If you’ve taken a look at the life of Instagram travel personalities and influencers and thought, “but why not me?!” then this Southwest Airlines contest is for you. Unlike the “fake it til you make it” world of social media, this really might help you kickstart a travel-star dream into a reality. Southwest Airlines is looking for Instagram influencers (more on what that means soon) to send to some of their 99 destinations — which includes cities in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and most of the United States — to post travel content that’ll inspire others to get out there and see the world.
So how does Southwest define the ever-in-flux notion of what an influencer is? Well, first of all, you’ll have to be at least 21 years old, because as you know, kids should neither be seen nor heard (#MilfordMan), and hold at least 2,500 followers, which is modest as far as influencers go.
The grand prize winner will be awarded 24 one-way flight e-passes from Southwest, which should set you up nicely to start that Insta-traveler career! First and second prize will be awarded 12 and six one-way travel passes, respectively, which should still provide you with the means to make a considerable amount of content. Southwest will also be giving two winners the third place prize of $500 in Southwest gift cards, and five winners the fourth-place prize of 10,000 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points.
To enter the contest follow Southwest’s Instagram account and share a photo and caption that tells an engaging travel story that you’ve experienced thanks to Southwest Airlines, tagging @southwestair and using the hashtags #SouthwestStorytellers and #Contest in your post.
Southwest will then choose the top 100 posters, who will then fill out a short survey expressing what makes them a unique travel influencer. From there, 10 finalists will be selected and tasked with the challenge of creating travel content in their home town, which will be a nice bit of content to get you started on your potential influencer career and will determine who lands in which prize tier.
If you want to enter, you have until Sunday, February 24th to submit. The top 100 entrants will be announced on or around March 11th. The contest is open to all legal residents of the United States with the exception of Alaska. Sorry, Alaska!
To find out more about the contest and to scope out the competition, visit Southwest’s contest page. Good luck!
