American Airlines is giving 25 AAdvantage miles per dollar donated to Stand Up To Cancer, or 50 miles per dollar when you pay with an AAdvantage Mastercard, on donations between $25 and $10,000. At 1.5 cents a mile that is about 75 cents of miles per dollar given. It runs August 13 to September 30, 2026, but also ends when total qualifying donations reach $5 million, whichever comes first, and American publishes no running total. Quoted from American's own newsroom on August 14, 2026.
The short version: American Airlines is giving 25 AAdvantage miles for every dollar you donate to Stand Up To Cancer, and 50 miles per dollar if you pay with an AAdvantage Mastercard. At our valuation of 1.5 cents a mile, the 50-mile rate returns about 75 cents of miles for every dollar given. It runs from August 13 to September 30, 2026, but there is a second ending most coverage leaves out: it also stops when total qualifying donations reach $5 million, whichever comes first. Quoted from American's own newsroom, read August 14, 2026.
This is the tenth year American has run this campaign with Stand Up To Cancer. American says it has raised more than $34 million for the organisation since 2016.
Here is what American published, word for word:
"From Aug. 13. to Sept. 30, 2026, donors who give $25 or more to SU2C online at SU2C.org/AmericanAirlines will earn 25 AAdvantage® bonus miles for every dollar donated. And thanks to the generous support of Mastercard, those who use their AAdvantage® Mastercard® credit card to donate between $25 and $10,000 online will receive 50 bonus miles for every dollar donated until Sept. 30, 2026, or when total qualifying donations reach $5 million, whichever [comes first]."
| Miles per dollar donated | Value per dollar at 1.5c | |
|---|---|---|
| Donating $25 or more, any payment method | 25 | about 38 cents |
| Paying with an AAdvantage Mastercard | 50 | about 75 cents |
So a $100 donation paid with a qualifying Mastercard earns 5,000 miles, worth roughly $75 at the valuation we use across all AAdvantage cards in our database.
One thing we are reading rather than quoting. American writes that qualifying donors earn 25 miles per dollar, then that Mastercard payers "will receive 50 bonus miles for every dollar donated." It does not say "an additional 50." We read 50 as the Mastercard rate rather than 25 plus 50, and we are telling you that is a reading, not a printed total. If you want certainty on that point before giving a large amount, the campaign terms are the place to check.
The offer has two endings and the earlier one wins:
A dollar cap on a dated promotion means the date is a ceiling, not a deadline. American does not publish a running total, so there is no way to see how close the cap is from outside. If the 50-mile rate is why you are giving, giving early is the only protection you have.
The $25 to $10,000 range applies to the Mastercard tier. Below $25 there is no bonus at all, and the release does not describe a rate above $10,000.
American specifies an AAdvantage Mastercard. Our database holds five active AAdvantage cards, and four of them carry Mastercard in the product name:
We also hold American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp, with no annual fee, but its product name does not state the network, and we are not going to tell you a card qualifies based on a guess about which network it runs on. Check the front of your own card.
Whether this is a good deal in tax terms. Receiving something of value in return for a charitable donation raises a question about what portion is deductible. That is a real question, it depends on your situation, and we are not qualified to answer it. Ask a tax professional before assuming the full amount is deductible.
Whether to donate. This is a fundraiser for cancer research, not a points promotion with a charity attached. If you were already planning to give, the payment method changes what comes back to you. If you were not, 75 cents on the dollar in airline miles is not a reason to become a donor, and we would rather say so.
If you want to know how we arrive at 1.5 cents a mile, what a point is actually worth explains the valuations, and the Citi AAdvantage Executive refresh covers the changes coming to one of the cards named above.
Every quotation above is from American Airlines' own newsroom release dated August 13, 2026, read August 14, 2026. Mile valuations are from our card database. Campaign terms can change, and the $5 million cap means the offer can end without notice, so confirm on the campaign page before donating.