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Exclusive HfP competition: Win two flights to New York – on the airline YOU love the most

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It’s competition time again!  We are launching a new competition on Head for Points today, running for the next week, to win two economy class flights between London and New York.

However, we are adding a romantic twist to the competition. This Valentine’s Day we want to know which is your most loved airline.

And 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 September 2019, subject to availability. If you win you must be one of the two travellers.

Long-term readers will know that we also ran this competition last year. It was a big success and we are happy to run it again thanks to our secret sponsor.

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 three 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 20th February. 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.

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 20th February. 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 September 2019. 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 (152)

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

  • David P says:

    If one were to pick VS, will the prize be booked into Economy Light, Classic, or Delight? That would make a material difference to the choice.

  • Frankie says:

    I’ve just entered Raffles’ raffle!

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    From a research quality point of view, I noticed that the airline and feature answers were presented in alphabetical order. Best practice would be to randomise the order they’re presented in. This is a setting in Google Forms (‘shuffle option order’), but not sure if you can flip if halfway through a survey though.

    VS the clear winner for me if the delight product is in scope, but I suspect that’s not the intent of the question.

  • Olly says:

    My son flew Norwegian economy last year to L.A. on a budget and he said never again. Uncomfortable seats, added cost for luggage, no F&B included and extortionate prices on board when you bought front them. If I win i wouldn’t be choosing them.

    • Frankie says:

      If you’ve entered the raffle you’ll already have chosen who you’re flying with if you win.

    • Callum says:

      Is he not aware what a budget airline is?

      • Nick_C says:

        One that crams in as many seats as it can? One that charges extra for checked bags? One that charges you to select a seat? So BA? Virgin?

      • CV3V says:

        It is actually useful to get an insight into other peoples experiences on airlines others haven’t flown on. Budget doesn’t necessarily mean cramped seats etc. any more than the experience in BA economy etc. That’s why people comment and share their experiences e.g. BA 787 economy is uncomfortable and has the entertainment box in the footwell that restricts legroom – i have never flown it, but i know about it from reading comments on HfP, and now i know to avoid.

        • Callum says:

          Yeah it’s definitely worth getting opinions, but complaining about a budget airline charging for baggage and food… (Though most of the transatlantic airlines charge for baggage now anyway!(

    • Nick_C says:

      I think most airlines’ economy seats on the 787 are particularly bad, because they squeeze in 3-3-3 instead of the 2-4-2 the plane was designed for (JAL being the honourable exception). 3-4-3 on the 777 is just as bad.

      But as long as people continue buying the cheapest possible ticket without considering comfort, then airlines will keep packing more people in.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:

        Well that’s the basic point of economy? For a better experience but without paying many multiples of the economy fare there is PE … and a good PE product is often the price/comfort sweetspot when paying for a cash ticket yourself (at least I think so).

        • Nick_C says:

          It’s what Economy has become in the race to the bottom. The standard seat pitch in long haul economy used to be 34″ to 36″. I remember getting out of my window seat on a TWA 747 and the two strangers next to me didn’t have to stand up to let me out. I remember flying back from Moscow on a BEA Trident with quite a hefty Scottish lass sitting on my lap. (When the Captain announced we were leaving Soviet airspace, the plane went into party mode. Well at least among our group of students who had not been able to afford a drink for two weeks.)

          The first 747s had a seating config of 2-4-3

          PE is simply giving people the option to have the reasonable level of comfort that we used to take for granted.

          Unfortunately, PE is often very overpriced.

          Just looking at a weekend in NYC May, Standard Economy is £364.32 [£286.32 net of APD] return, and PE is £778.32 [£606.32 net]. You get 53% more space, but BA are charging 111% more. OK, you get a higher baggage allowance and better food, but lower loading means lower staff and fuel costs as well. So IMO, PE is not good value. The airlines are “overcharging” passengers who simply want a reasonable degree of comfort (and the Government are taxing people who want to avoid DVT).

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          You may feel that PE is overpriced but if you look at real terms ticket prices from the decades you mention I think you’ll find that PE is the same (or even cheaper) than economy prices in the 70s and 80s. While flights for current economy prices just didn’t exist. Compare what you could get then and what you can get now in like-for-like pricing terms and the golden age of “high quality” air travel in all cabins isn’t so golden at all…

          Oh and BA PE is rubbish. Other options are available and more competitively priced for what you get.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      Not flown Econ with Norwegian but my only disappointing Norwegian flight was the one operated by hi fly on a tin bucket mere days before they.introduce a bloody a380 🙁
      But right now I’d be wary of picking Norwegian purely because of the risk of the flight never happening for whatever reason…

  • Arran says:

    Not sure what all the winging is about for this competition. If you hate Economy class and don’t want to enter then don’t. Don’t spoil it for those who want a free trip to New York.

    • Nick_C says:

      Who’s spoiling anything? By not entering, we are giving you a better chance of winning! And I’m not winging, I’m just saying it’s not for me! 20 years ago, I would have gone for it.

      • Arran says:

        Thats fair enough. I won’t tar everyone with the same brush here but it just seems to be a lot of comments saying basically why is this on HFP as it’s supposed to be a Business Travel website. Bad reception could likely mean the sponsor won’t want to run an opportunity like this for us again.

  • Louise says:

    Normally try and fly business but had to fly delta economy last year for work and it was a 2-4-2 configuration from LHr to SLC.
    I throught service and entertainment was great, plenty of food and free drink offered and I managed to check my WhatsApp messages for free by attempting to connect to their WiFi every now and again!

  • Andi says:

    I can’t enter this time round as I now have a baby to take along on these holidays too. There are so many more things I would consider when making my choice than the options on the list.

    For example I live near Heathrow and would want to travel from there rather than trek to Gatwick so Norwegian are out. I would then look at the ground facilities and think that Terminal 3’s facilities (including priority pass lounges) are better than T5 or T2 so there goes BA and United. Plus as it’s a free flight I would probably actively avoid BA as I fly with them all the time and it’s fun to spice it up a a little.

    The same then goes for the experience in NYC – access to my preferred hotel in New York is easier by cab from JFK (although not perhaps at rush hour). Which rules out United (again) and one of the VS flights. I would also maybe look at facilities at the various JFK terminals. Then after considering this, I’ll look at what options I have left and look at seat comfort (I’m a fan of the AA economy seat on the 777-300 after flying it IRROPS during a work trip) and IFE (up to date, HD screens would swing it for me here).

    So much to think about! Sometimes I’m glad I am forced through work and subsequently through Avios to fly oneworld as it limits the choice I have to make. I guess now I would also have to consider which seats would likely be most comfortable with lap infant but that is irrelevant to this competition.

    As for this premium vs economy debate – working in finance I of course have a family travel budget and will work out what fits into the budget. If it’s premium classes (with or without Avios) because we are only doing one or two long trips this year then great. If its multiple European trips in Euro Traveller – also great. Ibis for a couple of nights? Fine. Intercontinental for the next two? OK. If it fits in the budget and allows me to go where I want to go and do what I want to do with my family, I’m happy and so are they.

  • Waddle says:

    Entered. Wish me luck.

    Personally, economy in mid or long haul has never been an issue for me. Of course if given the choice I’d spring for a premium cabin any day but at the end of the day it’s travel. If it gets me safely from A to B I’m happy. I’m a front sleeper so never able to sleep properly on flights but as I work in 24hr broadcast news I’m accustomed to not getting enough sleep and getting it back at another time so never really affected by jetlag. I’m 5’9 and have never been bothered about leg space even in the most cramped of seats. Friendly service and at least one decent hot meal a flight are the most important to me. Good company also helps pass the time 😉.

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