American Promotes Military Appreciation Month with Extra Miles for Donations to USO
In case you were not tracking it, May is Military Appreciation Month. American Airlines is doing their part by giving 15 miles, instead of the regular 10, per dollar that you donate to the USO. Access the offer from this page. All this is part of a Every Moment Counts campaign by the USO to support troops and their families this month. USO is my favorite charity, second only the Wounded Warrior, so I hope you decide to donate, get a tax deduction and a bunch of miles. This is a great way to top off an AA account in order to get that award flight you’ve been wanting.
Anyone know of other Military Appreciation Month deals out there?
@glen – Do you know if AA will 1099 you (or whatever tax form it is) for the miles they credit to you for the donation? If so – at what rate per mile?
@ JDDTx – I have donated $200 in the past to this same promotion and did not receive a 1099. In fact, they don’t even ask you that type of info although I guess they could get it from your AAdvantage number if they tried.
I’ve donated $$$$ to the USO annually for the past 6 or 7 years, ever since I became highly interested in FF programs and started traveling more and visiting USO airport lounges on a regular basis. No 1099 and the IRS letter has never made mention of the miles so the full amount of the donation has always been tax deductible. However, for the first time, the AA Donation website now states “For charitable deduction purposes, each mile is valued at 2.75 cents per mile if fewer than 6,000 miles are awarded and 2.5 cents per mile if 6,000 or more miles are awarded.”, similar to what other charities (Komen, National Foundation Cancer Research) have done in the past. Those other charities have sent IRS letters indicating the value of the miles received thus decreasing the tax-deductible amount of the donation. For example, donate $1000, receive 15000 miles at $.025 each or $375, so only $625 is tax deductible.