Aeroplan hopes to surpass the more than 12 million miles donated last year

MONTREAL, Sept. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeroplan today announced that it will match all miles donated by members to each of the nine Beyond Miles charitable partners as part of "Aeroplan Match Days."  Miles will be matched on a 1-for1 basis up to 1.5 million Aeroplan Miles for each partner organization.   Each organization has chosen its own match day and Aeroplan will match miles for a 24 hour period.

To donate miles, members simply visit www.aeroplan.com/donate where they can choose to donate to any of the Beyond Miles partners including: Air Canada's Kids Horizons, Athletes for Africa, Earth Day Canada, Engineers Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières, Schools Without Borders, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, Veterinarians Without Borders and War Child Canada.  Each of the nine Canadian organizations are committed to improving lives and enriching communities across Canada and abroad. 

"Thanks to the generosity of our members, more than 12 million miles were donated to our Beyond Miles partners last year during Aeroplan Mile Matching Days," said Vince Timpano, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aeroplan.  "We hope to surpass this impressive number by encouraging our members to continue to support these incredible organizations and their projects across the world." 

Mile Matching Days will be held on:

• War Child Canada - September 13, 2010;
• Veterinarians Without Borders - October 4, 2010
• Engineers Without Borders - October 15, 2010
• Médecins Sans Frontières - November 4, 2010
• Earth Day Canada - November 7, 2010
• Schools Without Borders - November 9, 2010
• Athletes for Africa - November 17, 2010
• Stephen Lewis Foundation - December 10, 2010
• Air Canada Kids Horizons - December 15, 2010

"War Child Canada is excited about our "Aeroplan Match Day" and will use the donated miles to help support children whose lives have been affected by war," said War Child Canada's Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Samantha Nutt.  "Whether used to visit schools that are being rebuilt in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, our program that helps lift families out of poverty in Afghanistan, or children who have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, the miles will go a long way to supporting children and their families in war affected communities around the world.  We are incredibly grateful to Aeroplan and to their members for their generosity."

Since the program was launched in 2006, more than 145 million Aeroplan Miles have been donated by members.   Beyond Miles partners use Aeroplan Miles to offset costs related to travel by air as well as hotel accommodations and car rentals.  Aeroplan offsets 100 per cent of all carbon emissions from flights taken by Beyond Miles partners using donated miles.  In 2010, Aeroplan has donated 1.25 million miles to each of the partner organizations.  Aeroplan also announced recently that members can now automatically donate 2 per cent of all miles accumulated to any Beyond Miles partner of the member's choice.  Members interested in donating 2 per cent of their Aeroplan Miles simply visit their profile page on aeroplan.com, select the donation opt-in and the Beyond Miles partner they would like their miles to go to.  More information is available at www.aeroplan.com/donate.

In addition, Aeroplan also has a Charitable Pooling program that allows members to use miles to support individuals, families or local grass roots charities in need.  100 per cent of the donated miles go directly to these individuals and groups.  Members have pooled more than 45 million miles into over 400 pooling accounts across the country.

Aeroplan's Beyond Miles program and other community investment initiatives can now be found on Twitter.  Follow us at: http://twitter.com/BeyondMiles.

About Aeroplan
Aeroplan, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, is owned by Groupe Aeroplan Inc., a global leader in loyalty management.  

Aeroplan's millions of members earn Aeroplan Miles with its growing network of over 75 world-class partners, representing more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors.  

In 2009, over 2.1 million rewards were issued to members including more than 1.5 million flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers which offer travel to more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. In addition to flights, members also have access to over 600 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and experiential rewards. 

For more information about Aeroplan, please visit www.aeroplan.com or www.groupeaeroplan.com.