These free flights offers are riddled with problems. Right back when HOOVER had a similar offer for those who bought their products. They expected only a small(ish) increase in sales, and the promo was intended to get rid of hard to shift stock. It went wrong because so many people bought "cheap flights with a free vacuum cleaner", and there were not enough actual flights available to meet the number of eligible claims. This lead to customers being denied their free flights simply because there were not enough to go around. Added to this, the company operating the promo deliberately set out to cover their asses by making it difficult for customers to claim their flights by sabotaging the process, such as deliberately leaving phones unanswered, not replying to letters etc. They were exposed by BBC Watchdog, and were in trouble with tranding standards. Eventually, pretty much everybody got their flight, or a compensation deal, but HOOVER lost credibility.
Pity that many other companies keep on making the same mistake, and it is down to how these promotions work. These are bought in, and operate on the basis that only a few of the eligible customers will actually bother to use their free flights since they are generally only available outside of peak travel times, and are obtained by bulk purchasing empty seats from airlines at a deep discount.
It goes wrong when people actually WANT their free flight, simply because it is there, and they get far too many claims than they can deal with. Unanswered and unreturned communications is a symptom of an overload of demand over staffing levels at their booking office. This can also mean that despite giving the proscribed 3 travel alternatives, there will simply be nothing available at all, making it look to the customer like the whole thing was a scam from the beginning.
Due to the nature of these promotions, NEVER book accommodation etc UNTIL you have a confirmed flight, even if this means delaying travel because things have not been arranged in time.
I won a "free flight to Europe" in an earlier Intercasino promotion, but as expected, the terms were pretty restrictive (had to be in the WINTER, and to a choice of only 5 cities), and I would have had to fly for the sake of it, rather than having a reason to, so I recycled the booking form through my printer. Having already won two full blown holidays with flights, I have no need to just fly for the experience of it.
I would most likely have been offered a flight if I really wanted one, but I would have had to pay for accommodation, travel, etc.
I can fly for 1p with Ryanair anyway, so nearly free, and would have more chance of going when and where I wanted, but the extras would probably cost a packet with that crafty Irishman
