Mario Batali’s sons have just published “The Batali Brothers Cookbook”.  It’s a book of family recipies that they put together as a present for their father, Mario Batali’s 50th birthday.  E3GKJQJVTZDF

To promote the book their publisher, Harper Collins, is sponsoring a sweepstakes that’s offering the winner 100,000 AAdvantage Miles and a chance to meet Mario Batali in New York City on the set of ABC’s “The Chew”:

• Signed copy of THE BATALI BROTHERS COOKBOOK
by Benno, Leo Batali and Mario Batali

• Food & Wine Magazine Subscription

• Two pairs of Bistro Mario Batali Edition Crocs

• The full line of Mario Batali pasta sauces and imported Italian pastas

• Three cookbooks from Mario Batali

• Hotel accommodations for two

• 100,000 AAdvantage Miles (enough for 2 Economy AAnytime domestic roundtrip tickets on American Airlines)

• Four Admirals Club One-Day passes courtesy of American Airlines (Enjoy Admirals Club access with personalized service, comfort and exceptional amenities)

• Four in-flight Wi-Fi Passes courtesy of American Airlines (On your roundtrip flight to NYC stay connected during your journey with
access to complimentary Wi-Fi)

The last entry will be accepted May 29, 2013 at 12:00 p.m. (ET).

Go here to enter and for complete terms and conditions.  Good luck!!

Photo: The Batali Brothers Cookbook
Credit: Harper Collins Publishers

American is the official airline partner to more than 30 Broadway theaters in New York City, and one of the things they’ve done to promote this partnership is to offer performances from several Broadway shows as part of their American Airlines Concert Series at JFK Terminal 8.

Earlier in the Summer, some of the cast members from the musical “Nice Work if You Can Get It” performed a couple of songs from the show for travelers at JFK.

Here’s a look:

If enjoyed the video clip you’ll be happy to know that there are two ways to get VIP tickets to the show: winning them at auction or win them in a sweepstakes.

AAdvantage Auction

VIP Broadway Package – Nice Work If You Can Get It

Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Access to Nice Work If You Can Get It on Broadway!

Don’t miss this opportunity to see Nice Work If You Can Get It on Broadway in New York City.

Your package for two includes:

Hotel Accommodations at the Kimberly Hotel, a Boutique Suite Hotel (2 nights)
Pre-Theater Dinner for Two at Tony’s DiNapoli
Two Premium Orchestra Seats
Valid for Any Non-Holiday Weekend in October or November
Saturday Evening Only
Basket of Show Souvenirs, including Cast-Autographed Souvenir Book
Backstage Tour
Meet and Greet plus Photo Opportunity with Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara

If you want to bid on this package, go here.

You’ll need a pretty healthy AAdvantage Miles account balance, the current winning bid is more than 300,000 miles

Or you can save your miles and just win a VIP package from American Airlines and Sweet’N Low:

Sweepstakes

Nice Work Sweepstakes

One Grand Prize Winner will receive 2 VIP tickets to Nice Work If You Can Get It, starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara, a chance to meet the stars- Matthew and Kelli- backstage, air transportation to New York for 2 provided by American Airlines, hotel accommodations for 2 nights at the Kimberly Hotel, and 2 Sweet’N Low totes to carry your souvenirs.

To enter all you have to do is supply your contact information. A winner will be selected at a random drawing. The sweepstakes ends ends at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time on December 15th, 2012.

Go here to read the rules and go here to enter. Good luck!

Just a short break from being unplugged and offline for some family time to tell you about a new sweepstakes from the AAdvantage eShopping Mall:

The Summer of Half-A-Million AAdvantage Miles Sweepstakes!

The AAdvantage eShopping mall is celebrating summer with a sweepstakes worth a half-a-million miles! You could be one of two eShopping members who will win a 100,000 American Airlines AAdvantage mile grand prize, or one of ten eShopping members who will win 30,000 AAdvantage miles — that’s a total of half-a-million miles!

