On Monday, Vancouver International Airport announced the winner in its Live@YVR contest to choose someone to live in and report from the airport for 80 days.

I wasn’t eligible to enter but, I admit it, I felt a twinge of jealously when I learned that Jaeger Mah, who described himself in his entry video as “the Anderson Cooper of YVR,” had won the contest.

Mah moves into the airport on August 17th, 2011. He’ll have a nice room at the on-site Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel and, armed with a camera and editing equipment, he’ll spend 80 days finding stories and sharing them with the public on www.liveatyvr.ca, Facebook and on Twitter.

I plan to interview Mah before he starts his airport stint and check in with him during his adventure.

Here’s his winning video.

Categories: Airports, Contests
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96 videos were submitted and reviewed. Now you can view and vote for your favorite video from among the five finalists in Vancouver International Airport’s contest to choose one person to live in and report from the airport for 80 days.

The finalists range in age from 22 to 36 and, according to the contest rules, are all residents of British Columbia.

The winner of the Live@YVR contest will move into the airport on Aug. 17 and live there full time for 80 days using an airport-supplied camera and editing equipment to tell stories about what they see going on inside the terminals, behind the scenes and on Sea Island, the area surrounding the airport.

It won’t be such a hardship: the winner will have a room (single occupancy) at The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel and receive vouchers for three meals a day, a complimentary mobile phone and a stipend of approximately $15,000.

To watch the videos and cast a vote, see the YVR website.

Categories: Airports, Contests
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Here’s a contest after my own heart….

Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia is turning 80 this summer and to celebrate they’re having a contest to choose a “reporter/storyteller” who will live at the airport for 80 days and 80 nights posting videos, photos and social media content – all without ever leaving the island the airport sits on.

In addition to getting to stay 80 nights at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, the winner of the Live@YVR contest will get CN $15000, 3 meals a day, and complimentary video equipment to use during their stay.

Want to enter? You’ll need to submit a short video. And you can only enter if you’re a Canadian citizen living in British Columbia. Which, sadly, leaves me out.

Here are more details about the Live @YVR contest.

Categories: Airport guides, Contests
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On msnbc.com’s new blog, the Overhead Bin, I posted a short note about a new contest designed to reward a “travel hero” who saved someone’s trip by doing a good deed or a random act of kindness.

Travel Guard, a travel insurance company that last year hosted the World’s Unluckiest Travel Contest, is back with World’s Unluckiest Traveler 2: The Rescue and asking people to send in their stories. The winning good-deed-doer gets a $10,000 vacation. The storyteller gets a pair of round-trip plane tickets to any destination in the U.S.

Find out more on the Overhead Bin.

Categories: Contests
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Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win free travel and assorted prizes in some of these sweepstakes.

From now through June 16^th, 2011, Wyndham Rewards is asking vacation-deprived people (pretty much all of us) to send in a photo and a short explanation of why they need a vacation. Judges will pick seven finalists and the public will choose a grand winner who will receive enough Wyndham Rewards points for a seven-night vacation at a Wyndham property, a $7,000 Visa Gift Card a seven-night Alamo car rental certificate. You can enter online, via email (deserve@wyndhamrewards.com) or via Facebook.

Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld are giving away 40 trips in 40 days. Prizes include tickets for four to SeaWorld in Orlando, San Diego or San Antonio, hotel accommodations for two nights in that city, meals, and round trip tickets on Southwest Airlines. Enter here. Deadline: June 21, 2011.

And here’s a chance to help your favorite airlines win awards: the Passenger Choice Awards is inviting travelers to weigh in on check-in, frequent flyer programs, entertainment options and more.

Categories: Contests
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