Sitting on a mountain of loyalty reward points? Wondering what to do with them? Why not give them to a charity?
Organizations such as AIR MILES allows points to be used to make donations to certain charities, including Kids Help Phone, Trees Ontario, the Special Olympics Canada Foundation, WWF-Canada, and Canadian Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Aeroplan has a Charitable Pooling Program that allows a charity to redeem donated Aeroplan Miles for, as examples, travel, car rental, hotel stays, and merchandise. Other types of points – such as Esso Extra, Petro-Points, Shoppers Optimum, HBC Rewards, and Club Sobeys – can also be donated to select charities.
So, if you don't have enough points to buy anything, and you never will, or if you're just looking for another way to give that doesn't require opening your wallet, put your points to good use and donate them! Shopping has never been so virtuous.
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