United Airlines Announces Sweepstakes Offering Free Flights To Vaccinated Passengers

United Airlines announced a new effort Monday aimed at encouraging vaccination against COVID-19 among travelers, offering the ability to win free flights to any location the airline flies in the world for a year. 

In United’s “Your Shot to Fly” sweepstakes, any new or existing MileagePlus member can be entered into a chance to win a roundtrip flight for two, in any class of service, to any location in the world the airline travels if they upload their vaccination records to United’s mobile app or website. The records must be uploaded in between today and June 22 in order for the member to enter the sweepstakes

In an announcement, the airline added, “United will give away 30 pairs of tickets throughout the month of June. In addition – on July 1 United will announce five randomly selected lucky MileagePlus members who have entered our sweepstakes for a grand prize of travel for a year for themselves and a companion – also in any class of service, anywhere in the world United flies.”

“We’re proud to do our part to incentivize people to get their shot,” said United CEO Scott Kirby. “Thanks to the vaccine, more and more destinations are opening up for travel – and we know our customers are eager to fly. We’re excited to give people one more reason to get vaccinated so they can reunite with friends and family or take that long-awaited vacation which all could be just one shot away.”

It appears that the airline will continue to enforce its face mask requirement for travelers in adherence to federal law after President Joe Biden signed an executive order mandating the wearing of face masks in airports and on planes late January.

United’s website currently states, “All customers must comply with our health requirements, and all customers age 2 and older must comply with the federal face mask law.”

As The Daily Wire reported late last month, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) extended the face mask requirement that was set to expire in mid-May for several more months, citing the need for travelers to continue minimizing the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

“The federal mask requirement throughout the transportation system seeks to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on public transportation,” Darby LaJoye, a senior TSA official, said in a statement at the time. “Right now, about half of all adults have at least one vaccination shot and masks remain an important tool in defeating this pandemic. We will continue to work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the need for these directives and recognize the significant level of compliance thus far.”

The airline’s efforts came after the European Union announced last week that it plans to ease restrictions for travelers arriving from other countries.

Bloomberg reported: “Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states backed a proposal to waive quarantine for those with coronavirus inoculations approved by its drug regulator, including shots from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. The approval could be finalized this week and implemented soon after.”

The outlet reported that two officials familiar with the situation said that travelers who are not vaccinated can also travel without quarantining if they are coming from countries that have control over COVID-19, which reportedly means a 14-day new-case rate of less than 75 per 100,000.

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