You Can Get Frequent Flier Miles for Donating to Hurricane Matthew Relief

[Disclosure: Our partners are mentioned below.]

United Airlines is teaming up with major disaster relief organizations to help individuals and families affected by Hurricane Matthew.

Starting Monday, the airline will pledge up to five million bonus miles to MileagePlus customers who give to organizations using the web portal CrowdRise; the organizations include the American Red Cross, Americares, Airlink and OperationUSA. United will also give up to $100,000 to match donations made to these partners.

“It is our hope that partnering with these organizations will help provide relief to those who need it most,” said Brett Hart, United’s executive vice president and general counsel, in a release issued Monday.

As the release noted, “miles be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis based on contributions made through the airline’s fundraising page through Oct. 21, 2016.” You can find more information on CrowdRise’s website.

MileagePlus customers who donate to the organizations will be able to earn up to 1,000 bonus miles just by entering their MileagePlus number. Just know that miles will be awarded by the size of donations as follows:

$50-$99 — 250 bonus miles awarded
$100-249 — 500 bonus miles awarded
$250 and up — 1,000 bonus miles awarded

United isn’t the only company trying to help those affected by Hurricane Matthew. Discover recently announced a partnership with the American Red Cross, in which it will match up to $500,000 in donations. And Capital One is encouraging customers to donate rewards or cash using their card, and will cover all transaction fees to ensure the charity receives the full gift. Citibank’s ThankYou Network, a free rewards program, lets members redeem their ThankYou points (minimum donation 2,500 points) for a cash donation to the Red Cross. (Full Disclosure: Citibank, Discover and Capital One advertise on Credit.com, but that results in no preferential editorial treatment.)

More Ways to Give

You don’t have to wait for disaster to strike in order to do something good. Discover allows cardmembers to donate in two ways: with Discover Giving, a partnership with the organization JustGive, or by donating their cash back bonus directly to charity. “Discover cardmembers can customize their gifts and set up one-time or recurring donations through Discover Giving,” the site says.

Likewise, Capital One cardmembers can donate through the Network for Good, which ensures the gift reaches their charity of choice.

If you’re in the market for a card that gives back, be sure your credit is in tip-top condition before you apply. (Not sure how to read your score? Here’s a guide on what goes into it.) You can pull your credit reports for free each year at AnnualCreditReport.com and view two of your free credit scores, updated every two weeks, on Credit.com.

At publishing time, Discover, Capital One and Citibank products are offered through Credit.com product pages, and Credit.com is compensated if our users apply and ultimately sign up for these cards. However, this relationship does not result in any preferential editorial treatment.

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