Contests

Places to go; things to see

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Courtesy Memphis International Airport

New and improved Concourse B at MEM Airport

Memphis International Airport (MEM) is opening its modernized B concourse on Tuesday, February 15.  

Delta Air Lines will deliver the first arriving flight at MEM Concourse B at 6:18 pm on Tuesday. Departing flights kick off in the concourse on Wednesday, February 16.

The multi-year $245 million project features the modernization of the spine and east leg of MEM’s B Concourse as well as consolidation of all airline, retail, and food/beverage operations. Included in the redesign are wider corridors, moving walkways, larger boarding areas, higher ceilings, increased natural lighting, and seismic upgrades.

Travel Contests: You can’t win if you don’t play

Virgin Atlantic is hosting a Valentine’s Day “Tickets to Love” contest, offering the opportunity for single Americans a chance to apply to fly across the Atlantic to find romance in London.

Through February 13, 2022, interested participants can pitch their stories and explain why they deserve a trip to the U.K. to find long-term love.

Eight winners will be selected to fly from New York to London in Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class cabin on March 11, 2022.

Enter Virgin Atlantic’s “Tickets to Love” contest here.

NPS Photo Michael Cuff

 Recreation.gov is hosting the second annual “Share Your Story” adventure writing contest.

Visitors to America’s federal public lands are invited to submit stories detailing their experiences exploring and spending time in the great outdoors.

Experiences must have taken place between January 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, within the facilities of participating agencies: National Park Service; U.S. Bureau of Land Management; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; National Archives; and NOAA Marine Sanctuaries.

Submitted stories can be between 900 and 3,500 characters and include photos.

Categories include Traditions (Old and New), RV/Campbervans, Family Trips, and Activities and Adventures.

Deadline: April 30, 2022. Winners announced May 15, 2022.

Participants can enter up to two stories during the contest for a chance at winning one of 29 different prizes including merchandise from an outdoor retailer and America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands passes.

Good luck!

Sweepstakes in honor of CVG Airport’s 75th Birthday

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This month Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) is celebrating its 75th anniversary.  

The exact birth date was January 10, 1947. On that day, at 9:23 a.m., an American Airlines flight from Cleveland was the first plane to land. Minutes later the first Delta Airlines and TWA flights landed.

To celebrate the airport’s 75th anniversary and its growth over the years, CVG is hosting a year-long Travel Dream Sweepstakes through December 2022.

Monthly winners will be chosen to receive a minimum of a $500 travel voucher for flights from CVG Airport. You can enter the CVG sweepstakes here or at stations set up in the airport.

Vaccinated? You could win free flights for a year.

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Sweepstakes prizes include free travel

Not wanting to contract, transmit, or die of COVID-19 is a darn good reason to get vaccinated.

But some people may need a bit more encouragement and the promise of rewards.

That’s why we’re reading about bars offering free drinks, donut shops offering free donuts, and employers offering time off and cash bonuses to people who roll up their sleeves for a jab.

Fine. Whatever it takes.

Now United Airlines is upping the ante.

In support of the national effort to encourage more people to get their COVID-19 vaccination, the airline is offering its loyalty program members the chance to win free flights for a year’s worth of travel.

Under the terms of the “Your Shot to Fly” sweepstakes, any new or existing MileagePlus member who uploads their vaccination records to the airline’s mobile app or website before June 22 will be entered to win a roundtrip flight for two, in any class of service, to anywhere in the world United flies.

The sweepstakes is open to any resident of the United States who is at least 18 years old and a MileagePlus member.

United will give away 30 pairs of tickets throughout the month of June. In addition – on July 1 United will announce which five randomly selected MileagePlus members who have entered the sweepstakes will win a grand prize of travel for a year for themselves and a companion – also in any class of service, anywhere in the world that United flies.

Want to be “the shuttle voice” at Tampa Int’l Airport?

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Tampa International Airport (TPA) is hosting a fun contest that also raises funds for a good cause.

Traditionally, the recorded voice on the shuttle vans wishing TPA passengers safe travels before their flights and welcoming them back home after vacation belongs to the city’s current mayor.

But now the airport is putting that honor up for grabs.

TPA is hosting a contest that will give the grand prize winner the honor of being the voice passengers hear on the shuttle for the month of July.

You don’t need to have a great voice to get the position, nor do you need to send in an audition tape or video.

Each contest entry is $5 with all proceeds going to United Way Suncoast, a non-profit that provides food, financial assistance, and educational support for those in need in the Tampa Bay Community.

You must be at least 18 years of age to enter and, if you win, you must show up at Tampa International Airport to record a script prepared by the airport. You can enter as many times as you like.

Entries are being accepted at www.voiceofTPA.com through Monday, June 14 at 2 p.m. The winner will be chosen at random on Tuesday, June 15 at 9:00 a.m. and announced on social media.

Good luck!

Travel Tidbits – Out of the Inbox edition

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Enter these sweepstakes

Baseball is back. (Sort of). And Alaska Airlines has a fun promo running with the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants.

Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants fans – or anyone – can enter to win one million miles as part of Alaska’s Million-Mile Home Run Sweepstakes. Register with your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan number, or sign up to get one free.

As a bonus, each week of the season Alaska Airlines will also pick one winner to receive air travel and tickets to 2021 Spring Training.

We also found an easy to enter sweepstakes from Bojangles. Prizes include $2,500 in cash, a $500 hotel gift card, a $500 gas card, a $500 rental car gift card, and $500 to spend at Bojangles.

Giant Robots at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Ten-foot-tall robots, a whole family of them, are now ‘living’ in the Phoenix Airport Museum’s Terminal 4 Gallery at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX).

The robots are part of an installation titled “Electro-Symbio Phonics for Phoenix,” by Nam June Paik.

What you’ll see: a mother, father, and child robot in an athletic pose with arms raised nearly touching the ceiling. Their heads, appendages, and torsos consist of 63 televisions blitzing with fast-paced video clips of sports highlights, popular culture, and desert imagery.

Ready to reconsider cruising?

Do you think you – and the world – might be ready to embrace cruising again in a year or so? Then you might want to go all-in on Viking’s new 2021-2022 Viking World Cruise. The trip will last 136 days, with visits to 27 countries and 56 ports.

The ship sets sail in Fort Lauderdale on December 24, 2021. After visiting ports of call in Central America, transiting through the Panama Canal, and going up the West Coast of North America, the ship will cross the Pacific Ocean and visit Hawaii. From there it’s off to New Zealand and Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean before ending in London.

Too long a trip for you? There’s a shorter, 119-day sailing. The 2022 Viking World Horizons which departs from Los Angeles on January 10, 2022, and visits 22 countries and 49 ports before ending in London.

Prices (which include lots of extras, such as business class airfare and transfers to and from the ship) start at $49,995 per person for the 2021-2022 Viking World Cruise and $45,995 for the 2022 World Cruise Horizons (based on double occupancy).