U.S. Airways makes flying fun With Possibly Illegal Inflight Lottery
By Garnet R. Chaney
When I flew from SFO (San Francisco) to Cincinnati (CVG), I bought the inflight meal. It cost
$10, and consisted of a croiscant sandwich, a bag of chips, a cookie, a really tiny bottle of water,
and a giant sized cardboard box, reminiscent of a children meal activity box. It seemed to be designed
to be very big to give the feeling of solid value. I decided that on the next flight, I could buy
a really nice meal outside the airport for $10, so that's what I did before the return flight.
On a recent flight on U.S. Airways from Cincinnati to San Francisco, I encounted one of
U.S. Airways newest promotions, an inflight lottery service.
Flight info:
Connecting
US Airways Flight 59
Departing: Charlotte Douglas Intl. Airport (CLT) Wed, 11/19/03, 6:10PM
Arriving: San Francisco Intl. (SFO) Wed, 11/19/03, 8:48PM
About 30 minutes to 1 hour into this flight, the meal service began. Meal service on this flight was only for those who decided to buy the inflight meal. On the flight to Cincinnati (11/06/03 US Airways Flight 784), I did buy this meal, but on this flight I was not thinking of buying a meal.
On this flight 59 I saw three stewardess, two blonde, and one brunette. The older blonde (more of a white hair actually), was in charge of the meal service for my section, which was approximately row 10-11. She announced that there was a special for people who buy the $10 meal that they would get a chance to win a vacation for two. The way it was announced, I thought that this was some kind of drawing among the people just on our flight. This seemed like a really good deal to take a chance on for $10, but I wasn't interested in buying a meal.
Both myself, and the guy sitting next to me, asked if a meal purchase was required to have a chance of winning the prize, which the stewardess said was a vacation for two including airfare. The stewardess assured us that it was. "It is only for people who buy a meal." I remarked that a prize, plus a required purchase to enter some kind of chance lottery, sounded a lot like a lottery to me, possibly an illegal lottery. (We were not yet over Nevada airspace, and as far as I know we were not flying over an indian reservation at the time of the offer.) The guy sitting next to me agreed. I, and the guy sitting next to me, quickly explained this to the stewardess, and inquired again about whether or not we could enter the drawing without purchasing the meal. She had what looked like some kind of game card, but was unwilling to let us read it, or examine it, unless we purchased the meal. I was not interested in the meal, and under some circumstances I might be willing to pay $10 for a lottery ticket, but without even being permitted to read the odds, and not wanting to eat the meal, I wasn't going to throw away $10.
I inquired one additional time whether or not the stewardess had any kind of brochure about the prize or the prize drawing, or any kind of address we could write to, and she said she did not. I didn't want to hold up the stewardess any further, I figured that three separate "no" answers to variations of the question "Can I get a ticket without buying a meal? Can I look at the ticket? Can you give me any information about the giveaway, a brochure, or an address about it?", and her determination that I had to buy a meal, was made abundantly clear. The man in a row ahead of me apparently bought an entry in the drawing, plus a meal, but he was unwilling to let me, or the man sitting next to me, examine his game card that he spent $10 on. Maybe he won the free vacation, in which case I could certainly understand him not wanting to let go of the winning card.
I am really conerned about U.S. Airways using their flights to run exclusive in-flight lotteries. Certainly adding gambling to their flights could make the flights more fun, but It really made me feel fourth class that I was denied a chance to join this giveaway because I was unwilling to purchase a possibly over priced meal. Perhaps if the price of the inflight meals was reduced, and not used to subsidize prizes available only to the purchasers of the meals, they would represent a better deal and would sell better.
What do you think? Would you fly more often if the airlines sponsored more games of chance or skill for their passengers?
Would you buy a $10 ticket, and throw away the free meal, to get a chance on an uncrowded flight to win a free vacation and free airfare?
Please, Let me know....
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