American AAdvantage has long had a partnership with Stand Up To Cancer, which is a fantastic charity. At the moment, donating to Stand Up To Cancer can be particularly lucrative, and is essentially a way to acquire AAdvantage miles for two cents each, while also doing good.
In this post:
Earn AAdvantage miles on cancer research donations
American AAdvantage ordinarily offers 10x miles when donating to Stand Up To Cancer. However, once a year we tend to see an elevated offer, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing right now. Between August 13 and September 30, 2026, these donations can be much more rewarding:
- When donating $25 or more, you can earn 25x AAdvantage miles per dollar donated
- When donating $25-10,000 using an American AAdvantage Mastercard issued in the United States, you can earn 50x AAdvantage miles per dollar donated
While there’s no cap on the number of donations on which American will offer 25x miles, the 50x miles is only available for the first $5 million in eligible donations. I imagine the website will be updated if/when that cap is reached, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s relatively soon.
Note that the miles earned through this offer are AAdvantage redeemable miles, and wouldn’t count as Loyalty Points (aside from any base points from spending on co-branded American cards, at the rate of one Loyalty Point per dollar spent).
When you make a donation, on the payment page you’ll see that the option to “cover transaction costs” is automatically selected, and that can be as much as 4.9%. However, that’s not mandatory, and you can uncheck the box — everyone can decide for themselves what they want to do there.
The other catch to be aware of is that it can take several weeks for miles to post, so don’t expect the miles posting to be an instant process.
This is a rewarding opportunity to do good
If you have an eligible credit card, you could essentially be buying American AAdvantage miles for two cents each. Is that a rate at which I’d proactively pick them up? No, probably not. However, it’s a great opportunity if you want to acquire miles while also doing good, and it’s even lower than the cost at which American usually sells AAdvantage miles. Cancer research is of course a worthwhile cause.
Personally, I value AAdvantage miles at ~1.5 cents each, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re getting a 75% “return” on your donations in the form of miles. Other people will value miles differently, and can do their own math.
Some people may wonder if these donations are tax deductible. You’ll want to consult your tax professional, but the terms state the following:
For charitable deduction purposes, each mile is valued at 3 cents per mile. The receipt of miles may reduce the tax deductibility of your contribution.
A valuation of three cents per mile would put the reward at higher than the donation amount (for those earning 50x miles). I suppose you could dispute the value of miles, but still, most wouldn’t be looking at getting a significant tax benefit here.
Bottom line
At the moment, you can earn up to 50x American AAdvantage miles when donating to Stand Up To Cancer. This is a way to acquire AAdvantage miles for two cents each while doing good, so it’s something worth considering. I plan to make a donation, and encourage others to as well.
As a guy battling two cancers and watching for 3 more, I should donate to cancer cure research!
Interesting discussion on tax implications. I pride myself from graduating law school and passing the Iowa bar exam without taking any tax courses or answering any tax questions :-)
We sold our DC rowhouse last year with happily big capital gains. Our Financial Advisor recommended getting a tax preparation person which we did. In addition...
As a guy battling two cancers and watching for 3 more, I should donate to cancer cure research!
Interesting discussion on tax implications. I pride myself from graduating law school and passing the Iowa bar exam without taking any tax courses or answering any tax questions :-)
We sold our DC rowhouse last year with happily big capital gains. Our Financial Advisor recommended getting a tax preparation person which we did. In addition to doing the 2025 return, She found an error in 2024 that gives us more refund - more than her charges!
For those asking about tax implications, here's my perspective as a tax guy. You'll have to reduce your deduction by the value of the miles received, which will be listed on the acknowledgement letter you get in the mail or email. However, no, you aren't going to get a 1099 if the value of the miles received exceeds your donation. You just can't claim the deduction. Unless you want to take a chance and claim...
For those asking about tax implications, here's my perspective as a tax guy. You'll have to reduce your deduction by the value of the miles received, which will be listed on the acknowledgement letter you get in the mail or email. However, no, you aren't going to get a 1099 if the value of the miles received exceeds your donation. You just can't claim the deduction. Unless you want to take a chance and claim the miles are worth less than what SU2C tells you they are (good luck with that). For what it's worth, I charged the donation to my AA credit card for the 50x miles, and the acknowledgement letter I received shows that only the cost of the covered processing fees is tax deductible. Hope this helps.
As a tax guy, did you ever looked into their 990?
Their related parties, umbrellas?
Where does your hard earned donation dollars goes into?"
Not a tax person but that's always been my understanding, but what does a $75 limit have anything to do with that analysis? Why exclude all transactions over $75? If you are getting 50x the donation will always be more than AA's value of the miles, so no deduction, and if you are getting 25x theoretically you should be able to deduct the spread between paying 4cpm and receiving 3cpm, no? (Plus the processing fee...
Not a tax person but that's always been my understanding, but what does a $75 limit have anything to do with that analysis? Why exclude all transactions over $75? If you are getting 50x the donation will always be more than AA's value of the miles, so no deduction, and if you are getting 25x theoretically you should be able to deduct the spread between paying 4cpm and receiving 3cpm, no? (Plus the processing fee if you choose to cover it).
