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Exclusive HfP competition: Win two flights to New York – and YOU pick the airline

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We are running a competition on Head for Points this week to win two economy class flights between London and New York.

This is, however, a competition with a twist.

YOU get to decide which airline you fly with if you are the lucky winner!

The winner will receive two economy tickets between London Heathrow or London Gatwick to either New York JFK or Newark Liberty.  The prize can be taken at any point up to 30th June 2018, subject to availability.  If you win you must be one of the two travellers.

What is going on here?

Let me explain.

We are working with a major airline on a piece of research.  It wants to know what airline you would select for a flight if price was not an issue and airline miles or elite status benefits were not an issue.

We want to know your genuine preference.  The best way to achieve this is to not make it a hypothetical question, but a real question, with real consequences!

On the entry form, you will be asked to select between American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Norwegian, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic or someone else as your preferred carrier for an economy flight to New York.

You and a friend can be flying to New York in economy on the carrier you select.

Please note that:

  • You will not earn any airline miles on your tickets
  • You will not receive any status benefits
  • You will not receive lounge access even if you have status with that airline

Do not consider any airline status you have or any miles you currently collect when selecting your airline.  Your flights will not qualify for status, mileage or lounge benefits because the tickets will be issued using restrictive travel trade policies.

If you fly Norwegian, your prize will include pre-paid food and luggage so the prize is equivalent to a standard economy ticket on one of the full service airlines listed.  If you select ‘other’ you will be randomly booked onto one of the six named airlines.

Interesting, yes?  All you need to do is pick an airline and tick the main factor that influenced your decision from a list of:

  • Brand reputation
  • Crew and service
  • Food & Beverage
  • In-flight entertainment
  • On-board wifi
  • Previous experience
  • Seat comfort

How to enter

We are running this competition slightly differently because of the information we need from you.  We are using Google Forms.  Click the button below (or click here) and you will be taken to the form you need to complete.

It is only two questions long (and multiple choice), so don’t worry!  It will take less than 30 seconds to complete.

The competition will run for a week, closing at midnight on Wednesday 10th January.  The winner must travel if they win – you cannot gift the prize to anyone else.

Good luck!  Please feel free to share on social media using the buttons under the article.

Here are the rules:  You must be over 18 years, a UK resident and not an employee of any of the airlines listed on the entry form to enter. Strictly one entry per person. The winner MUST be one of the travellers. The competition will close at midnight on Wednesday 10th January. One entrant will be selected at random and will have 48 hours to confirm their details. If they do not respond, another winner will be drawn.

The prize is economy return flights for two people from a London airport to New York Newark or JFK on the airline you chose on the entry form. Flights are subject to availability and all travel must be completed by 30th June 2018. The competition is promoted by Head for Points, contact details on request. The name of the winner will be made available on request.

Your email address remains confidential and will not be passed to the sponsoring airline or used by Head for Points for any other purposes.  Your airline preference, and the reason for your decision, will be aggregated with other respondents and given to the competition sponsor.

Comments (153)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Morten Zinck says:

    Great idea and great competition.

    Unfortunately I will not be able to participate as I am no longer a UK resident. I have noticed that many of the competitions are restricted to UK residents.

    Is there a number of reasons for this? What prevents residents of other countries from participating?

    • Lady London says:

      Legal rules governing lotteries is the reason I should guess.

      • Rob says:

        Correct. And, to be honest, our prizes are always paid for out of the UK marketing budget of whoever is sponsoring the competition and they want that money spent on UK promotion.

  • Tracey says:

    There is a temptation to choose an airline you wouldn’t normally fly with, just for the experience. So one you don’t collect miles/ status for

    • Tim says:

      Exactly. I haven’t flown Virgin or Delta in years. But with no OWE benefits, I’d choose one of those two over and above AA or BA, simply because I’d like to give the competition to AA/BA a try.

  • Stevie G says:

    Chosen ‘other’ as open to suggestions although the next question on why I chose ‘other’ was not exactly relevant. Brand reputation?
    Thanks for the competition Rob.

  • David says:

    I think there’s a significant omission in the reasons you can choose from – availability of direct flight from local airport. I live in Edinburgh, and (after a couple of minutes playing with random dates in Skyscanner) would choose United for this reason alone.

    • Callum says:

      I’m not sure availability from Edinburgh can really be a factor given you have to fly from London…

      • David says:

        Yeah, the prize includes flying from London, but the question being asked “what airline you would select for a flight if price was not an issue and airline miles or elite status benefits were not an issue.” doesn’t.

        • Jack says:

          The question on the entry form specifies the London-New York route and asks which airline you would pick for this flight. So the question is all about perception and preference of airlines and nothing to do with airport convenience.

        • David P says:

          Jack: I know it’s not exactly the same as David’s original point, but for many people airport convenience does come into play as a part of airline preference. For the specific LON-NYC route, EDI has connecting flights to both LHR and LGW but many domestic destinations don’t have that flexibility. How easy is it to get to LHR from Jersey? Or to LGW from Manchester? The availability of connecting flights is one factor to consider if you don’t live near London.

          For me, I’m definitely not choosing United because I want to stay in Brooklyn and United only fly to EWR. Everyone else flies to JFK which is much more convenient. Although I’m also ignoring Norwegian because that’s a guaranteed 787 hence horribly narrow and uncomfortable economy seats.

        • Callum says:

          DavidP – Yes, airport convenience is obviously a factor for many people – just like FFPs are.

          The airline sponsoring this however is clearly not interested in either motivation…

    • Andy says:

      You couldn’t pay me to fly on United *shudders*

    • BlueThroughCrimp says:

      Yep, I’m with you on that.
      I chose an airline I can’t fly direct from Edinburgh, as if I’m going through the hassle of changing in London for a Y flight, it’s something different.
      It’s my perception that Y on those bigger birds from London have a better IFE. Yet maybe I’m wrong!

  • Guest says:

    Why isn’t Air India an option? They began flying the route recently.

    • Rob says:

      Doesn’t one of the dry Middle Eastern airlines from London – New York as well? This is not really about New York though, is the answer.

    • Sundar says:

      Is Air India flying from LHR to NYC ? (or to EWR ?) Fifth Freedom ?

    • Lawro says:

      Air India flies to/from Heathrow to Newark.

  • Russell says:

    Entered, thanks!

    You could maybe do with a multi selection for “why did you make this choice”. I would have chosen at least two factors had I been able to.

  • JP says:

    The class of the ticket would be different, I had this on a free flight I had to China, that got no points. I also found out it was the same class as employees of the airline use and was equivalent of a stand by ticket…. Nearly didn’t make it back form Beijing due to an overbooked flight (which would have meant overstaying my 72 transit visa!)

    However I doubt they would catch that when going to the lounge with a gold card….

  • JamesS says:

    Fingers crossed, could make our wedding year that bit better! (proposed in NY too 😀 )

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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