Contests

Travel Tidbits: free flight on JetBlue for do-gooders

Contests, ,

Happy Friday!  Like surprises and volunteering for good causes?

Here’s a fun promotion from JetBlue you might want to consider.

 

As part of its “Destination Good”  free-flight promotion, JetBlue will be flying a plane full of contest winners to – somewhere – on November 27.

Once on the ground, all winners will be participating in three days of volunteer activities.

To enter: fill out a questionaire by October 26, 2018 or find one of the pop-up check-in kiosks JetBlue will be intalling in suprise locations in New York Ciity and Los Angels.

50 winners – and their guests – will be chosen to join JetBlue employees and other volunteers to head out from JFK for a surprise locaton on November 27 (Giving Tuesday) and will return November 30.

It’s not a totally random contest. According to the official rules, entries will be judged and winners selected based on the following judging criteria:

A. Connection of Philanthropic Answer to the Contest theme (30%);
B. General clarity and composition of the Philanthropic Answer (20%);
C. Use of creativity and originality in the Philanthropic Answer (20%);
D. Suitability of Philanthropic Answer for future promotion/presentation by Sponsor (20%);
E. Submitting an answer to the multiple choice questions (all complete Entries will receive the full score for Criterion E)
(10%)

So read the rules and spend some time thinking about your answers.

Winners will be notified on November 20 and will have to keep the destination a secret until November 27.

“Service is built into everything we do at JetBlue. It’s part of our DNA. Doing good can make a powerful impact any and everywhere,” said Icema Gibbs, director corporate social responsibility, JetBlue, said in a statement, “We’re excited to offer our customers the chance to once again roll up their sleeves and join us in giving back.”

 

 

Brewfest at Portland Int’l Airport

Contests, Fun Stuff,

Portland International Airport is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the now-iconic Clocktower in the shop and amenity-filled pre-secrurity area of the airport. And that means lots of fun – and free stuff – for travelers, meeters and greeters and anyone who knows what a pleasant area that pre-security space can be.

Coming up Friday, June 22, from 11:30 a.m. to  1:30 pm, the plaza will be transformed into a beer garden with more than a dozen craft beers available for tasting.  The event also celebrates the grand opening of Deschutes Brewery at PDX – the beermaker’s first location opening in Oregon in 10 years.

As part of the brewfest, attendees will be able to pick up a limited edition Clocktower 30 pin, which is one of four special pin designs travelers can collect this summer.

Can’t make it to the brewfest? PDX has many other events coming up throughout the summer. See the full schedule here.

While you’re there, enter the Clocktower contest which has as its prize a “Magic Coast of Oregon”-inspired package (valued at nearly $5,000) that includes five nights at the King Suite at the Cannery Pier Hotel in Astoria, OR, a sunset cruise for two, a zipline adventure with Highlife Adventures, a helicopter tour, several other activities plus multiple gift cards and a Pendleton luggage set and blanket.  Deadline is September 9, 2018. Enter here.

I used to live on the Oregon coast and can attest to the fact that is indeed a magical place.

Want: Days Inn mood-boosting umbrella

Contests,

 

 

Here’s a hotel give-away after my Seattle “gray skies seemingly year-round” heart:

Economy-hotel brand Days Inn by Wyndham has created the Days InnBrella,  which not only keeps the raindrops away from users, but emits mood-boosting LED beams. And they’re giving away a limited number of these smart items through June 26.

If you follow Days Inn on Twitter, you can enter to win by retweeting the tweet below. Or you can test one out (I’m going to!) at select Days Inn hotels in Seattle, Portland and New York City. More details here.

 

https://twitter.com/daysinn/status/1006491312252735488

Passenger-friendly innovations in skies now – and on the horizon

Airlines, Bathrooms, Contests, Seating, ,

(Airbus_A320 Family Airspace interior. Courtesy Airbus)

For CNBC this week, I put together some of the most passenger-friendly, or unusual, finalists vying for this year’s Crystal Cabin Awards, which are set to be announced April 10 and often described as “the Oscars of the aviation industry.”

One of the more unusual and intriuging ideas on the list is something called a ‘Durinal,’ by Zodia Aerospace.

 

 

You know how it is: after meals and just before landing, bathroom lines get long and the lav-to-passenger ratio in the economy cabin on airplanes just seems wrong. Worse, when lavs get busy, there’s that wet floor issue that comes courtesy of the male ‘splash zone.’

The Durinal is designed to solve both problems by replacing one regular lavatory with two urinals. Durinal creator Zodiac Aerospace says installing the toilets on planes can improve lavatory “cycle time” and cut down on male use of the conventional toilets, “Thus leaving them more hygienic for the ladies.”

 

 

 

On flights that aren’t full, Zodiac Aerospace’s new Eco Zlounge concept makes it possible for passengers to stretch out with a mechanism that allows the cushion part of the seat in front of a passenger to fold down, creating more leg room.

No doubt the extra space will come with an extra cost, but on long flights passengers may be willing to pay that cost.

See more finalists in my CNBC story, here.

How to enter the cooking contest at O’Hare Airport

Contests, Food, ,

The “Channel Your Inner Chef” culinary competition is back for another year at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

The HMSHost-sponsored competition gives amateur cooks, culinary students and anyone with a great recipe a chance to show off their favorite dishes and win some great prizes – including having their recipe featured at a restaurant at O’Hare Airport.

To enter: make a two-minute video of yourself preparing your favorite recipe, then upload your video by February 20, 2018 at ChannelYourInnerChef.com.

