As Travelllll.com contest winners, Nancy D. Brown and Sherry Ott were given a coupon code to plan and book their own Seattle experience via Expedia. The instructions were to simply hop on to Expedia.com, select ideal travel dates, choose a favorite flight option, book a hotel for the entire stay, and select any activities of interest to the bloggers. This process allowed the winners to gain first hand knowledge of the complete booking experience on Expedia.com.
According to Sherry Ott, a nomadic blogger who runs the site Ottsworld and is co-founder of Meet, Plan, Go!:
The trip was educational on many levels. I loved the fact that as part of the trip we were given a budget to work with and then asked to utilize Expedia to book our plans. It was a great way to really put Expedia to the test at the last minute. I’ve always been a long time user of Expedia for airfare – but I had never booked hotels and airfare at the same time. All I can say is wow…you save a lot of money that way! We had plenty of free time the days after the event to really experience Seattle and the various ‘Activities’ that Expedia offers. I spent my time exploring and photographing the moody city. Expedia offered traditional Seattle tours and activities such as a Pikes Place Market culture and food tour, and a chance to get the best view in the city from the Space Needle. I was also able to get off the beaten track and see the place where airplanes are born; I took a Boeing Factory tour. I watched in amazement as 787′s were put together like a complex puzzle. For someone who travels full time, I found this tour to be really special. Prior to the Expedia Blogger Day I had no idea that they even offered these types of activities to round out and complete all aspects of your travels.
Nancy D. Brown, author of the blogs What a Trip and Writing Hordeback, joked:
How many travel bloggers does it take to drive from downtown Seattle to Kerry Park atop Queen Anne hill? Apparently more than eight, plus our driver; due to road construction, we never did make it.
Good thing I signed up for the city tour when I was booking my air, hotels and attractions via Expedia, as this guide drove us to Kerry Park for awesome photo ops. Frankly, I didn’t realize Expedia offered the option of booking attractions. As I was a tourist visiting Seattle, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to have dinner at the iconic Space Needle. Rich Whitaker and Sherry Ott joined me on a crystal clear night. Surprisingly, the food matched the quality of the view – stellar. It was a memorable evening – especially when the fire alarm was pulled. Sirens and strobe lights blared and blazed reminding us NOT to take the elevator when evacuating the 60 story building. Fortunately for us, it was a false alarm. What a trip.
Special thanks to Expedia for partnering with Travelllll.com to offer two of our readers these VIP Blogger Day packages. I would also like to thank everyone who entered our contest for a chance to spend a day hanging out and learning from Expedia at their Headquarters in Seattle.
Stay tuned to Travelllll.com for more contests like this in the future. Who knows? Maybe you will be our next big winner.
Images: Nancy D. Brown and Rich Whitaker