Virgin Australia Airlines Will Offer Lottery Prizes for Passengers Who Take the Middle Seat
virgin australia/Instagram
Virgin Australia is making the middle seat the "luckiest seat on the plane."
The airline, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, announced Monday that guests who sit in the middle seat on domestic flights will have a chance to win prizes totaling over $230,000.
The Middle Seat Lottery is part of the airline's "Bring on Wonderful" campaign that began after the company relaunched under new ownership in November 2020 in an effort to return the airline to profitability.
Branson, 72, previously announced in April 2020 that the airline was seeking bankruptcy protection amid the COVID-19 pandemic and, in an open letter to Virgin employees, offered to put up his Caribbean home as partial collateral against a $600 million loan.
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According to Virgin Australia, the idea of the Middle Seat Lottery came after it conducted a social media survey in May 2022 and discovered that travelers are least likely to choose the middle seat, with less than 1 percent intentionally selecting the middle seat as their first seat preference.
Brilliant to see so many smiles for the launch of @VirginAustralia's Bring on Wonderful campaign and its Middle Seat Lottery. It’s these magic moments that make all the difference: https://t.co/bGjUocHs7k #BringOnWonderful pic.twitter.com/uDNkRCqOaN
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 24, 2022
The Middle Seat Lottery launched Monday and will be available until April 23, 2023, for passengers who either select or who are assigned a middle seat when flying with Virgin Australia. In order to enter the lottery, middle-seat passengers are required to enter their details on the Virgin Australia app within 48 hours of their flight's scheduled departure time.
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The airline will randomly select one winner each week and will award a total of 26 prizes. Prizes from the $230,000 lottery include a cruise in the Caribbean with Virgin Voyages and a helicopter pub-crawl extravaganza.
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Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said in a press release Monday that the airline is "having a lot of fun coming up with exciting new innovations to make every part of the travel experience more wonderful."
She added, "We've only just touched the tip of the iceberg in what's possible and there's so much energy right across Virgin Australia to make sure we are doing our best to leave a positive difference every time our guests fly with us."
On Monday, Hrdlicka surprised all guests who were seated in middle seats on a flight to Adelaide with over $350,000 worth of free Virgin Voyages cruises.
