What's the best prize you've won?

[lorraineb]

Woo hoo! I just received notice that I've won a two day holiday in Las Vegas including airline, hotels and $500 in spending money from a contest that I entered on a whim. This is the first time I have ever won anything like this. It's by far the best prize I have ever won. What are the best prizes that you have won over the years?

[cardtrick]

I won 2 tickets to a concert that I wasn't interested in attending. I gave the tickets away.

[bjl584]

I won $250 on a football pool last year.

[disneysteve]

While on a cruise a number of years ago, we were playing bingo and won the jackpot prize which was a free cruise for 2. We redeemed it the following spring for a 7-day Caribbean cruise.

In hindsight, it ended up costing us mmoney because the prize was for 2 but there are 3 of us so we had to pay for our daughter. It didn't include airfare, taxes, ground transfers, etc. So by the time we were done, we had spent nearly $3,000 even though our cruise fare was covered.

Last year, I won a 3-day, 2-night stay at the Swan and Dolphin hotels in Disney World from a podcast I listen to. We will be using that when we go down in a couple of weeks and that prize is free and clear.

[FrugalFish]

Congrats on your win

Best thing I ever won was a really nice quality, cast iron weather vane (est value $150). This was back in the heyday of the internet boom and I'd play games and enter contests when time allowed. That's the best thing I've ever won, probably because it's the ONLY thing I've ever won!

[97guns]

i won a laptop off a forum a few years back, sold it for $800

[phantom]

Last summer, I won tickets for a Beach Boys concert that a local radio station was giving away through their web site. The Beach Boys have been one of my favorite groups since I was a kid, and I'd never seen them before, so I was totally psyched to go. There were very few original Beach Boys there, of course. But, they had John Stamos with them, and the little girl in me that had loved him on Full House was thrilled. I was very glad to have won the tickets, because even though I totally would have paid for them, I probably couldn't have convinced my husband to go if they hadn't been free. The concert was at a casino, and if I remember correctly, I had $5 of free play that I turned into $30 of real money, so it was a very lucky night.

Just for fun, I'll add that the worst prize I have ever won was also concert tickets. I was getting ready for school one morning, and my mom heard on the radio that they were giving away concert tickets for a local group that I really liked, so she suggested I call in. I was the right number caller and I won the tickets. But, then I found out that the concert was at a bar and it was an over-21 show, so since I was still in high school, I couldn't go. I tried to convince my parents to use the tickets since my dad liked the group too. But, they didn't, and the tickets went to waste. Luckily, the group isn't exactly hard to see. I think I've seen them about 20 times now, mostly at free concerts. But, I still think that over-21 show would have been awesome.

[ctigers0714]

Just last week I won a free round of golf for 4 on the radio by answering trivia about my rival college's football team. I also won free Shania Twain tickets that were good seats.

[kork13]

I won a poker tournament about 1.5 years ago, and won a $300 gift card... I bought a set of noise-cancelling headphones that have since gotten heavy use. Great deal all around.

[scfr]

I won a sparkly purple Duncan yo-yo when I was 6, from a newspaper drawing contest. I have since won items that had higher monetary value, but none has been more exciting than that yo-yo.

[JoeP]

We're very unlucky for drawings, 50/50, gambling, lottery, etc. However...

I won $250 at a church bingo game once, cover-all.

My brother won a Disney Cruise for 4 by winning the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (theme park version). We parlayed that into an epic family cruise with 17 people attending.

My wife and I won a Smart Car last year. We didn't need another car, so we sold it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I won a free cheeseburger from the McDonald's monopoly game years ago, not necessarily a grand prize but a free cheeseburger is better than nothing (lol). I've never won anything of significant value.

[hamchan]

Many years ago when I lived in Alaska the Wendy's was having an instant win promotion. It seemed every item we purchased with an instant win pull tab on it was a winner, so we started going several times a week. We wound up getting a year's worth of free movie rentals and at least 100$ in free food. We always bought the cheapest item with a game piece on it, and some of the free items we won also had game pieces on them. It was pretty awesome while it lasted.

[4theluvofgold]

While my wife was focused on eating right temptations would be left and right as family would stop at mini mart to buy junk snacks. She would occasionally buy a 1 dollar scratch it just to kill the time get something and avoid the junk food others were getting. She won here and there, one time 50 dollars. She was actually ahead on her costs to winnings by like 10 bucks... she kept track of her losses to wins.

Her mother wanted to prove a point about how what she was doing was dumb. I already told her mother that buying a 2 liter MT Dew was more worthless then the lotto scratch it. You get tons of sugar you don't need causing extra weight and diabetes. You don't win anything (no contest at the time), and it is literally pissed away.

For Christmas her mother bought her 25 bucks in 1 dollar scratch its to prove her point. She expected it to be all losers except maybe a partial of the total. Wife scratched all losers but last one and won 900 dollars. Lets say my Mother in-law wasn't happy that her point wasn't made lol.

[lorraineb]

Congrats on your win

Thank you -- I was so shocked by it, but I'm really happy. I have never won anything before this.