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Bent Spoons from the Pudding
Guy
Column No. 2, 7/24/00
Million Miles Mania Contest Announcement
By David Phillips,
a.k.a. "The Pudding Guy"
July 24, 2000
Last week I asked you to think about what you’d do if you had
a million frequent flyer miles to burn. Did you dream up any good
plans? OK, now wake up a smell the jet fuel, it’s time to get
busy. A little effort on your end, and I might be able to cough
up a cool million miles in return.
Million mile giveaways are nothing new, but this one’s a little
different, and it promises to be really entertaining. Why? Because
it’s a true contest and I get to pick the winners! It’s WebMiles’
"Million
Miles Mania" contest.
WebMiles is going to give away one million miles to people who
submit the best "flight plans" detailing outrageous & nutty travel
dreams. Want to fly to Florida to see your grandma? Sure, you
can do that with WebMiles--but don’t bother entering this contest.
You’ll have to be a little more creative than that. Want to take
photos of your beloved Star Trek action figure in front of the
seven wonders of the world? That’s more like it. Want to fly your
whole kindergarten class (now middle-aged) to an island somewhere
for your own game of Survivor? Now we’re talking.
A unique aspect of this contest is that there aren’t fixed prizes.
As part of the flight plan, you’ll have to specify how many miles
you’d need to complete your plan, anywhere from 25,000 to 1,000,000
miles. Winners will earn the number of miles necessary to complete
their plans. So if someone has a really great plan to spend the
whole million, they could win the whole deal--but that plan would
have to be judged better than, say, 20 50,000-mile plans. Even
as the judge, I’m not sure what the best strategy would be. Doesn’t
this sound like fun?
If you’re not familiar with WebMiles,
let me tell you a little. WebMiles is a "virtual" frequent flyer
program that allows you to travel on any airline without any of
the hassles associated with the airlines’ frequent flyer programs.
You earn WebMiles for buying stuff from WebMiles’ on-line partners,
and they also offer a credit card so you can earn miles for all
of your purchases. When you’ve got enough WebMiles for a free
ticket, you can fly on any airline without any blackout dates
or limits on the number of free seats. If you’ve ever tried to
get a free seat using frequent flier miles, you’ll appreciate
the WebMiles concept.
To enter the contest, check out www.webmiles.com/contests.html.
The site includes the official contest rules, a mileage calculator,
and a list of frequently asked questions. If you haven’t done
so already, you’ll need to sign up for a free WebMiles account
before you can file your flight plan. All entries must be received
by September 1, 2000.
In future reports for Johnny Jet, I’ll cover some of the best
and funniest contest entries. Even better, I hope to provide reports
on some of the actual trips. Oh, I forgot to mention an important
rule--all winners are required to actually follow through with
their plan within 2 years! No fair substituting Grandma for Malaysia
after the fact.
So get busy typing up your plan. This is your crack at a "pudding
guy" kind of deal. After all, how else could you earn a million
frequent flyer miles without spending a dime or making a single
pass through the x-ray machine?
David Phillips
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