I realize that airlines try all kinds of ways to promote themselves. For example, right now, JetBlue is finishing up a promotion that I think is kind of sweet and endearing, if you’re into Christmas (Note from Sharon: I am):
(BTW, that narrative between 0:45 and 0:53 is brilliant)
Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines’ current promotion is just…what’s the word I could use to describe it?
Stupid.
In partnership with Visit Orlando (that’s the official tourism association for Orlando), Frontier Airlines is willing to give a free flight to Orlando, Florida, if your first or last name is Orlando.
Now, let’s look at that for a second.
According to How Many Of Me, there are currently 61,513 people in the U.S. with the first name of Orlando, and 15,226 who have Orlando as their last name. That’s 76,739 people in the U.S. with the first or last name of Orlando.
Oh, and 3 poor souls have Orlando as their first AND last names.
So a whopping 76,739 out of 332,500,286 Americans are eligible. To put that into context, there are almost 868,000 Americans named Sharon right now (and my name is not very popular at all).
The Terms & Conditions of the promotion read that “Individuals with the first or last name ‘Orlando’ are eligible to receive a $250 Frontier Airlines travel voucher for a free (up to the $250 covered by the voucher) flight to Orlando International Airport (MCO) between Oct. 13-20, 2020. Those who meet the above requirements and would like to travel during the eligible dates, must complete an entry form at https://frontier.wyng.com/Orlando_FlyFree. Frontier airlines will then contact entrants to confirm eligibility and provide the flight voucher upon such confirmation.”
So people who represent slightly more than 1/5000 of the population are eligible for the free flight to Orlando (not round trip, mind you – just TO Orlando. One way. If you want to go back home, that’s on you.). But only if they claim it between September 29th and October 5th, and then are willing to fly only between October 13th and 20th.
How many people do they think they’re going to catch with that deal? Not many and I’m sure that’s their intention. But really, just seeing the “Fly free to Orlando if your name is Orlando” will be enough for nearly everyone to not even click on the link in the first place.
I think they’d do much better to offer some amazingly low fares, like $1 or something, but just have it open on a specific day/time for a minute or two. At least that might garner some interest.
But this? It’s a dumb promotion. And the thing is, it isn’t even an original idea!
Photo “N229FR Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 s/n 5581 “Peachy The Fox” by TDelCoro is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 15,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