Go ahead! Start dreaming of your next summer getaway. Enter for your chance to win between 6/14/12 – 7/14/12 and learn how to receive multiple entries a day!

From the rules:

Marketing Communications: After you register, you may be asked to sign up to receive Marketing communications. If you agree to receive these communications and/or if you do not “unsubscribe” from email communications if you are already receiving them, you will receive one (1) additional entry into the Sweepstakes.

Limit: You will only receive one (1) entry during the Promotion Period for opting-in to email communications, so long as you remain opted in as of the end date of the Promotion Period.

Use the AAdvantage eShoppingSM Toolbar: Visit https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/summersweepsspecialoffers to view offers from participating retailers. You will receive one (1) additional entry into the Sweepstakes for taking this action.

Limit: You may receive one (1) entry per day during the Promotion Period for viewing retailer offers.

Make Purchases through AAdvantage eShoppingSM Mall or AAdvantage eShoppingSM Toolbar: Visithttps://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/summersweepsspecialoffers and make an online purchase or use the AAdvantage eShoppingSM Toolbar and make a purchase with a participating merchant. You will receive one (1) additional entry into the Sweepstakes for each such purchase transaction made during the Promotion Period (multiple purchases in a single transaction will only result in one (1) entry).

Limit: There is no limit on the number of purchases you may make. However, you can only receive two (2) entries per day during the Promotion Period for completing purchase transactions.

Earn Additional Entries Without Purchase or Opting-in to Marketing Communications: If you do not wish to opt-in to receive marketing communication, or make a purchase, hand print your name, address, day and evening phone numbers, email address, AAdvantage® account number, and date of birth on a 3″ x 5″ piece of paper and mail it in an envelope with proper postage to “American Airlines AAdvantage® Miles Sweepstakes,” c/o P.O. Box 5046, Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5046. Limit: One (1) entry per envelope.

You may mail-in up to sixty-three (63) entries during the Promotion Period. All mail-in entries must be handwritten and must be postmarked by July 14, 2012 and received by July 21, 2012. All entries become the exclusive property of Sponsor and none will be acknowledged or returned. Proof of sending or submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, illegible, misdirected or postage-due entries, which will be disqualified.

Go here to enter.

London and Partners, the official promotional organization for London tourism, is sponsoring the new “Limited Edition London: More Magical Than Ever Before” sweepstakes.

The prize For Two Adults Includes these descriptions:

Round-Trip Coach Travel to London on American Airlines
American has served London since 1982, and today flies to London from seven US gateways: New York, Boston, Raleigh-Durham, Miami, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, with a total of 19 daily departures.

Three Nights Accommodation at a Thistle Hotel
Enjoy three nights stay in London (including breakfast) at a Thistle hotel of your choice. Thistle has 32 hotels across the country, many in superb city centre locations, including 10 in some iconic, central London locations.

£100 Shopping Voucher for Westfield London
With more than 300 shops and 65 restaurants, Westfield London is the London’s ultimate luxury shopping destination, and we are delighted to offer the winning couple a £100 gift card to spend onsite.

Two 2-day London Passes
The London Sightseeing Pass is a time and money saving pre-paid entry ticket giving you entry to your choice of more than 60 top London attractions including the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and a Thames River Cruise all for one fixed price.

Dinner and a Pint in a Taylor Walker London Pub
Visit the Prince of Wales pub in Drury Lane, Covent Garden for a pint of real ale and a classic British dish such as hand battered fish, chips and mushy peas, or a roast dinner of the day. The Prince of Wales is a traditional London pub situated in the heart of London’s theatre district.

To enter, all you have to do is provide them with your email address and a few other details (nothing too onerous in my mind) and then sign up for their newsletter.

The contest ends May 31, 2012, so go here for the rules, then go here to enter. Good Luck!!

