JerryFF

We had a long discussion. The cost of travel to and from the airport, for example, was a necessary expenditure in order to accept the prize. Therefore, our accountant said it was deductible, as well as meals and other required expenses that were not covered by the prize. That is, accepting the prize required spending a certain amount of money and by any rule, that is an acceptable deduction against the value of the trip.

The trip was good, though not great. It was an escorted tour offered by Trafalgar that started in Rome, then bus ride to Venice, then bus back to Florence, and finally bus back to Rome. The hotels were at best mid-level and the 3 or 4 dinners that were included ranged from poor to mediocre. The flights were in coach and the return on Alitalia from Rome to LAX was the most uncomfortable - 13 hours in very tight coach seating.

On the positive side, our tour guide was outstanding, the other 40 or so folks on the tour, just about all of them American, were really very pleasant - no "ugly Americans" - and the opportunity to spend a couple of days in and around Venice was definitely a highlight. Given that we had never been to Italy and probably wouldn't have gone on our own, it was worth it. But had we decided to do the trip on our own, by using points and miles, we could easily have had much better flights and hotels, and then spent the money we paid in taxes on good Italian restaurants.

JerryFF

Just curious - did you enter by the "alternative entry method" and if so, how many entries did you send in?

SkiAdcock

I entered once via the non-purchase entry. Truthfully I forgot about the sweeps or I probably would have entered more.

Cheers.

JerryFF

Total value-wise of about $8-10 million (depending on how you value miles), I think it was one of the bigger sweeps of the year. Of course, with an entry for every purchase on a MP credit card, there will be lots of entries - I think they estimated about 160 million entries. But still, with a free online entry, I think it was worth some time.

Martina70

I tried to make an entry per day..but sometimes I forgot so it ended up being every other day or so. I mainly used my Untied CC more for my entries.

ETA Sorry, I just read the question and though you were asking anyone in general...on closer look, it looks like you were specifically asking SkiAdcock

JerryFF

You were right the first time- I was asking anyone. Curious how much effort/time people are willing to put into this type of activity. I know there are "professional hobbyists" who enter lots and lots.

SkiAdcock

Funny comment on a travel bulletin board, where people go on mileage runs, get multiple credit cards for points, etc

Speaking for myself I'm hit or miss. Sometimes I'll enter sweepstakes daily; others times I'll go a few months inbetween. It is a hobby, not a profession.

Cheers.

Martina70

The were suppose draw the winners on Oct 15th and contact them by email a few days later.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything from them....I hope some of you had better luck than I did.

Flyingmama

It could be early yet. They will draw the names and send out emails to the winners, giving the winners (usually) 5 days or so to respond. If there is no response, they go to the next name - and another 5 days wait. That continues until someone responds and claims the prize. These things sometimes take a while.

JerryFF

They won't announce the winners until all prizes are handed out. We were just wondering if anyone on FT had gotten an email telling them they were a Grand Prize winner. There is another thread about this sweeps in the UA forum and nothing from anyone there either.

Flyingmama

There was a discussion a few years ago on online-sweepstakes.com in which winners of big prizes were cautioned not to announce their win until they had the prize in their hands and it was a done deal. Apparently announcing such a win too early causes certain unkind individuals to crawl out of the woodwork claiming the winner was a fraud and a cheat, creating all sorts of problems for them and the sponsor. Perhaps the winners of this one are following that advice. (And no, I haven't received an email either!)

SkiAdcock

And then there are the people who won who don't care to make an announcement that they won. I know I've won multiple things & other than maybe mentioning it to a friend or relative didn't say anything about it anywhere. Occasionally I do; often I don't.

In this case, it's only the GP that's really worth any money. The secondary prizes are only valued at $500/$100 (although the miles are appreciated of course).

As FlyingMama notes, sometimes it takes a while for folk to get notified of wins - or even to receive them. I won a $50 Visa gift card a few weeks ago & when I received the email notice saying congrats I was told I had 5 days to respond. When I did, I then received an email saying it would take 8-10 weeks for the gift card to arrive.

I would imagine after winner verification the miles won't take as long to deposit.

BTW - I entered this 1x. Haven't received an email notice of a win. FWIW - given that folk got an entry for each eligible purchase on a Chase card, that opens up the # of potential winners to the millions. I would be delighted if some FTers won, but not surprised if they didn't.

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

A FTer's daughter won the grand prize. He posted in the United forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27484841-post113.html

Cheers.

Martina70

Wow-Thanks.
Nice to know someone kind of , if not directly related to the FT was the lucky winner.

SkiAdcock

And there were a # of FT winners on the lesser prizes (although not me).

Cheers.