How I'm Using My Frequent Flyer Miles to Help Solve the Economic Crisis One Family at a Time

Did you know that if you travel frequently for business or pleasure, that you can use your Frequent Flyer miles to "shop"? I recently discovered this while perusing the Delta Skymiles website. Many airline programs have made it progressively more difficult for you to cash in your frequent flyer miles, using restrictive blackout dates and adding charges to transfer or "gift" miles. However, at the same time it appears that a lot of them have set up programs that allow you to use miles as currency.

I've always known that I could use my FF miles to "purchase" magazine subscriptions. But lately, I learned that many FF programs have set up on-line auction sites that allow you to use your miles to bid for merchandise. Still others, allow you to actually cash in your miles for merchandise or gift certificates, which are then shipped to you or to the person of your choosing free of charge.

If you have reached the Silver Medallion status with Delta Airlines, for example, you can access their "Medallion Marketplace" to shop for items ranging from electronics, to toys, to sports equipment, to health and beauty products. A 9" portable DVD player can be had for 31,600 miles. Just 5800 miles will buy you a Precision Electronic Scale. And if you have 8400 miles to blow, you can exchange them for gift cards worth $50 at any of the following stores: The Gap, Kids Gap and Baby Gap, Banana Republic, Carnival Cruises, Eddie Bauer, Hertz, Lands End, Macys, O'Charleys, Old Navy or the Sunglass Hut.

Personally, I already feel that I have enough "stuff" and I was in the process of divesting myself of more material items when I made this discovery. So, I decided to use my miles to grant wishes at the Wish Upon A Hero website. It has been really exciting searching the various wishes for objects that people want or need, then ordering them and having them shipped at no more cost to me than the time invested.

Thus far, I sent out the following items to wishmakers: a tricycle for a family with seven kids who couldn't afford Christmas gifts this year, a wrist blood pressure monitor to a lady in Texas who was having to walk to the drug store to check her blood pressure daily, a gift card to Safeway for a homeless family in Alaska who needed food, a gift card from Lands End for a family with serious medical bills to buy their son a school uniform, movie tickets for the wife of a Marine on a tight budget, a sleeping bag for a young man to go on a school camping trip, and several digital cameras for folks who just wanted to be able to take photos.

This kind of shopping is a win-win situation. I'm not out a dime and the recipients are generally thrilled to have their wishes granted. What a great way to use my Frequent Flyer miles, which otherwise run the risk of expiring while I'm busy doing something else!