*****************************

Here’s a great way to start your week off: Win AAdvantage Miles and Discount Codes

Win Miles – Today is the last day to vote in American’s AAdvantage Tips Facebook contest for a chance to win 5,000 AAdvantage Miles. You can also vote for your favorite Expert Tip (I’m participating) and help me win some miles to give away on the blog and to donate to AA’s Miles for Kids.

Win More Miles: Don’t forget that Monday is AAdvantage Day at the Frugal Travel Guy. Go share your favorite AAdvantage advice in the comments section for a chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles!

Save Money: High jumping blogger Michael W, over the at Michael W Travels, is sponsoring a drawing today to give away two American Airlines discount codes. To win, all you have to do is leave a comment on his blog. While you’re there, check out his Top 5 Animal Encounters post; it’s a feature in this month’s ScotteVest newsletter (congratulations Michael W!).

Photo: London Underground
Credit: _dChris on Flickr

To kick off the week, I’ve got a few new American Airlines and oneworld related sweepstakes and blog contests to tell you about.  I’ve even got my own reader giveaway today.  

From American Airlines:

American is the official sponsor of television show ¡Q’VIVA and their offering a sweepstakes to promote their partnership:

American Airlines, the official airline of the hit show, ¡Q’VIVA The Chosen, has teamed up with the show’s producers to offer fans a chance to win a unique VIP experience to attend a live ¡Q’VIVA performance in the United States. ¡Q’VIVA! The Chosen follows superstar artists Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Jamie King as they travel through Latin America searching for extraordinary performers who hope to be among “The Chosen.” The singers, musicians, dancers, acrobats and other uniquely talented performers are given the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles for the chance to work with the superstars to produce a spectacular live show highlighting the artists from throughout the region. Filmed in three languages, ¡Q’VIVA The Chosen is being broadcast in 21 countries, and has now become one of the biggest new international TV shows of 2012.

Two grand prize winners will receive:

• Tickets for two to attend a live ¡Q’VIVA show in the U.S. in 2012, and enough American Airlines AAdvantage miles for their round-trip travel.

• While at the show, they will also have the opportunity to attend a meet-and-greet with show contestants

• a three-night stay in a local hotel

• plus a $1,000 gift card to use during their trip.

All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET time on April 9, 2012. Go here to enter.

American Airlines related:

The The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring a Facebook sweepstakes with the winner receiving a chance to get an up close tour of the Hollywood sign:

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk up to the Hollywood sign for winner and a guest at 12:30 pm on March 22, 2012, including 45 minutes in the restricted sign area (courtesy of the Trust for Public Land); two Hollywood CityPASS booklets; two round trip economy class airline tickets to Los Angeles on American Airlines valued up to $500 total (subject to airline rules, availability and restrictions); one night stay accommodation (double occupancy, excluding incidentals and parking) at the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown.

This contest ends today, March 19, 2012 @ 11:59 pm (PDT).  Go here to enter.

From oneworld member Etihad:

Join Etihad Guest frequent flyer program and win two free tickets (via Frequent Flier):

Etihad Airways, the World’s Leading Airline is delighted to invite you to join Etihad Guest – our award winning loyalty program. Etihad Guest, unlike other programs is designed exclusively around you. It’s more flexible, less restrictive, more responsive and much more rewarding.

Join Etihad Guest any time between 28 February and 30 March 2012 and you stand a chance to win yourself two Coral Economy Class tickets to any destination on our network. So start planning your holiday and you could be that lucky winner flying free – whether it’s to the Maldives, Shanghai or Sydney – the choice is completely yours! Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.

All you need to do to enter is:

•  Go here to Join Etihad Guest program
•  Once registered, go here to submit your Etihad Guest number

I tried this earlier and got an error message when I tired to sign up.  Hopefully, it’s just a temporary issue.

Go here for complete details.

Etihad Facebook Contest

Win a trip to Shanghai.

In celebration of our new Shanghai services, we’ve teamed up with the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi to give one lucky couple the holiday of a lifetime!

