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Hawaii residents (and folks in Alaska) apparently are iced out of a more-than-nationwide contest by Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., doing business as Allegiant Air.
The contest invites residents of the 48 contiguous mainland states as well as Canada and Mexico to "Vote for Vacation" and possibly win one of 77 round trips for two to their Allegiant destination of choice. The online terms and conditions page requires entrants to be "legal residents of the continental U.S., Mexico or Canada (who) are 21 years of age or older at time of entry."
The airline has dispatched three "campaign buses" that will stop in a total of 77 cities. In each of those cities, entrants will vote for their favorite vacation destination and someone will receive two tickets to said destination. The first 100 people who show up to the promotional events will win a coupon for $21.60, the amount of federal taxes for round-trip airfare for a future vacation package with Allegiant.
The travel company also will award one grand prize: free flights on Allegiant for four years.
The news release announcing the contest assures those unable to get to one of the 77 cities that they can enter via "absentee ballot" at the website www.vote4vacation.com.
The website’s absentee ballot link leads to the airline’s Facebook page, which means online entrants must have or create a Facebook presence.
Repeated requests to the airline for additional details and clarification went unanswered.
The airline entered the Hawaii market earlier this year and flies between Hawaii and 11 markets, including Las Vegas; Spokane, Wash.; and Phoenix.
In July airline officials predicted Allegiant’s capacity would grow by double digits in the next two quarters thanks to its new Hawaii service; that’s 15 percent to 19 percent more scheduled seat-miles in the third quarter and between 22 percent and 26 percent growth in the fourth quarter, according to a July 10 Associated Press report.
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On the Net:
» www.vote4vacation.com
MAUI BUMPS ORLANDO
Maui is the second-most booked U.S. travel destination for the rest of the year, behind Las Vegas, according to Minnesota-based Travel Leaders Group.
Orlando, Fla., was unseated by the Valley Isle due to Maui’s status as the No. 1-recommended domestic destination by Travel Leaders Group’s member-travel agents, according to a statement. Maui jumped three spots from last year’s fall ranking of booked destinations, to this year’s No. 2 spot.
Honolulu is the No. 5-ranked destination of the top 10.
In order: Las Vegas; Maui; Orlando, Fla.; New York City; Honolulu; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Los Angeles; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
So what are those inbound visitors paying to fly here? Participating travel agents were asked about average cost per ticket for their clients. Per 56.3 percent of those polled, the average was between $700 and $999, while 21.2 reported their clients’ average fare was less than $700.
As for the overall tenor of the Fall Travel Trends Survey, more than 80 percent of respondents indicated bookings are the same or better than this time last year. Of that number, 52.1 percent reported bookings are better, while 28.8 percent reported bookings at the same level as a year ago. Just more than 19 percent reported lower bookings.
This survey was conducted by Travel Leaders Group from July 30 to Aug. 23 and includes responses from 871 U.S.-based travel agency owners, managers and front-line travel agents from the flagship Travel Leaders brand, along with other affiliated entities.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
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