Want to buy some miles or points, maybe even some airline or hotel status, and actually help out kids in need in the process?
Well, you’ve got a week.
Kids First is a charity that helps abandoned and abused children.
The Kids First Auction is a program by Randy Petersen (of Boarding Area and Inside Flyer fame) to support the cause using items generously donated by a number of travel partners. Choice Hotels, Delta, Hilton, Wyndham, IHG, Norwegian Air, Southwest and United are all generously donating miles, points and status.
JetBlue is offering Mosaic status. United is offering Silver status. Wyndham Rewards is offering Platinum and Diamond statuses. Hilton is selling Gold status.
Hilton, IHG, Delta and Choice Hotels are all selling points/miles. Southwest is offering a Companion Pass in one auction and A-List status in another. Wyndham also has a 30,000 point auction on top of the status auctions.
(I won last week’s Wyndham Diamond status for $270 which I then used to match myself to Caesar’s Total Rewards Diamond status – which will get me a 3 night stay at Atlantic in the Bahamas. Suffice it to say I feel I got a good deal for myself while at the same time donating to a worth cause. Win-Win!)
Of course, you’ll need to decide for yourself what you value and how much you are willing to part with knowing it’s a good cause on top of what you get back. I could have gotten a Founder’s Card and accomplished the same thing, but that wouldn’t have felt as good (and it would have cost more as well). Some of the auction items are definitely worth a lot more than others. Hilton Gold is super easy to get a million ways. Delta miles wouldn’t be my first choice either.
But many of the other items are not so easy to get and this is a great way to get them.
Are you bidding on any of these items or have you previously? Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
New to all of this? My new “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.
