Skip to main content

Instagram: Wacky JetBlue contest offers free flights if you delete all your pics

Would you delete all of your Instagram pictures for a chance to win free flights for a whole year?

That’s the challenge dropped by JetBlue in a contest that could see you jetting off to any of its more than 100 destinations across the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico, and beyond.

Recommended Videos

But clearing your account of content is only the first step toward entering the contest. You’re also asked to upload a provided image promoting JetBlue, and ensure it’s the only image on the account from 9 a.m. ET on March 8 when the airline’s marketing team begins scouring the social media site for entries.

If the idea of removing all of your carefully curated Instagram images from your profile page has you breaking into a cold sweat, then there may be a couple of ways around it.

For starters, JetBlue mentions on its rules page that you can hide your images — and restore them later — rather than deleting them entirely. Feeling better already?

And there seems to be nothing stopping you from creating an account purely for the purposes of the contest, meaning you won’t have to delete — or archive — any content to enter. Whether an entry from an account with no followers will be conveniently missed by the marketing team, however, is another question entirely.

Also, if you’ve been thinking about deleting your Instagram account, then entering the contest would be a good way to exit the platform.

JetBlue is offering the all-you-can-fly prize to three lucky winners, with each one allowed to offer a second free ticket to a traveling companion. One downside, besides wrecking your Instagram account, is that you’ll have to cough up for each flight’s taxes and fees, though they’re unlikely to break the bank.

The offbeat contest is open to those living in the U.S. aged 18 or over, and limited to one entry per person. Prize winners will be notified on or around March 11 via Instagram direct message. Full details about how to enter can be found on the airline’s website.

While clearing all your images from Instagram will be a step too far for most people, the contest isn’t nearly as extreme as the recent one launched by Vitaminwater. To take part, entrants had to promise to give up their smartphone for an entire year for the chance to pocket $100,000.

When the year’s up, the winner will have to take a lie detector test to convince the organizers that he or she really did ditch their handset for a whole 12 months.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Twitter CEO claims platform had best day last week
A stylized composite of the Twitter logo.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted on Monday that despite the current fuss over Meta’s new and very similar Threads app, Twitter had its largest usage day last week.

Subtly including the name of Meta’s new app, which launched to great fanfare last Wednesday, Yaccarino did her best to sing Twitter’s praises, tweeting: “Don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread … but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February. There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it.”

Read more
Meta brings cartoon avatars to video calls on Instagram and Messenger
Meta's cartoon avatars for Instagram and Messenger.

The pandemic was supposed to have made us all comfortable with video calls, but many folks still don’t particularly enjoy the process.

Having to think about what to wear, or how our hair looks, or even fretting about puffy eyes following another bout of hay fever can sometimes be a bit much, even more so if it’s an early-morning call and your brain is still in bed.

Read more
Twitter is now giving money to some of its creators
A lot of white Twitter logos against a blue background.

Some Twitter users are now earning money via ads in the replies to their tweets.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the revenue-sharing program in February, and on Thursday some of those involved have been sharing details of their first payments.

Read more