Donate Aeroplan Points to Miles4Migrants and Reunite Families

AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.

Editor's Note: The author of this post is a former AwardWallet writer who currently works for Miles4Migrants — an organization whose mission we fully support.

Over the last few years, I've written hundreds of posts detailing the best ways to earn and maximize points and miles. But now, I've found an even more rewarding way to redeem your hard-earned miles. Meet Miles4Migrants — a 501(c)(3) charity who turns donated frequent flyer miles into a life-changing force for good.

Every day, Miles4Migrants books flights that support victims of persecution, war, and natural disaster on their journey to safety. All using donated frequent flyer miles! In short, it's the perfect way for you to donate extra points and miles to help families in need.

What is Miles4Migrants?

Miles4Migrants is a unique charity concept that — interestingly enough — originated on Reddit. Seth Stanton, one of the org's co-founders, was a moderator in the famous r/churning subreddit community.

Together with fellow co-founder Nick Ruiz, they came up with the notion of using points and miles to assist refugees fleeing persecution. (In fact, the idea originated from Nick using his own miles to help reunite a refugee friend with his family.) Later, Andy Freedman completed the founder-trio thanks to a shared personal desire to help refugees, and the rest was history. Over time, the organization's mission solidified, and its impact grew. But the idea remains the same: use donated points and miles to remove travel barriers for victims of forced migration.

Fast forward 6 years, and that simple idea on Reddit has evolved into a full-fledged 501(c)(3) charitable organization, with numbers to match. Since its founding, Miles4Migrants has assisted over 40,000 people from over 97 countries using nearly 700 million donated points and miles.

Follow Miles4Migrants on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter for weekly doses of humanity and heart-warming airport-hug videos.

Air Canada Connection With Miles4Migrants

While Miles4Migrants accepts donations from dozens of airline loyalty programs, Aeroplan is special. As the loyalty program for Air Canada, Aeroplan was among our first official airline partners — placing faith in us while our org was still in its infancy. Thanks to that partnership, Miles4Migrants has been able to reach a larger audience and, most importantly, help far more people.

Since launching our partnership, Miles4Migrants and Air Canada Aeroplan have together flown over 4,300 victims of forced migration to safety.

Unfortunately, flying that many people costs a lot of points, leaving our balance of Aeroplan points dangerously low. That's where you come in.

How Can You Help Miles4Migrants?

In a word: donate!

Now through April, Miles4Migrants is hosting a campaign in an effort to raise up to two million Aeroplan points. If Miles4Migrants hits that goal, it'll have enough points to support flights for up to 160 people in their battle for a new beginning.

If you’ve flown Air Canada or hold an Aeroplan co-branded credit card, you may have some extra Aeroplan points available. If so, this campaign is the perfect way to put them towards a good cause.

Here’s how to donate your Aeroplan points:

1. Click this link to open the homepage for the campaign.
2. After completing the short form, you'll automatically be redirected to M4M's Aeroplan partnership page.
3. Once there, log into your Aeroplan account by selecting ‘Sign in to donate’.
4. After you’ve logged in, you’re brought back to the homepage where you can now select ‘Donate now’. Then, simply fill in however many points you’d like to contribute.

Once you’ve confirmed your donation, your points will move to our pooled Aeroplan account — where the Miles4Migrants Booking Team will use them to reunite families and support forced migrants.

How Miles4Migrants Helps Refugees

To give you a better idea of the power of your donation, here are just a few of the stories made possible by Aeroplan points:

Congo Refugee Reunites With Four Sons After Over Five Years Apart

Mr. Seme fled the Congo over five years ago. Since then, he’s toiled to save enough money for visas for the rest of his family — while also battling the complexity of the Belgian refugee program. After many failures and delays, he managed to secure visas for four of his six children.

Thanks to Aeroplan points donated to Miles4Migrants, Mr. Seme finally reunited with his four sons after over five years apart. He continues to save more money with the goal of reuniting with his wife and remaining two children soon.

A Mother Reunites With Her 10-Year-Old Son After Seven Years Apart

Hermon fled Eritrea over seven years ago, forced to leave her young son, Natan, in the care of cousins in Ethiopia. After a long and arduous journey, Hermon finally managed to secure refugee status in Belgium in 2016, immediately applying for Natan to join her. With the help of donated Aeroplan points and Miles4Migrants, Hermon and her son joyously reunited this year after seven years apart. Along with Hermon’s new family, they’re now building a life together in Belgium.

