Originally Posted by bgmvp
You don't have to report the "manufacturers retail value" of the trip to the IRS if you can find a discounted deal by putting together a similar package.
ie: buying airfare discounted and lodging discounted. Apparently IRS will accept fair market value as the "real" value of the prize.
bgmvp is correct - the value stated on the sponsor's 1099 is not engraved in concrete if you can document for the IRS that the trip was actually worth considerably less. I did that last year for a trip I won to Las Vegas. Of course if the difference is only a couple of hundred dollars or so, it might not be worth the effort.