MONTREAL, March 2 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeroplan today announced it has committed 1 million Aeroplan Miles to the Canadian Red Cross to support the emergency relief efforts in response to Saturday's massive earthquake in Southern Chile. The Chilean Red Cross is a member of the governmental emergency response group, which is leading the response. Aeroplan Members who wish to support the Chilean community can donate their miles online at www.aeroplan.com.
Aeroplan's Beyond Miles partner Médecins Sans Frontières - Canada is currently on the ground in Chile, assessing its possible role and any need for donations at this time.
"We hope that this donation will provide some relief and assist the efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake," said Vince Timpano, President, Aeroplan. "Donated Aeroplan Miles will enable short-term travel to the region for immediate medical emergency needs and will help facilitate travel in the longer term to help rebuild the community."
In addition to a corporate donation of 1 million Aeroplan Miles, Aeroplan Canada will match its employees' individual contributions to the Canadian Red Cross until March 15, 2010 and will transfer the total sum to the Canadian Red Cross. Aeroplan's parent company, Groupe Aeroplan will match all employee cash contributions from its employees worldwide.
Aeroplan's community investment philosophy is based on enabling Aeroplan Members to enrich communities at home and abroad, by supporting professionals giving back of their knowledge and skills, working with local communities and local resources to find sustainable, creative solutions to pressing problems.
Aeroplan's Beyond Miles program invites Aeroplan members to join us in supporting eight Canadian charitable organizations through the donation of Aeroplan Miles including: Earth Day Canada, Engineers Without Borders-Canada, Médecins Sans Frontières Canada, Schools Without Borders, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, Veterinarians Without Borders-Canada and War Child Canada. In addition to supporting these organizations, Beyond Miles also supports Air Canada's Kids' Horizons, a program dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of Canadian children and youth and their families. To date, more than 151 million miles have been donated to Beyond Miles. For more information about Beyond Miles, please visit 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 300 pooling accounts across the country.
About Aeroplan
Aeroplan, Canada's premier loyalty program, is owned by Groupe Aeroplan Inc., the global leader in loyalty management.
Aeroplan's millions of members earn Aeroplan Miles with its growing network of over 70 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.