Five finalists will be selected based on the recipe, presentation, form, and showmanship.

Those finalists will win a trip to Chicago to compete in a live cooking showdown in front of an audience and a panel of judges at O’Hare Terminal 2 on March 20, 2018.

During the timed cook-off finalists will be asked to create an original recipe with ingredients revealed at the event and the winning dish will be featured on the menu of an HMSHost-operated restaurant at O’Hare.

The grand prize winner will also receive two roundtrip airline tickets for a flight within the continental U.S. and a VIP trip for two to attend the James Beard Awards Gala on May 7, 2018 at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Deadline to enter is February 20, 2018. Full details at ChannelYourInnerChef.com.

 

Share the love at U.S. airports: get chocolate, win a prize

Airports, Contests, Holidays,

Keep an eye out at airports this Valentine’s Day season for giant 8-foot chalkboards where you can add your message about the meaning of love – and maybe win a prize of a getaway for two valued at $1,000.

HMSHost, which operates restaurants in dozens of airports across the country, is bringing these chalkboards to about a dozen airports and will select one traveler and their story as the prizewinner.  (See contest rules and details here.)

Live music events will accompany the chalkboards in many of the airports and everyone who takes the time to add a message will receive a dark chocolate bar, a Valentine’s Day card and a coupon for a 15 perecent discount at HMSHost dining locations (while supplies last).

Chocolate? Who wouldn’t love that?

Tuesday Travel Tidbits: JetBlue Trying Again

Airports, Contests, Free Stuff, Holidays, , ,

JetBlue’s first attempt at selling 200 copies of its limited edition “Get Packing” board game – which includes a real flight certificate in each box – was a big bust.

After a big promotional push, when it came time for the games to go on sale on Amazon, it appeared a shopping bot immediately grabbed up all available copies and complaints flooded in.

Now Jetblue is trying again.

This time they’re running a sweepstatakes: enter here by the end of 12/19/17 for a chance to win one of 195 games. 5 additional copies of the game are being auctioned off on Charitybuzz to benefit Make-A-Wish.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has added extra performances to its holiday music line-up:

On December 20, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the airport’s Asleep on the Wheel stage (near Gate 10), Ray Benson will perform with The Barton Hills Choir backing him up.

The Choir will then go on to perform a mix of golden oldies, classic rock and modern favorites. December 22 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.,  The Austin Jazz Workshop will perform jazz infused instrumental versions of classic Christmas Carols.

See the full schedule of music offerings at AUS here.

Germany’s Dusseldorf Airport has brought back ice-skating inside the terminal for the holiday season – this time with real ice.

Ice-skating and loaner ice-skates are free each weekend through the first weekend in January.

Free airport ice-skating is also offered during the holiday season at the Munich Airport Christmas and Winter Market and at Denver International Airport.

Two ways to fly free on JetBlue

Air Travel, Contests, Flights, Free Stuff, ,

If you’re lucky – or fast – you might score a free flight – or a year’s worth of flights – on JetBlue this week.

As part of the carrier’s newest version of its All You Can Jet promotion, anyone who purchases a non-refundable ticket on jetblue.com by December 15, 2017 is entered into a contest that will award 3 lucky winners an All You Can Jet pass good for flights for the winner and a companion anywhere the airline flies – for one year. Winners will be announced December 27, 2017.

(More details – including a way to enter without purchasing a ticket – can be found here.)

Another way to get a free flight is to purchase a JetBlue Get Packing board game, which goes on sale at Amazon for $19.99 today (December 12, 2017) at 12 p.m.

Each game comes with a roundtrip JetBlue flight certificate for JetBlue flights to/from JetBlue cities on JetBlue-operated flights. (All travel must be booked and flown within January 2018 – December 2018.)

Good luck!

United’s new safety video + ticket giveaway

Contests, Safety videos,

United Airlines’ new safety video is rolling out this month and, to celebrate, the airline is giving away five pairs of tickets to anywhere the airline flies. Enter by October 4 here.

The video includes the necessary pre-flight safety information, of course, and offers it amid scenes of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival, Munich’s Oktoberfest, India’s Holi Festival and a hot-air balloon festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Look for cameos by characters from previous videos, including the llama and the dinosaur, plus an appearance by United CEO Oscar Munoz.

https://youtu.be/cuR-l2qCxBc

 

Brussels Airlines contest for a new special livery

Contests, liveries, ,

Brussels Airlines has a special livery series going featuring icons from Belgian culture.
They’ve painted Airbus A320s to honor the surrealist painter René Magritte and created a special livery to look like the shark submarine from the Tintin story, “Red Rackham’s Treasure.”

 

The other specially painted planes include Trident, the official plane of Belgium’s national soccer team, the Red Devils, and Amare,  dedicated to the Belgian music festival called Tomorrowland,

Now the airline is ready to create a livery for the fifth plane in the series and seeking nominations for the new theme from the public.

Anyone with an idea for which Belgium icon image should be celebrated on the next plane is invited to send in idea.

A jury of well-known Belgians will pick two finalists and then the public will get to vote on the winner. The person whose idea is chosen will get to go behind the scenes to follow the process of painting the design on the plane and get to fly on the maiden voyage of the freshly-painted aircraft sometime in March 2018.

Deadline to submit ideas is August 21, 2017. Here are more details on how to enter the Brussels Airlines contest.

Stuck at The Airport  wishes you good luck!