Just baffled by the new $75 limit this year.
Not sure what the $75 is about honestly. It might be the threshold where they've deemed the value of the miles received "de minimis". To answer your other question, yes, if you're receiving the lower bonus, in theory you should be able to deduct the spread between the donation amount and the value of miles received, no different than a charity auction kind of thing.
A worthwhile cause.
Great offer and worthy cause. Having said that - the new ads on the site make it borderline unusable. My laptop freezes up when I open any articles at this point. I'd happily pay you a membership fee to get rid of them
Ben….the ads are ridiculous!!!! Makes this site almost unusable, the ads cut in and out, the screen image is pushed up or down. With all due respect, longtime reader here, omaat as currently stands in mobile app is one of the worst sites I have been on in a long time. Mike mcguiness
Add me to the list of long time readers who has given up on the mobile site, and the about to give up entirely, due to the out-of-control ads. Yes, I know-the business model. I also know-just contribute a ton and then no ads. That's not happening, but I'd gladly pay to keep going on the site.
It's a worthy endeavor. However, if AA wants me to partake and contribute, they will offer me both miles and LPs. Otherwise, I'll find my own mechanisms to be charitable to these worthwhile platforms.
AA expressly notes this year that donations $75 and above are not tax-deductible. No idea what $75 has to do with anything from a tax perspective - you're either getting benefits that are more than the donation amount or not. Could donate $25 and if AA is valuing at 3cpm still getting $37.50 in value so not sure why anything would be tax deductible in that circumstance in the first place, unless I'm missing something...
AA expressly notes this year that donations $75 and above are not tax-deductible. No idea what $75 has to do with anything from a tax perspective - you're either getting benefits that are more than the donation amount or not. Could donate $25 and if AA is valuing at 3cpm still getting $37.50 in value so not sure why anything would be tax deductible in that circumstance in the first place, unless I'm missing something (which I may be!).
Anyway, who cares, make a generous donation, get some miles at 2cpm and support a good cause!
FWIW last year my miles from this donation event posted on October 29 (earlier than the promised December 1).
I call it doing the right thing and u get a benefit
I call it Quid Pro Quo.
Uh. So, they say that they consider it $0.03 cpm for tax purposes. If I donate $500, I get 25,000 miles, which means they "value" it at $750.
Am I gonna get a 1099 for $250 if I donate this? I mean, I hope not, but... I don't know why they would value it at more than what people are paying...
For the record, I support both donating and fighting cancer. I just don't understand their valuation choice. :)
@Andrew,
I not a tax expert or even claim to be an intermediate .
I don’t think you should get a 1099 because then wouldn’t you get a 1099 for almost every mile you earn on American whether it is flying, shopping, hotels, etc because American is awarding you miles for something you purchased regardless.
And regardless on American valuation for charitable contributions to deduct, so people will find a way to...
@Andrew,
I not a tax expert or even claim to be an intermediate .
I don’t think you should get a 1099 because then wouldn’t you get a 1099 for almost every mile you earn on American whether it is flying, shopping, hotels, etc because American is awarding you miles for something you purchased regardless.
And regardless on American valuation for charitable contributions to deduct, so people will find a way to use this as a business expense at full value instead of as a charitable contribution.
I could very very wrong on both above, but just my initial thoughts.
Done. Glad to be able to help and in return even get some miles for my “hobby”.
the tax implications of this are interesting....why I am not a tax expert (other than I pay a lot of taxes and I have an internet connection) - in general, to get a deduction you cant get anything in return. Like if you go to a benefit, sometimes they separate out the cost of the meal...anyhow since you are getting AA miles in return - I wonder how the IRS would treat this and what valuation they would give it?
maybe someone has more insight?
Would the 50x also work with a AA Barclays aviator Mastercard?
If you can still find a working card.
Thanks, Ben! Made a 3 figure donation to a great charity. Nothing wrong with the miles as a bonus.
It's a worthwhile promo. Getting some miles is just a gift.
I work in a cancer institute and I love this ability to make a donation and earn some miles. Whatever it takes to get people to donate. There are some amazing breakthroughs in cancer treatment on the horizon and I hope one day to say I am out of a job. Please donate!!
Cancer is the worst. Easy donation to make, whether or not you take the tax credit. Good cause, get a few miles, everyone wins.
The offer itself is not the best (obviously not at Conservation International levels...), but still slightly better at 2cpm than buying miles outright through AA (my current offer is a 40% discount on 151k+ purchases, comes in at ~2.25cpm). I suppose it is actually slightly better once you factor in...
Cancer is the worst. Easy donation to make, whether or not you take the tax credit. Good cause, get a few miles, everyone wins.
The offer itself is not the best (obviously not at Conservation International levels...), but still slightly better at 2cpm than buying miles outright through AA (my current offer is a 40% discount on 151k+ purchases, comes in at ~2.25cpm). I suppose it is actually slightly better once you factor in regular credit card rewards.
As for your LPs they are a short DD delivery away...