Ask any financial planner the secret to a healthy financial lifestyle and they’ll quote the three S’s: Save, Spend, Share.
Your loyalty mile collections deserve the same treatment.
Over the last few weeks I’ve offered tips in all three categories from a traveller’s perspective. We’ve already talked about Saving and Spending.
This week: Share!
This is it people: You’re down to the wire.
With just over two weeks left until Christmas, many of you will be in a full-on shopping frenzy with the stress levels to match. And while I’m sure your father will love anything you get him (hint: Giving him a tie four years in a row makes anything you do differently a welcome surprise), this year might be the one to consider a gift that keeps giving long after the holidays are over.
Aeroplan members can donate to one of 10 “Beyond Miles” partners. Launched in 2006, Beyond Miles links Aeroplan Members to ten Canadian not-for-profit
organizations dedicated to improving lives and enriching communities at home and around the world. Members can donate miles online (at aeroplan.com/donate) to
help these organizations offset costs related to travel: Earth Day Canada, Engineers Without Borders, Free The Children, Médecins Sans Frontières, MusiCounts, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Schools Without
Borders, Veterinarians Without Borders, War Child Canada and The Air Canada Foundation.
Bonus: If you donate to Beyond the Miles Partner: Schools without Borders on December 12, Aeroplan will match your donation! All miles donated up to 500,000 to Schools Without Borders on that day are matched mile for mile.
You can also donate to more than 500 Aeroplan Charitable Pooling accounts. Aeroplan’s charitable pooling program allows members to use Aeroplan Miles to support registered
community charities or provide travel assistance for people and their families with medical or other emergencies. An account is established in the name of the charity, which enables them to pool donated
Aeroplan Miles at no cost. Among them: Children’s Wish Foundation, Symphony Nova Scotia and Oceans Initiative. Aeroplan Members have already donated more than 340 million miles.
This year Aeroplan donated 1 million miles to the Canadian Red Cross to support the emergency relief efforts in the aftermath of the recent typhoon in the Philippines. Aeroplan Members who wish to support the Canadian Red Cross can donate their Aeroplan Miles online as well. Aeroplan Members can also automatically donate two per cent of all miles accumulated to any Beyond
Miles partner of the member’s choice. Members interested in donating two per cent of their Aeroplan Miles simply visit their profile page on aeroplan.com, select the donation opt-in and the Beyond Miles partner they would like their miles to go to.
And don’t forget that the Aeroplan “Money Can’t Buy” items mean you can buy a unique gift for someone special (or yourself) and still make a big difference in the lives of those who need it most. The series launched in 2010, allows members to redeem their Aeroplan Miles for a variety of rewards that are unique to the Aeroplan program (Keith Urban autographed guitar anyone?) and 100 per cent of the proceeds from these redemptions will go to Aeroplan’s Beyond Miles partners like War Child Canada or a charity of the artists choice.
The options abound. Choose the one that’s right for you and kick that tie-buying madness to the curb this holiday season.
This post was sponsored by Aeroplan. As usual all opinions and suggestions are my own.
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