The prize is a pair of Etihad Airways tickets to Shanghai from any Etihad destination in the world, including a two night stopover in Abu Dhabi. The winners will spend two nights in the luxurious Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi and two nights in the Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai. The winners will enjoy a complimentary lunch or dinner for two at Shangri-La’s superb Shang Palace restaurants at both locations.

Have your holiday pictures handy as this is a photo competition and we want to see where our fans live or have flown. UAE residents can also enter.

Submit your photos by March 20 and the Etihad Airways team will shortlist our favorites for our fans to vote on.

Go here for complete details. Register by March 20, 2012 to enter.

American Airlines related blog contest

Win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles from The Frugal Travel Guy and American Airlines:

On Monday’s we will concentrate on finding deals, fares, promotions, anything related to American Airlines, their oneworld Partners or AAdvantage partners. Find the best AA or related deal and submit it to the blog comments for a chance to win 2500 AA miles donated by American Airlines. (Only AA, oneworld, and their partner deals will be accepted on Monday’s). All others will be better off submitted on another day.

Go here to share your AA related tip.

Win an American Airlines Discount Code:

Mrs. Deals and The Weekly Flyer have teamed up to give away American Airlines discount codes each Monday during the month of March.

Double your chances today by visiting both Deals We Like and Points, Miles & Martinis.

Win an American Airlines USB Card with free Gogo Wifi Code

The AA social media team was nice enough to give me five USB cards with free codes for Gogo Inflight Wifi.  I gave away two last week, so this week I’m giving away the remaining three.

To enter, just post your answer to this question in the comments section: Have you ever won contest, sweepstakes, or giveaway?

Tomorrow morning, I’ll have a random drawing to pick a winner and will announce the results Wednesday’s post.  One entry per person. The deadline to enter is tonight, March 19, at 11:59PM Pacific.

Good luck!

If you travel often enough, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll end up with a celebrity story to add to your travel tales.  Here’s one of mine.

Over the years I’ve seen Dolly Parton appear on Letterman, Leno, Conan and lots of other programs and she’s one of those celebrities that you hope is as nice in person as she appears on television.

I was making a connection in Chicago a few years ago, and I was at the gate waiting for the incoming flight to empty.  I overheard some of the passengers that were coming off the plane talking about someone and how nice she was, and how she looked great in real life, so I figured that someone famous must have been on the flight.

I wasn’t all the interested and was more focused on watching the flight display to see if my upgrade would clear, so I didn’t pay that much attention.   I glanced back over to the gate and saw a small lady with blond hair, walking away with a couple of airport or airline attendants.   I didn’t recognize her or even make the connection at the time, but it was Dolly Parton.

My upgrade cleared and so I boarded with the first class passenger group.  I was getting settled in my seat and one of the other passengers asked the flight attendant if Dolly Parton had been on the earlier flight.

The flight attendant said that she had, so a few of the passengers asked what she was like.

“She was great. I’ve seen my share of celebrities on flights, and she was one of the nicest. She was giving everyone that asked an autograph and was so gracious about it. She joked with everyone. She was just really sweet”.

The other flight attendant joined in and said that she was definitely the nicest celebrity she had ever come across.

I thought that was pretty cool.

Anyway, she’s in the new movie “Joyful Noise” that comes out later this month. From the official website:

Two choir members have differing opinions on how to win the national choir competition.  Joyful Noise tells the story of an unlikely partnership between two strong-minded women (Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton) who are forced to work together to save a small town Gospel Choir after budget cuts threaten to shut them down.

To promote the film Warner Brothers is offering a sweepstakes:

Enter for your chance to win the Joyful Noise Gospel Giveaway!

