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Turn Your NFCR Donation Into a Dream Vacation

Spencer Howard's image
Spencer Howard
Spencer Howard's image

Spencer Howard

Former Content Contributor

51 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 21U.S. States Visited:

Always a fan of flying, Spencer wanted to find ways to upgrade his travel experience. Over the years, Spencer has been a guest speaker on multiple YouTube shows as well as podcasts on maximizing point...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
Keri Stooksbury's image

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

52 Published Articles 3470 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 50U.S. States Visited: 28

With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now editor-in-chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
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At Upgraded Points, we’re obsessed with maximizing the travel experience. There’s nothing quite like taking your dream vacation, whether that’s eating cheap Michelin star-rated food in Singapore or exploring European history.

Let’s be honest, though. While we all love to travel, we don’t really enjoy how much it costs sometimes. So, how do we make your travel dreams a reality? Frequent flyer miles.

Thanks to frequent flyer miles, you don’t have to take out a second mortgage just to take the vacation you deserve. Instead, you can focus on where to go rather than how you can afford to get there!

Earn Miles With Your NFCR Donation

You might already earn extra miles when shopping online by using an airline shopping portal, but have you ever thought of earning miles for your charitable donations?!

When you make a donation to an organization like the National Foundation for Cancer Research, you know that it is helping push research forward to help millions of people in need of help. That, alone, more than makes the donation worth it.

However, The National Foundation for Cancer Research takes things a step further. They have partnered with several airline programs to give a little something back to you when you make a charitable donation.

For donations of $25 or more, you will earn 10 frequent flyer miles per dollar donated. NFCR has partnered with American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan so that you can choose which frequent flyer miles you would like to earn with your donation.

During April and May, NFCR will be offering 15 miles per dollar donated which makes this the perfect time to make your donation.

Now, earning miles is great, but just what exactly can you do with them? The best part of miles is using them for some amazing travel, so we wanted to share some of our favorite ways to use the miles you can earn from your donation to NFCR.

American Airlines AAdvantage

Japan Airlines Boeing 777 300ER First Class JAL Suite 2A
Japan Airlines offers a very nice first class experience and you can book it with American miles! Image Credit: Cherag Dubash

If you’re looking for a fun way to redeem your American miles, flying first class on their partner Japan Airlines to Tokyo is an amazing way to fly. For 80,000 American miles, you can enjoy your own private first class suite. Not a bad way to fly across the Pacific Ocean!

For 80,000 American miles, you can enjoy your own private first class suite. Not a bad way to fly across the Pacific Ocean!

Not only will you have access to a lie-flat bed on this flight, the crew on Japan Airlines are some of the best in the world. They go to great lengths to ensure you enjoy flying with them.

You can book this flight in business class, which also includes a lie-flat bed, for 60,000 American miles. This is only one of many amazing flights you can enjoy with miles.

If you’re curious about some other options, check out our top 24 ways to redeem American miles

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 Upper Class Seat During the Morning
Use your SkyMiles to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Delta’s SkyMiles program provides one of the best ways to fly to Europe thanks to their partner Virgin Atlantic. For 75,000 SkyMiles you can fly to from the US to London in Virgin Atlantic’s upper class.

Flying Upper Class comes with several perks. You get a lie-flat seat, great food and drink (including champagne service), and lounge access at the airport.If you’re flying out of New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, or Washington, DC, you will have access to their famous Clubhouse lounges.

If you’re flying out of New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, or Washington, DC, you will have access to their famous Clubhouse lounges.

If you’re looking for some other great Delta SkyMiles redemptions, we have 11 other fantastic options for you.

United Airlines MileagePlus

United Boeing 787 Dreamliner Polaris Business Class Empty
Take an amazing trip to the Caribbean thanks to United miles! Image Credit: Chris Hassan

Have you ever felt like you needed some time on a beach to relax? Well, with United MileagePlus miles you can visit two Caribbean or two Central American destinations for 35,000 miles round-trip in economy class or 60,000 miles in business class.

Here’s an easy example of how United’s stopover (stays of more than 24 hours) on round-trip bookings can help you see two destinations: Fly to Panama City, spend several days relaxing (stopover), fly to El Salvador for a few more days before returning home.

You could also combine two Caribbean destinations such as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Want some more inspiration to help you use your miles? Take a look at our 16 best ways to use United MileagePlus miles.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Cathay Pacific First Class Seat
Champagne is only the beginning of this amazing first class experience on Cathay Pacific. Image Credit: Alex Miller

While Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is not as big as the airlines above, it provides one of our favorite redemptions. For 70,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles, you can fly one-way to Asia in first class on Cathay Pacific, one of the world’s best airlines.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan even allows a stopover on one-way bookings, which means you can enjoy a stopover in Hong Kong before continuing to a city such as Singapore or Bangkok.

If you’re up for a real adventure, rather than connecting to another city in Asia, you can continue to South Africa for no extra miles. Now, that’s an amazing way to book an award ticket.

To get some other fun ideas, check out our 17 favorite ways to use Alaska miles.

What Are You Waiting For?!

The National Foundation for Cancer Research depends on contributions from people like you to support cutting-edge research.

If that weren’t enough, NFCR wants to help you take your next vacation by giving you tons of miles.

So, what are you waiting for? Pick the airline miles you want, make your donation, and start planning your next vacation!


 

* Please check airline websites for possible award changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you earn miles with an NFCR donation?

Yes, you can earn miles for an NFCR donation with multiple airline programs like Delta, American, and Alaska.

Spencer Howard's image

About Spencer Howard

Always a fan of flying, it was only natural that Spencer was drawn to finding a way to improve the travel experience.

Like many, he started this journey searching for cheap flights to take him around the world. This was fun for a while, but Spencer was intrigued by the idea of flying in business and first class!

Throwing himself into what became an extensive research project, Spencer spent 3-4 hours per night learning everything he could about frequent flyer miles over the course of several months (he thinks this is normal). He runs Straight to the Points, an award-seat alert platform.

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