‘Tis the season for celebrating and, as is common, a few airlines have put together some awesome promotions this Christmas. As an added bonus, they’ve got videos of the fun online. Here are my three favorites this year.
WestJet
Somewhat Oprah style – everyone there was a winner – and, even better, everyone got what they asked for (more or less). Bonus points for getting it all done so quickly while the passengers were en route.
Also, remember to ask for more than just socks and underwear. Or, to paraphrase Ghostbusters, “If someone asks you if you are a god you say ‘YES!'” Go big or go home. Of course, in this case many people got to go home up big.
JetBlue
JetBlue got in touch with a bunch of people trying to find rides via Craigslist and gave them flights home for the holidays instead. A whole bunch of great lines in the segments they included in the video. Among my favorites,
- “Oh, you want to drive? See, we don’t have a car. We have an airplane.”
- “Well, actually, we don’t take roads…” Reminds me a bit of Doctor Emmett Brown, actually.
Alaska Airlines
Great job surprising the people on the spot with the prize and also capturing the phone calls to the other half of the winners to share the excitement on the spot.
And, while I’m enjoying the Christmas spirit, two more links to share:
- First, Christmas as told in 1986 about the happenings on the floor in the newsroom a generation prior. It is an approach to life which is missing quite often these days, and that’s a shame. “I didn’t say get the story,” Reck replied gently. “I said get the kid his peaches.” (It’ll make sense when you read the piece, I promise.)
- And, second, an absolutely awesome United Airlines flight attendant friend of mine is giving a gift to one of his co-workers this year. It might not seem like much, but trading a line for reserve for a month is, to me, significant in a couple ways. Mostly it is good to remember that there are lots of other things involved in running an airline, lots more than we ever see as passengers or even as employees in any one area. Some of the best experiences I’ve had related to airlines have been the “behind-the-scenes” events where regular idiots like me got to do things like FA training (very abbreviated, obviously), load bags, explore a maintenance base, (try to) process standby passengers last-minute at the gate or handle a de-icing truck. That sort of exposure, even just a minor change within your group to remember how the other half works, makes a world of difference in the long run.
That’s all from me in this random Christmas Day ramblings. Hopefully you’re all enjoying the day in your own way.
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