AAdvantage members in the Southern Florida area can earn up to 1,000 miles for donating platelets and recruiting a new first-time platelet donor. And that is exactly what they are doing. “We have donors who donate every 14 days just to get those miles,” says Theresa McCreey, assistant director for Telephone Recruitment at the Community Blood Center of South Florida.

Platelets are colorless cells whose main function is to control bleeding. They are essential to normal blood clotting and have a very short life-span of only five days. They can be eradicated during treatment for cancer, leukemia, aplastic anemia and other diseases.

During an apheresis platelet donation, the donor can donate six to 10 times more platelets than during a whole blood donation. The entire process takes approximately 90 minutes.

Five hundred miles can be earned for donating platelets every other Monday, and members can earn another 500 miles by recruiting a new first-time donor. Interested parties should call the Miles For Mondays program at (800) 357-4483, ext. 2585. This could also count as a partner for the 20/20 promotion.