Cape Town – Star Alliance on Monday celebrated its 20th anniversary by launching a worldwide competition celebrating cultural connections made by travellers in which entrants stand a chance to win a million frequent flyer miles.
Jeffrey Goh, Star Alliance chief executive, said: "As part of our 20th anniversary, we are celebrating the strength of human and cultural connections. In order to continue building these, together with our member airlines, we are offering travellers a truly unique prize."
All 21 Star Alliance member programmes are participating in the competition, which runs until July 31. People who are not already members of a Star Alliance programme can sign-up online and receive a membership number to participate.
To enter, travellers must upload a profile picture or selfie, as well as a picture and info about their favourite cultural experience.
Information must include what made it so special and how it relates to the broader Star Alliance anniversary campaign theme of connecting people and cultures.
All entries will be screened for basic photographic quality and other general criteria. Once approved, they will be posted on a cultural experiences map on the competition homepage.
Star Alliance said this map would give customers from all over the world an interactive map of insider tips and experiences from other travellers.
The statement added that the winner would perhaps like to spend their prize on a first-class round-the-world ticket for themselves and a partner, or maybe they would choose to fly 20 of their friends to Hawaii.
To inspire their members, each of the 28 Star Alliance member carriers has come up with a local piece of cultural inspiration. Founding airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai and United, have taken it one step further by challenging National Geographic's Travel Nomad, Robert Reid, to test their recommendations personally and report back on his experiences.
Lufthansa, for example, flew Reid to the highest village in Europe, in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, to watch the hazardous, high-altitude horse race in Ushguli.
Read also: Who needs travel agents?
Other examples included tile painting in Portugal, home cooking in Shenzhen, China, and joining the locals in Bogota as they turn major roads in the city into cycle paths on Sundays, something Capetonians experience in their own city regularly with Open Streets Sundays, when the city is closed to motorised transport in an event inspired by the Colombian movement.
The competition is available in all nine Star Alliance website languages. Judging will be carried out independently by Star Alliance's 20th anniversary partner, National Geographic, and winners will be announced on September 28.
More info: www.staralliance.com/mileagemillionaire.