One man is standing in for Santa this holiday season and giving away his abundant frequent flyer miles to send strangers home for the holidays.

Businessman Peter Shankman has been donating his frequent flyer airline miles for about the last four years to those who can't afford to make the trip home. As an author and podcast host, he flies about 250,000 to 300,000 miles every year, and racks up miles with frequent trips across America and to Asia and Europe.

"The amount of travel I do gives me a ton of miles," he told USA TODAY, "so being able to give back this way is the best thing I know how to do with them, and I can only give so many free trips to my parents, and my assistant and her boyfriend."

Shankman is sending people home via United Airlines

"I truly believe that if you've had any modicum of success, you have a responsibility to 'send the elevator back down,' as it were," he explained. "Giving away trips home for the holidays to people who might not be able to afford them is the best way I know how to do that. Secondly, it's a blast to teach my daughter about giving back."

Shankman chooses who to send home using the social media site Imgur. He asks wannabe travelers to share their stories and encourages other users to vote on the most-worthy posts, ultimately picking the people with the most votes.

So far this year, he's granted the requests of five Imgur users, sending six people home, with the potential for a few more.

Some of the users sent in requests on behalf of relatives, including one user who asked that their mother be able to visit their dead brother's "final resting place."

United has since pledged to donate 200,000 miles to the charity of Shankman's choice.

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