Ditto. And I'm also glad a flyertalker won!

BTW, what kind of travel taxes do you have to pay on the 50 cent fare? Is it really like a $100 ticket?

I'm also assuming you don't have to pay income taxes on the "fair value" of a ticket to Rome. Like if you won it on a game show. Because if they sent you a 1099, that would be very, very bad. Here, you technically are "buying" the ticket, so I presume (but don't know) that there's no "income" involved.

FWIW, I also noticed that when I "refreshed" the contest page, the clock time changed by a few seconds. I had had the window open for about a half hour or so before refreshing. Why would THAT happen? And not that it probably matters, but if you don't refresh, you may be hitting the button a few seconds early or late.