yes, yours is indeed the wisest way to do it because then you sort of force the person with the miles to do what may be considered a very good deed and at the same time, you indicate that you can help them do it.

But if it is some ugly divorce, the last thing they need to hear is your voice, in which case, this chance you have to screw em to the wall can be done by you to them, but you really screw them over by giving their miles away to a higher cause at the same time. I would think that they may know nothing of miles anyway (as was the case in my older story in this thread about George and Elaine) and so your telling them to use them for charity is not going to make them move quickly on the act. Didnt the OP say the miles were about to expire anyway?

Well, I think if it were me and it were some ugly divorce where I felt I really got burnt, I would just go in and unload them to the charitable cause and then laugh in the face of the person. But then again, this is not about me.

At the same time, however, I am now actually considering taking some of my stray miles and finding a way to let people in need use them to get out of Asia, etc. Do we know if the places who accept such donations are up to speed on how to actually use them, or would one be better off just doing it on their own and then telling FT how it worked out? I would like to find our who in Asia may need these miles!