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Flying Turkeys
Kirby's Korner · November 3, 2000

With the holidays coming up, you can bet travel-related businesses are vying for your dollars and interest.

Not all of these promotions are tied to the Internet, though many are -- without a Web connection, you can't take advantage of them. And not all are unusual; you'll find the typical discounts of inflated holiday-season airfares on most any airline Web site you care to visit. (Take advantage of these discounts soon, though, because we're fast creeping up on the end of the "fly for cheap" reduced-rate period.)

Some firms have gone beyond the expected and are offering truly unusual incentives for holiday travel. Although this column might read like the bastard child of a union of Ticked's Cheap Charlie and the Occidental Tourist, I feel compelled to present some of my favorites of these holiday bonuses:

Travelocity.com is offering a "leg up" on Thanksgiving travel by enrolling purchasers, through Nov. 7, in a contest to win a 15-pound Butterball turkey. No restrictions on flight dates, and 100 turkeys will be given away every day between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7. In addition, the contest will award one grand prize -- four round-trip airline tickets to anywhere in the "lower 48" states.

No, the promotion of free turkeys doesn't refer to people who buy their tickets from Travelocity, as one online travel pundit suggested to me it might.

This is by far my favorite promotion, not because it would cause me to purchase anything (though there is that new smoker on the patio!) but because of the image the Nov. 1 news release from Travelocity brought to mind.

"Travelocity.com Lets Turkeys Fly," it said.

I was immediately transported back 20 years to everyone's favorite episode of WKRP, the television show about a low-rated radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. In a very early episode, the inept station manager decides to run a promotion by dropping live turkeys on a shopping center parking lot. ("Letting turkeys fly," he would say.) As the turkeys dropped like "sacks of wet cement," according to WKRP news director Les Nessnam, on-the-spot Les can only exclaim, "Oh, the humanity! The humanity!"

"As God is my witness," says the station manger, "I thought turkeys could fly."

The Travelocity promotion may not change anyone's mind about where to buy travel, but at least it will fly.

Expedia.com, Travelocity's main competitor, is engaged in a more long-range strategy, creating a Holiday Travel Center in conjunction with travel expert Bill Bryson. You'll be able to find deals and travel tips as the U.S. holiday season ramps up. The deals and information are expected to change as the holidays grow nearer.

Away.com is offering a respite from the U.S. political season, which closes next Tuesday. Through Dec. 1, anyone who has worked on Capitol Hill during the Clinton administration or who has been involved in the Gore, Bush, or Nader races can get a rebate of up to $100 for any vacation package they book. No restrictions on travel dates.

I haven't tried it, but I'd be willing to bet that "I waved a flag for Gore" would be sufficient for the discount.

San Jose International Airport proves that all politics is local by offering free rides to the airport from now until Jan. 2. Rides from stations run by the California-based Caltrain and VTA Light Rail that connect with the airport are free, although you have to make advance arrangements. Check out the Web site for additional information.

Obviously, not everyone has to be a Grinch with holiday-stealing aspirations.

David Kirby is the senior editor at the start-up dot-com company iJET Travel Intelligence and was the founding editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.