The Grand Prize includes:

1. Music and wellness master class with Grammy Award winning producer Donald Lawrence for your favorite choir.
2. One hundred choir robes courtesy of Murphy Robes/Herff Jones.
3. One pastor robe courtesy of Murphy Robes/Herff Jones
4. Rond trip airfare for four courtesy of American Airlines

The contest rules are pretty restrictive in that you have to complete travel by the end of March.  Here’s some of the details from the official rules page:

• The grand prize winner and his or her travel guests must travel together on the same itinerary

• Airline tickets are non-refundable/nontransferable and are not valid for upgrades and/or frequent flyer miles.

• All airline tickets are subject to flight variation, work stoppages, and schedule or route changes and are for travel to any American Airlines destination in the forty-eight (48) contiguous United States, Canada and Mexico.

• Travel must be completed prior to March 29, 2012.

The ARV is $24,000 and the winner pays taxes.

To enter, all you have to do is visit this site and submit an entry.  The sweepstakes ends at 11:59 PM EST on 1/12/12.

If you have a celebrity story share it in the comments section.   Hope your year is off to a good start and have a great weekend!

Happy 2012!  Today is a travel day for me, so just a short post to tell you about the “War Horse Journey Home” Sweepstakes that runs through January 8.  The grand prize is a $4,000 American Airlines Gift Card:

MovieTickets.com invites you to enter War Horse Journey Home sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip home.  War Horse opens nationwide Christmas Day.  Enter for your chance to win now!

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive:
One (1) $4,000 American Airlines gift card to purchase airfare home to see friends and family

One (1) Second Place Winner will receive a War Horse prize pack:
One (1) War Horse soundtrack
One (1) War Horse novel
One (1) War Horse Making of coffee table book

According to the official rules:

American Airlines gift cards are redeemable toward the purchase of air travel wholly on flights operated by American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection carriers for itineraries sold and originating in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Gift cards may also be used for payment of air travel on any oneworld partner or Codeshare flights designated in flight listings as AA.

The Sweepstakes entry period begins on December 19, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) and ends on January 8, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time)

The potential prize winners will be selected in a random drawing from all eligible entries received during the Entry Period. The drawing will be held after 5:00 p.m. ET on or about January 9, 2012.

I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s received some decent reviews and earned 3 out of 4 stars from my favorite movie critic.   Here’s the official trailer:

Go here to read the terms and conditions.  Go here to enter.

The St. Kitts Tourism Authority has partnered with American Airlines to sponsor a new Twitter photo sweepstakes. The winner will receive a five day Caribbean island vacation and tickets for two on American Airlines:

The St. Kitts “Picture Your Present” Twitter photo sweepstakes winner will receive two round trip coach class tickets to St. Kitts on American Airlines plus a 5-day/4-night stay for two at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort & Royal Beach Casino – the ultimate holiday present for anyone who loves to travel.

There are two ways to enter.

If you’re in New York City:

From now through December 25, 2011, all you have to do to enter is take a photo of one of the many ads currently on display in Manhattan (even better if you’re in it!), post it to Twitter with a tag to @StKittsTourism and state what is special about St. Kitts that makes you want to win. We want you to be creative with your tweets, so feel free to post a variety of reasons why St. Kitts is special. The winner will be selected by random drawing on January 2, 2012 and notified that same day via Twitter.

And if you’re not in New York City:

Can’t get to Manhattan? Instead, just go to http://twitpic.com/photos/StKittsTourism, grab one of one of three photos that we’ve provided of these ads, post it to Twitter with a tag to @StKittsTourism and state what’s special about St. Kitts that makes you want to win.

I’ve never been to St. Kitts and don’t know much about it except that it’s warmer than Dallas is right now. I looked it up online and found this video that the tourism authority put up on YouTube. From the looks of it, people are so relaxed on the island that they walk around in slow motion.

Looks like a good vacation spot to me: slow motion is my favorite vacation activity.

From the terms and conditions:

You can enter the sweepstakes between now and Christmas Day, December 25, 2011. The sweepstakes is open to residents of the 48 Continental US states who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

The approximate retail value of the prize is $4,500.00 and the winner is responsible for taxes.

