Tropical Depression Harvey — which was once a Category 4 hurricane — has finally begun its departure from southeastern Texas; but not before wreaking havoc and leaving a wake of destruction which resulted in at least 24 fatalities, thousands of canceled flights; and millions of dollars in destruction.

Donate to Help Victims of Harvey and Earn Miles

You can help victims of what was once Hurricane Harvey by donating funds to select charity organizations — and as an incentive, you can earn some frequent flier loyalty program miles in the process.

Earn Ten AAdvantage Miles Per Dollar By Helping Harvey Victims

You can earn ten AAdvantage miles per dollar by donating a minimum of $25.00 by Sunday, September 24, 2017 to the American Red Cross to provide critical aid to those in need as a result of Harvey, which is a tropical storm that has devastated parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana.

The American Red Cross has welcomed tens of thousands of people in shelters and expects the cost to be a minimum of $10 million. Here is how your donation will be used:

• $20.00 — Provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. During times of disaster, these prepared meals are served by American Red Cross workers at shelters or American Red Cross emergency response vehicles driving through neighborhoods.
• $30.00 — Covers the cost of a cleanup kit and comfort supplies for a family of four. These supplies are stored and ready for distribution nationwide.
• $88.00 — Covers the cost to support a family of three for one day. This service includes providing a day’s worth of food, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus blankets and other essentials to a family in the aftermath of a disaster.
• $150.00 — Provides travel, meals and shelter for one day for a disaster relief volunteer worker. Workers deploy for 14 day rotations at a minimum.
• $200.00 — Provides a full day of food and shelter for a family of four.

American Airlines and the American Red Cross

American Airlines is a proud Annual Disaster Giving Partner with the American Red Cross; and it supports disaster relief efforts from man made and natural disasters — large and small — through this partnership to help ensure those impacted have their most immediate needs met and assist in their recovery. American Airlines is encouraging you to join the airline in this effort and consider donating a contribution to support disaster relief so that volunteers and staff of the American Red Cross can respond to those in need during disaster responses. Through the support of disaster relief efforts of the American Red Cross, American Airlines and its employees help provide support to families affected by the unexpected. With the unique ability to activate immediately and assess critical needs during times of disaster, the Red Cross, has the infrastructure in place and relationships with local and foreign governments allowing immediate accessibility to affected areas and approved relief items.

American Airlines gives more than one million dollars to support the American Red Cross each year. Through combined donations of cash, in-kind support and volunteer efforts, the airline has become part of a select group of leading corporations which provide the highest level of support to the American Red Cross preparedness and relief efforts. Your donation will provide critical aid to those in need; and you will receive some bonus AAdvantage miles in return.

No maximum limit as to how many miles you can earn is indicated with this initiative.

Earn Up to 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles By Helping Harvey Victims

You can earn up to 1,000 bonus MileagePlus miles by donating a minimum of $50.00 by Friday, September 15, 2017 at 11:59 in the evening Central Daylight Time to any one of four charitable partners to provide critical aid to those in need as a result of Harvey, which is a tropical storm that has devastated parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana.

United Airlines will match the first $200,000.00 raised in donations. As of the time this article was written, $103.588.00 has already been raised; so there is still time for you to earn your bonus MileagePlus miles.

If you are a member of the United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program, you can earn the following bonus miles when you donate:

• $50.00 – $99.00 for 250 bonus MileagePlus award miles
• $100.00 – $249.00 for 500 bonus MileagePlus award miles
• $250.00 or more will receive 1,000 bonus MileagePlus award miles

Select Terms and Conditions

To receive a bonus — which you can only earn a maximum of one time per MileagePlus membership account — you must enter a valid MileagePlus membership account number and donate funds through this official Internet web site, where donations will be collected and cannot be refunded. Donations through anConsult your tax advisor as to whether or not your contribution will be considered tax-deductible.

An aggregate of three million total MileagePlus bonus award miles are available for this program; and they will be given in connection with donations on a first-come, first-served basis.

This offer — which is only for a limited time and is subject to change or cancellation without notice — cannot be combined with other offers.

Please allow up to eight weeks after completed qualifying activity for bonus MileagePlus miles to post to your account.

Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count or qualify for Premier elite level status unless expressly stated otherwise.

Other terms and conditions apply — including those of the United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program, which you can join if you are not already a member. MileagePlus miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to change.

Inside Take

Both offers from United Airlines and American Airlines are excellent ways to help people who had been adversely affected by the effects of Harvey — while earning a few bonus miles for yourself.

Additionally, this article written by William Axford of the Houston Chronicle offers some excellent ways on how you can help the people of southeastern Texas emerge from this historic storm.

Finally, InsideFlyer member ella was kind enough to suggest an Internet web site which shows lane or road closures — due to high water and other factors — for travelers who will need to navigate the highways and roads in Texas during the next few weeks.

Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.