Remember This Face, Get A Flight Upgrade Or Free Hotel Suite? Maybe!…

Catch me, if you can?

A couple days ago, it was a thrill to announce the return of my upgrade amusement show coming to a city near you. Basically: if you find me in an airport, or follow my clues to find me in a city, I’ve got first and business class seats, and hotel suites all up for grabs – all yours for the taking. After all, travel should be fun. The Daily Mail said “remember this face”, and I’d say if you want an upgrade or a free hotel suite for the night in the next coming weeks, that’s pretty good advice.

Remember that room Kevin McCallister stayed at in Home Alone 2 at the Plaza in New York? Yeah, that’s up for grabs, amongst many others…

One thing I didn’t do in the initial launch announcement was go into where I’ll be travelling, when and what kinda things are out there for people to enjoy. The answer is, quite a lot, thanks to Capital One jumping into the mix, so I’ll share those now.

And before you ask, of course this is a promotional stunt for me, but who in their right mind would fly around the world in like 5 days, if they didn’t also want to bring some fun and amusement with it?..

Where I’m Going With “Where’s Gilbert”

This time around, I’m focusing on the places and the people who have been so kind to support me over the years, and allow me to live the dream of writing about travel for a living. It’s pretty fun, no lie. I’ll be travelling extensively throughout Europe and the USA, with a brief stint in the Middle East and Asia.

I’m sorry Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and Colombia, who embraced the “catch me if you can” challenge last time, but I’ve gotta get home in time for the holidays.

With that in mind, I’m excited to share a map of my travels from November 29th-December 10th. If you find me after that, I’ll still probably switch seats with you, but during this time period, what’s mine is yours – if you find me.

Why This Time Is Fun And Different

Has there ever been a good movie remake? I dunno, probably. I wanted to bring this amusing side show back because last time, it seemed to make people really happy. Even if they knew it was unlikely they would personally find me, it was a fun thing to think about during holiday travel.

To make this go around different, I asked Capital One if they’d like to take part, since I’ve become a big Capital One Venture fan. I asked if they’d help find other cool things we could help bring to people even if they weren’t going to be travelling. They came through, big time.

I’m not just swapping seats with people on planes, I’m now armed with hotel suites in major cities around the USA, where I’ll be handing over the keys to anyone who finds me. I’ll be dropping clues about where I’ll be loitering in each city, and the first person to find me will have a mega hotel suite to enjoy for the night. During the “Where’s Gilbert” dates, I’ll have suites to giveaway in…

Hotel Suite Giveaways: New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington DC.

Business or First Class Flight Upgrades: Warsaw, Dubai, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Lisbon, Seattle, Boston, Washington DC and Chicago.

About Those Flight Upgrades…

I’ll be flying quite a few nifty airline cabins over the “Where’s Gilbert” catch me if you can style challenge, and if you happen to find me, it’ll actually be you enjoying them, and me in the back. Here are a few key cabins up for grabs…

Emirates Business Class

Emirates has a nice business class on their Boeing 777 aircraft, with seats that convert into fully flat beds, excellent wine and the usual food extravagance. I’ll be flying this between a European city and Dubai, yours for the taking!

British Airways Club Suite

British Airways new “Club Suite” business class is lovely. There’s a privacy door, brand new screens and each seat has direct aisle access. I’ll be flying this from the US to Europe, and word has it, I may have more than one seat for you to come join me.

Emirates A380 First Class

I’m scheduled on a 14 hour flight in the next 11 days with dreams of enjoying a shower at 33,000 feet on board Emirates A380 first class. It’s a fully private suite, they serve Dom Perignon and there’s caviar. If that’s not reason enough to start stalking someones social media, I don’t know what is…

American Flagship Business

Long flights within the USA can be… long, but doing it in a bed can make it no big deal at all. On one of the longest flights within the USA, I’ve got a comfy bed all lined up, but if luck has it your way, it’s yours for the flight, and I’ll take whatever you’ve got. Fair trade.

Cathay Pacific First Class

This is absolutely one of the greatest ways to fly, and easily one of the most exciting opportunities to turn a long trip into one you hope never ends. I’ll be flying Cathay between Europe and Hong Kong, and on a flight this long, an upgrade to a bed that’s plenty of room for two is tough to beat, and I promise I won’t make you share.

JetBlue Mint Business Class

There’s a minty fresh contender in the business class game, and JetBlue is it. The airline has lovely cabins with flat beds and tons of privacy, not to mention aptly titled cocktails and food. I’m crossing the USA in one of these beds from a city that sparked Grunge, so look for a guy in a flannel shirt, and you may have a new seat…

And Even If You Don’t Find Me First

I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve, armed with goodies to bring holiday cheer, even if someone has already claimed my seat. Just like last time, I’ll be dropping clues about where I’ll be and when on my Twitter and Instagram, so if you follow the clues, you should be able to figure out my next move, and beat someone to the punch.

If you’ve got any ideas for how I can make this more fun for you, or for me, or anything at all, let me know in the comments below. I’m all ears, and want to bring as much amusement and happiness to the travel world as possible this time around! Let’s do this…