Received an email that I won GH Celebrate 125 Sweepstakes. Airfare, hotel, Maybelline makeover, tickets to event. No transportation to or from airport/hotel, no food, etc. This "prize" would cost me appx $500 in taxes & $400 or so in food & transportation. Plus cabs to get around. (This all takes place in NYC.) Makes no sense to me. I have won other grand prizes and this doesn't even come close. I can't pay almost $1000 to be a winner! Any thoughts on this?
I turned down Good Housekeeping grand prize
- Thread starter jrgbug
- Start date
berubes
New member
Wow, that must have been hard to turn down. Will it change your approach to entering trip sweeps? Sometimes I enter sweeps like that and figure what are the odds and if I win, I'll make it work somehow, but timing is everything, and there's alot to consider. Like, destination.... I won a trip like that from Dole - hotel, air and car rental. I'm going next month - I'm scraping all my money together for food, entertainment and taxes cuz I just can't pass up Honolulu!
Yeah for real! Plus it costs gas to drive around. In places like NYC & Hollywood you can pretty much walk everywhere!
curmudgeon
New member
I'm with you. Seems like the majority of big ticket sweeps lately are for trips, and they don't have a cash option. Just give me the option for cash, even if it's for half of the trip ARV.
arnieray
New member
I have turned down 2 trips. Winning trips are not always worth it. I won a trip to a superbowl. The trip left on friday and returned on monday. The trip included airfare, the game and meals. The trip was not discounted and was valued at $2000. I would have had to pay a lot in taxes especially for a 4 day trip. With what I would have paid in taxes, I could have gone away for a week.
I won a 7 day trip to India that I almost turned down. It was traveling 2 days in each direction. I would only be spending 3 days in India. A long way to go to only spend 3 days there. The trip only included airfare and hotel. I was about to turn the trip down when the travel agent who was the paying sponsor went bankrupt. By law the advertising sponsors were libel. I sued the advertising sponsors and it was settled out of court. I wound up with an all expense paid trip to Jamaica for 1 week which included everything..airfare, hotel, all meals and spending money. In addition, the radio station that paid for the trip never asked for my ssnumber. My trip cost me nothing and I even had spending money left over.
Not all trips are a bargain. Not all prizes are a bargain. I once won a cell phone but in order to receive phone I had to purchase a 2 year service contract that had the highest paying contract the company offered. I turned down the phone.
I won a 7 day trip to India that I almost turned down. It was traveling 2 days in each direction. I would only be spending 3 days in India. A long way to go to only spend 3 days there. The trip only included airfare and hotel. I was about to turn the trip down when the travel agent who was the paying sponsor went bankrupt. By law the advertising sponsors were libel. I sued the advertising sponsors and it was settled out of court. I wound up with an all expense paid trip to Jamaica for 1 week which included everything..airfare, hotel, all meals and spending money. In addition, the radio station that paid for the trip never asked for my ssnumber. My trip cost me nothing and I even had spending money left over.
Not all trips are a bargain. Not all prizes are a bargain. I once won a cell phone but in order to receive phone I had to purchase a 2 year service contract that had the highest paying contract the company offered. I turned down the phone.
champagne
New member
Well, I personally feel that you and anyone else who enters a trip sweepstake and then WINS it, is screwing it up for those of us who READ THE RULES and don't mind footing the bill for things like this...
You should ONLY enter for things YOU WANT TO WIN and plan on accepting the prize after being notified.... IMO
but I guess they will pick another winner... Sorry u turned it down
You should ONLY enter for things YOU WANT TO WIN and plan on accepting the prize after being notified.... IMO
but I guess they will pick another winner... Sorry u turned it down
southernbell7777
New member
can anyone help me find where the expired contest is? i've been looking for it for more than 30 minutes now, with no such luck :scratch:
thanks in advance!!!!
thanks in advance!!!!
champagne
New member
Here ya go:
GoodHousekeeping.Com - The Celebrate 125 Sweepstakes
Enter to win a trip to New York, NY. Prize includes round-trip coach airfare for two, 2- night hotel stay, 2 tickets to see the 125th Birthday Gala event on April 12, 2010 and a makeover for the winner and his/her guest (ARV $3,300).
