Make-A-Wish seeking donations of airline miles
 

Make-A-Wish of the Tri-Counties is asking people to donate frequent flier miles to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

The donated miles are used to send the children from Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties on “wish trips” with their families.

United, Delta, Continental or US Airways miles can be donated at http://tri-counties.wish.org.


Full article: Make-A-Wish seeking donations of airline miles

So how does that even work? Do airlines let you donate miles to orgs like this without transfer fees? Or do you have to book the tix in the name of the person who'll use the donation?

I suppose there is no tax deduction for donating miles versus other property/cash?

I think the Make A Wish folks is a very worthwhile charity, but they could probably benefit greatly from some of our expertise in redeeming miles efficiently.

Just as we are not taxed for miles earned, we can not claim a tax deduction for miles we donate to those organizations authorized by the airlines to use them (or by "buying" seats with those miles for members or in support of projects of those organizations).

OTOH, if you accrue miles from winning a contest (or possibly a slug of bonus miles form a credit card offer, discussed elsewhere,) those are considered taxable, and may be considered deductible if you make a gift of them to an Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3) organization - but be sure to check with your tax accountant.