines around the world.

Currently, United Airlines and JetBlue are donating their own airline rewards points towards relief for Ukraine so if you really want to literally go the extra mile and donate points while you’re not an Aeroplan member, that could be the best route.

Your turn

Have you donated or do you plan to donate to Ukraine relief and will you use your airline rewards to do it? Let us know in the comments below.