Go here to enter and good luck!

I was shopping SSD hard drives last night and came across this sweepstakes from Newegg.com:

Shoot It, Save It, Show It!
The holidays are back and were giving away over $70,000 in prizes, featuring a 2012 Fiat 500 Lounge and a 2012 BMW 128i Coupe! Weekly winners can take home travel gift cards, Canon digital cameras, WD TV media players, and more! Get home for the holidays in style.

American Airlines isn’t a sponsor, but there’s a random drawing each week through December and one of the prize packages include a $1,000 American Airlines Gift Card:

Weekly FIRST PLACE PRIZE winners will each receive a prize package consisting of:

• 1 Sony VAIO S Series VPCSA23GX/SI Notebook Intel Core i5 2410M (2.30GHz) 13.3” 4
GB Memory DDR3 1333 128GB SSD DVD±R/RW AMD Tadeon HD 6630M
• 1 Canon PowerShot ELPH 510 HS Red 12.1 MP 28mm Wide Angle Digital Camera
• 1 Western Digital TV Live Hub Media Center
• 1 Western Digital TV Media Player
• 1 Western Digital My Book Live Hard Drive Storage
• 1 $100 Newegg Promotional Gift Card

Weekly SECOND PLACE PRIZE winners will each receive a prize package consisting of:

• 1 $1,000 American Airlines Travel Gift Card
• 1 Canon PowerShot ELPH 510 HS Red 12.1 MP 28mm Wide Angle Digital Camera
• 1 Western Digital TV Live Hub Media Center
• 1 Western Digital TV Media Player
• 1 Western Digital My Book Live Hard Drive Storage
• 1 $100 Newegg Promotional Gift Card

If you don’t win one of the American Airlines Gift Cards, don’t despair, they’re also giving these prizes in a drawing that will be held January 3, 2012 (think of them as consolation prizes;-):

1 SUPREME HOLIDAY PACKAGE PRIZE winner will receive a prize package consisting of:

• 1 2012 BMW 128i Coupe
• 1 Canon PowerShot ELPH 510 HS Red 12.1 MP 28mm Wide Angle Digital Camera
• 1 Western Digital TV Live Hub Media Center
• 1 Western Digital TV Media Player
• 1 Western Digital My Book Live Hard Drive Storage
• 1 $100 Newegg Promotional Gift Card

1 ULTIMATE HOLIDAY PACKAGE PRIZE winner will receive a prize package consisting of:

• 1 2012 FIAT 500 Lounge, 2-door Hatchback
• 1 Canon PowerShot ELPH 510 HS Red 12.1 MP 28mm Wide Angle Digital Camera
• 1 Western Digital TV Live Hub Media Center
• 1 Western Digital TV Media Player
• 1 Western Digital My Book Live Hard Drive Storage
• 1 $100 Newegg Promotional Gift Card

It’s one entry per person, with no need to enter each week.  Go here for full details.

BTW, it’s shocking how large (and inexpensive) SSD drives have become…..

Not much in the way of AAdvantage news or interesting bonus offers this week, but it has been a big week for AAdvantage sweepstakes promotions.   I’m still traveling, so today’s post is a little brief.

The Shops of JFK Terminal 8 are sponsoring a promotion with the winner receiving 100,000 AAdvantage Miles:

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
2. OPEN TO/ENTRY DETAILS: Open to legal residents of the 48/50 United States, the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico who are 18 years or older.
3. Sweepstakes begins at 11:59 a.m. Eastern time (“ET”) on November 15, 2011 and all entries
must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 31, 2012.
4. PRIZE DETAILS: Six prizes consisting of 100,000 (1), 50,000 (1) and 25,000 (4) AAdvantage®
miles ARV $4,975.

There are two ways to enter: Facebook or their website.

Go here to enter the promotion via Facebook:

Go here if you’d rather enter via the website.

Go here to read the rules.

Good luck and have a great weekend!