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American Airlines is offering a promotion where you can donate to Stand Up To Cancer and earn 50 AAdvantage miles per $1 donated for AA card holders.

This can be a great way to accumulate a lot of miles, especially when combined with the Citi AAdvantage Card signup bonus – but the value depends on your situation.

Note: The IRS generally values each mile at 3¢, so probably no charitable deduction applies as you’re getting back $1.50 for every $1 – but are mentioned below for Yagdil Torah V’ya’adir.

Also, the bonus is already fully claimed, but will come back around in the future.

Option 1: Charity Miles Promotion Alone

• Donation: $3,500 (example)
• Miles Earned: 3,500 × 50 = 175,000 miles

Without tax benefit:

• Cost: $3,500
• Cost per mile: $3,500 ÷ 175,000 = 2¢/mile

Example valuations:

• If you value miles at 1¢ → worth $1,750 → net loss of $1,750
• If you value miles at 2¢ → worth $3,500 → break-even

With tax benefit:
The donation could reduce your effective cost depending on your tax bracket: (Federal only; state taxes not included):

Example valuations for 37% bracket:

• If you value miles at 1¢ → worth $1,750 → net loss of $455
• If you value miles at 2¢ → worth $3,500 → net gain of $1,295

Takeaways:

• Without tax benefit, donating $3,500 could result in a loss of $1,750 at 1¢/mile valuation and only break-even at 2¢/mile which is a bad valuation.
• With tax benefits, the cost per mile could drop to around 1.3¢, making higher-value redemptions more worthwhile – especially in higher brackets.

Option 2: Charity Miles + Citi AAdvantage® Card Signup Bonus

• Signup Bonus: 80,000 miles for $3,500 Donation/Spend
• Total Miles (Charity + Bonus): 175,000 + 80,000 = 255,000 miles

Without tax benefit:

• Cost: $3,500
• Cost per mile: $3,500 ÷ 255,000 = 1.37¢/mile

Example valuations:

• If you value miles at 1¢ → worth $2,550 → net loss of $950
• If you value miles at 2¢ → worth $5,100 → net gain of $1,600

With tax benefit:
(Federal bracket, state taxes not included):

Example valuations:

• If you value miles at 1¢ → worth $2,550 → net gain of $345
• If you value miles at 2¢ → worth $5,100 → net gain of $2,895

Takeaways:

• Without tax benefit: This option could result in a loss of $950 at 1¢/mile or a gain of $1,600 at 2¢/mile, since you’re effectively buying miles at 1.37¢ each.
• With tax benefit: The effective cost drops to under 1¢/mile, creating an impressive net gain by letting you buy miles at a remarkably low rate.

Offer Details (Important Fine Print)

• Offer valid on donations to Stand Up To Cancer made between August 15 and September 30, 2025.
• Bonus miles do not count toward elite status qualification.
• Bonus miles expected to post by December 19, 2025.
• Donations made in connection with the AA AAdvantage® bonus miles program are non-refundable.
• For charitable deduction purposes, each mile is valued at 3¢ per mile.
• The receipt of miles may reduce the tax deductibility of your contribution.

Final thoughts:

If you already have $3,500 in regular spending you’d make anyway, the signup bonus essentially gives you 80,000 miles for free. From there, you can decide if it’s worth using the donation method (Option 1) to “buy” additional miles at the calculated rate.

On the other hand, if you already have the card, the signup bonus isn’t available. That also leaves you only with Option 1, which isn’t a strong valuation – unless you’re in a higher tax bracket and can really leverage the tax benefit.