Daughter Reunites with Mother and Brothers After 5 Years Apart

This young lady has an unbelievable story of perseverance and determination, culminating in a heart-warming reunification thanks to donated Aeroplan points. I think it’s best shared in her own voice:

“My name is F., I am 19 years old. When I was only 14 years old, me and my family had to flee from our country Eritrea to Ethiopia.

My mother and brothers stayed in Ethiopia, but I decided to try to get to Europe to bring us all to a safer place. My little brother was only a baby when I left. It took me 2 years to reach Belgium.

I travelled through Sudan, Libya and Italy before arriving in Belgium when I was 16. The asylum- and family-reunion procedure took so long because of covid. When my mother and brothers finally got their visa, I could not buy them plane tickets, because I am still a student.

I was very happy when I heard that Miles4Migrants wanted to help me and buy the tickets for my mother and brothers. Their first flight a few weeks ago was cancelled because my brother tested positive on covid the day before their departure. But Miles4Migrants immediately bought them new tickets after a few weeks of quarantine.

I am very grateful for your help. Thanks to you my family could be reunited after more than 5 years apart. Thank you so much.”

Other Ways to Get Aeroplan Points

If you don’t fly Air Canada often, you may not have too many Aeroplan points just lying around. However, you can still participate in this promotion. That's because Aeroplan is a transfer partner of multiple transferrable point currencies:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 transfer ratio, immediate transfer)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 transfer ratio, immediate transfer)
• Capital One Miles (1:1 transfer ratio, immediate transfer)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 transfer ratio, 4-5 day transfer)
• Bilt Rewards (1:1)
• Choice Privileges (5:1)
• IHG Rewards (5:1)
• Hilton Honors (10:1)

Donate Amex Membership Rewards points

Between the 1:1 transfer ratio and the immediate transfer time, Amex Membership Rewards stands out as the best option for most. Anyone with a Membership Reward-earning Amex card can easily and instantly transfer their points to Aeroplan. Here’s how that works:

1. If you don’t have an Aeroplan account already, create one here. It’s free and easy to join.
2. Find your Aeroplan loyalty number and write it down somewhere. You’ll need it to transfer your points from Amex.
3. Use this link to log into your American Express account. It navigates you directly to the ‘Transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan’ page.
4. Follow the instructions on the page to link your Aeroplan account with your Membership Rewards Account. Complete the instructions on the screen to transfer however many points you can spare.
5. Once you’ve initiated the transfer, the points will arrive in your Aeroplan account almost instantly. Log back into your Aeroplan account with this link and follow the instructions outlined in the above section for Aeroplan donations.

It makes sense that far more people have access to Membership Rewards points than Aeroplan points. So if you find yourself points rich, share the love with some folks who could really use them.

My Personal Connection with Miles4Migrants

Aside from my heartfelt passion for Miles4Migrants’ mission, there’s another reason I feel compelled to talk about it: I work there!

In early 2021, I accepted a position on the Miles4Migrants Booking Team. That meant living a dream for any points fanatic: booking award travel all day! But even better, I found a meaningful way to use my love of award travel to help those in need. Sure, maybe it's not as glamorous as first-class suites, aspirational hotels, and pre-departure champagne. But every day, I got to book flights reuniting torn families or sparing refugees the burden of starting a new life in debt. It's a privilege I certainly didn't take lightly.

Now, I've found myself heading Miles4Migrant's Strategic Partnership department. That means I work hand-in-hand with our org's strategic partners to broaden our impact, including:

1. Air Canada Aeroplan (donate here)
2. Alaska Mileage Plan (donate here)
3. Air France / KLM Flying Blue (donate here)
4. JetBlue TrueBlue (donate here)
5. United MileagePlus (donate here)

Bottom Line

Miles4Migrants is a 501(c)(3) charity created by and tailored to points and miles enthusiasts. It uses donated frequent flyer miles to help reunite families and assist refugees on their journey to their new home.

Over the last few years, many award-travel enthusiasts have found themselves with more points than they can use. If that describes you, consider donating now, and help us make safety only a few miles away.