Restrictions : Age of Majority 48 Contiguous US, DC | Hits : 870 | Added : 02-18-10 | Expired : 03-19-2010 | Rules
juju2cat
Well-known member
I won't enter trip sweepstakes unless I really, really want to go there and will scrape up the money somehow for food, etc. It's the only way I personally can afford to go. Several years ago I won a weekend trip to New Orleans, transp paid and stayed at the Iberville Suites (managed by Ritz Carlton) in the French Quarter. I ran through
the $200 I took with me and my son and I came home with pennies in our pockets but it was worth it all for the memories!
the $200 I took with me and my son and I came home with pennies in our pockets but it was worth it all for the memories!
idpdiane
New member
Why did you enter it???
southernbell7777
New member
thanks!!!!!!!
:wave:destiny907
Member
I always read the rules/prizes carefully before deciding whether or not to enter! I really wouldn't want to win any trip that all the travel wasn't included either! And I never enter to any "big city" trips! LOL I want to win super relaxing trips like a cruise.
I never enter for makeup/stuff/bling that is over a $500 win either- I don't want to pay taxes on "stuff" that is nice but normally I just don't buy!
I never enter for makeup/stuff/bling that is over a $500 win either- I don't want to pay taxes on "stuff" that is nice but normally I just don't buy!
laidbackguy7
New member
I'm curious why you entered this contest if you had no interest in the prize?
I wouldn't have turned it down. Some points to consider...
1) How many trips from sweeps offers travel to/from airports? Food? Seems like a bit like nitpicking to me. Public transportation via city bus/train from LaGuardia to Manhattan will run you $2.25 each way. Many Manhattan hotels also offers airport shuttles. Food - Again, you have to eat whether you are traveling or at home. How many travel sweeps offers food? Cabs? I have never seen a sweeps that also included cab fare!!! Buy a metrocard and ride the trains/busses or walk. Again no food, no cabfare, no transportation to/from hotels is the norm for the majority of sweeps trips and to be blunt, you seem to be a bit fussy. If I had won that, I wouldn't even have thought about accepting it, I would have been jumping up and down for joy.
2) You are paying taxes not on the ARV stated by the sponsors (since many of them overestimate the ARV anyway on trips since they have no idea what the point of origin is of the eventual winner) but you are liable for taxes on the ACTUAL VALUE of the prize. i.e., do some research on what airfares for the exact same itinerary would cost and print out the fares. Do the same for the hotel rates and anything else included in the prize package. Even if the taxes were the full $500 that you estimated, that seems like a darn bargain to me for a trip to NYC!
I wouldn't have turned it down. Some points to consider...
1) How many trips from sweeps offers travel to/from airports? Food? Seems like a bit like nitpicking to me. Public transportation via city bus/train from LaGuardia to Manhattan will run you $2.25 each way. Many Manhattan hotels also offers airport shuttles. Food - Again, you have to eat whether you are traveling or at home. How many travel sweeps offers food? Cabs? I have never seen a sweeps that also included cab fare!!! Buy a metrocard and ride the trains/busses or walk. Again no food, no cabfare, no transportation to/from hotels is the norm for the majority of sweeps trips and to be blunt, you seem to be a bit fussy. If I had won that, I wouldn't even have thought about accepting it, I would have been jumping up and down for joy.
2) You are paying taxes not on the ARV stated by the sponsors (since many of them overestimate the ARV anyway on trips since they have no idea what the point of origin is of the eventual winner) but you are liable for taxes on the ACTUAL VALUE of the prize. i.e., do some research on what airfares for the exact same itinerary would cost and print out the fares. Do the same for the hotel rates and anything else included in the prize package. Even if the taxes were the full $500 that you estimated, that seems like a darn bargain to me for a trip to NYC!
colleenjudge
New member
I am always very careful about the trips I enter for. I have it down now to only NASCAR races, and Alaska. I don't have a passport and don't want to get one. Why would anyone spend the time and effort to enter for a trip they don't really want instead of spending the time entering for something they want or could use? :scratch: