Travel contests

Travel tidbits: contests and cool things

As this week’s Powerball winners will tell you, you can’t win if you don’t play. So here are few travel-related contests.

Virgin America donut plane

Cheeky Virgin America is turning six and celebrating with a fare sale, two-for-one flight vouchers for everyone attending “Virgin America Day at AT&T Park on Saturday, August 10th, 2013 and an on-line Bingo/trivia contest.

Special Japanese Edition Starbucks Travel mugs

National Geographic and Delta Air Lines have teamed up for a contest that includes a bullet-train ride between Tokyo and Kyoto. The prize package includes roundtrip airfare for two on Delta Air Lines, a city tour of Tokyo, rail passes and hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto. Enter here through September 30, 2013.

Some cool things:

LGA SKYBAR

The Food & Shops at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B and The Cradle of Aviation Museum will be celebrating National Aviation week August 19-23, 2013 with an aviation-themed exhibit and activities, special store discounts and a Twitter contest.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum will host a “Story of Flight” exhibit with model airplanes and banners with images of historical LaGuardia Airport scenes. Look for that on the Departures Level of Terminal B, near Gates C. From 11 am to 3 pm on Friday, August 23rd, look for the costumed “Amelia Earhart” and the Cradle of Aviation’s mascot “Soaring Sam” who will be site to entertain kids and, no doubt, many adults.

In addition to the discounts being offered in the shops there will be an aviation-themed Twitter contest with prizes that include a retro Pan Am duffle bag and a one-year membership to the Cradle of Aviation Museum. The contest will run August 19-25 and two winners will be picked on August 26th.
Watch for details here.

Travel Tidbits: Guns at airports + travel contests

A little bit of this and that..

As more and more groups come out in opposition to the TSA’s impending rule changes about allowing small knives and some other previously prohibited items back onto planes as carry-ons, TSA chief John Pistole said the agency is sticking to its guns about the change in its ruling about knives.

TSA GUN

From the TSA Blog – just one of the 20 loaded guns found at airport checkpoints this week.

In the always entertaining – and often shocking – TSA Week in Review report, TSA blogger Bob Burns reports that this week 21 guns were found at airport checkpoints around the country. 20 of those guns were loaded and seven of those guns had rounds chambered.

Vermeer Woman in Blue Reading a Letter

KLM shared the news that it has been flying Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter to various museums around the world lately and to celebrate the painting’s return to the Rijksmuseum, the airline is having a contest to give away a trip for two to Amsterdam in April, when the Rijksmuseum is set to reopen.

And, while we’re talking about contests, American Airlines has a new contest with prizes that include business class trips for two on several new routes, including Dallas/Fort Worth to Seoul, Chicago to Dusseldorf and Dallas/Fort Worth to Lima.

Virgin America also kicked off a contest this week to promote flights between Newark (EWR) and both San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX). Enter the Fly Like a Boss contest by April 1st to get 25% off a flight to Newark Airport and a chance to be part of the airline’s April 9th launch party in Newark, which, they promise, includes a chance to hang out on an aircraft with Mashable CEO & founder Pete Cashmore and Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson.

Travel contests: because you can’t win if you don’t play

prizes

I’m a big believer in “you can’t win if you don’t play,” so here are a few contests to enter with great travel adventures as prizes:

From now through March 8th, 2013 San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is celebrating Scandinavian Airlines’ (SAS) new non-stop service to Copenhagen with a Facebook sweepstakes (and a strange little video starring hamsters). Entrants choose their favorite destination from one of 12 European cities served by SAS and the winner of a random drawing will be awarded two round-trip Economy Class tickets on SAS to the destination they selected. Enter here.

Also through March 8, American Airlines is having a contest with four grand prizes that include a first class trip for two anywhere the airline flies, a year-long Admiral’s Club membership, Five Star Service (“To whisk you through the airport like a star”), a Samsung Tablet, Bose headphones, first-class pajamas, and a $1,000 gift card. Enter here.

And, to welcome the terracotta warriors to San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, Cathay Pacific Airways is giving away prizes that include a 10-day China tour and a chance to fly to Xi’an to see the iconic terracotta warriors in their homeland.  Enter here through March 18.

  • Grand Prize: 10 days/9 nights “Cathay Pacific Essence of China” tour, including a pair of roundtrip Economy Class tickets on Cathay Pacific to Beijing, Shanghai and a private sightseeing tour to view the real Terracotta soldiers in Xi’an.
  • 2nd Prize – A one weekend night stay at the Galleria Park hotel in San Francisco, plus pair of VIP tickets to see the Asian Art Museum’s “China’s Terracotta Warriors” exhibition
  • 3rd Prize – An Annual Family Membership at Asian Art Museum plus a copy of the official exhibition souvenir book

Good luck!

(More) travel contests: because you can’t win if you don’t play

 

Must be something about the season, but there seem to be a lot of contests awarding travel and grand trips as prizes.  Give these a try and don’t forget to send me a souvenir if you win.

 

Nashville International Airport is marking the 75th anniversary of Berry Field Nashville, the airport’s original name and the source of its BNA airport code, with a sweepstakes that ends on June 1st. The prize: a trip to Nashville over the July 4th weekend that includes backstage passes to a fireworks event and performance, roundtrip tickets on Southwest Airlines, four nights at a Nashville hotel and tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. Enter here.

USTOA (the U.S. Tour Operators Association) has kicked off a four week Around the World with USTOA Sweepstakes with a different grand prize each week. This week’s prize: a trip to China! Coming up: trips to U.S. National Parks, Australia & New Zealand and to South America.

And Motel 6 is looking is having an Open Road Correspondent Contest. To enter, you’ll need to make and post a short (2 minutes max) video and answer a few questions in writing. The three ‘correspondents chosen will get to take a week-long road trip, with a guest to help out with the driving, and report on their adventures along the way.

The prize includes $5,000 for round-trip airfare to the starting point of the trip and for car rental, meals, gas and other expenses during the road trip, two iPads and hotel stays at, you guessed it, Motel 6 properties along the way.

 

Good luck!

Prize patrol: because you can’t win if you don’t play

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 16th, 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.