Some of the best trips I have won were pieced together from several prize wins. When my oldest daughter, Amy, was a senior in high school, I won a cruise for two to the Bahamas. Unfortunately it did not include airfare and the cost to fly from Dallas to Miami wasn't in our family's budget. I thought about calling the sponsor to give up the prize, but decided to go gung ho entering every sweepstakes I could find with an airfare prize instead. Two months lates I was awarded airfare for two on American Airlines to any U.S. destination. The two prizes combined allowed me to take my daughter on a graduation cruise that she still talks about over 20 years later.

There are a huge number of sweepstakes that offer only the hotel, airfare or train fare. Often these partial travel packages are passed up by sweepers who want the whole shebang! These promotions frequently get fewer entries and they have the advantage of lower value so you pay less in taxes. On the SweepsU.com Quick Search list you can find these sweepstakes easily by opening the menu (click on the Search icon at the top of the page), then click on "by Prize" and "Travel - Partial". Below are a few good sweepstakes I found by running this search, but do it yourself to find others that may be of interest to you. If you get to work now building your own vacation, you just might end up traveling sooner than you think!

Gwen Beauchamp

United Airlines Team USA Sweepstakes

Taos Tourism Facebook Sweepstakes

DoubleTree by Hilton Little Things Project Sweepstakes

Travelodge Sleepy's Birthday Bonanza Sweepstakes

Wendy's® Friends with a Side of Fun Promotion

The goal of every sweepstaker is to win prizes! The goal of SweepsU.com is to provide sweepers with tools and information to better their chances of winning. So 6 months ago we started sending "Urgent Sweeps Alert!" emails to all of our subscribers whenever we came across a sweepstakes or contest that needed their immediate attention. Our followers love it and the THANK YOU's are pouring in as are the prizes. So if you don't have time to check on a website list every day or you just want to make sure that you don't miss out on a really good short running sweepstakes, check out SweepsU.com and see what everyone is talking about!

Click here to sign up for a 7-Day Free Trial on SweepsU.com.

Here are a few of the SweepsU.com Urgent Sweeps Alerts sent out this week:

Naya Earth Day Giveaway Sweepstakes - Two winners of $150 Dillard’s Gift Card & a pair of Naya Zoe sandals

The Insider Contraband/ iPad2 Sweepstakes - An iPad 2

iHeartRadio Microsoft Xbox Gold Unlock Sweepstakes - Three winners of Xbox 360 4G console with Kinect

Mary Mary Watch 2 Win - Five winners of Mary Mary prize pack with Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ headphones

Western Union® Thanks A Thousand Sweepstakes - Sixty three winners of $1,000 cash (1 per day) This alert was sent on day #1 to allow SweepsU.com users to get in on each and every drawing.

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!

I can't believe all the sweeps we're finding to celebrate dear old Mom's special day! A Custom Search on the SweepsU.com Sweeps List pulled up 35 new sweepstakes with "mother" in the name. A second search for "mom" brought in another 20 sweeps. And just like Moms come in all shapes and sizes so do the promotions celebrating Mother's Day. eBay's Memorable Moments Mother’s Day Sweepstakes is running as separate sweeps on both Facebook and Twitter with a third promotion running on Pinterest. The Exergen ‘Queen for a Day’ Mother’s Day Giveaway is sending one lucky Mom to a baseball game with a chance to win a $25,000 shopping spree, while the Merry Maids Mother's Day Giveaway is awarding 17 gift cards and the Grand Prize winner gets a Spa getaway.

Be sure to watch your local markets for even more Mother's Day Sweepstakes and Contests with even better chances of winning. Radio stations especially like to award prizes throughout the week before the holiday. These last minute locals frequently offer prizes just as good as those found in the national sweepstakes. You may need to write an essay, tell about a special moment  or share a photograph, but don't let that keep you from trying. Read the rules carefully whenever available. Many times entries are not judged even though they are required.

Gwen Beauchamp

To read Gwen's 2010 Mother's Day blog, Sweepstaking Moms are the Best, with photos of her children enjoying the prizes she has won over the years click here.

I have seen some unusual prizes in years past, but this one blew me away! Reed Street Productions, creators of the zombie-infested 5K adventure race, Run For Your Lives, announced that it's launching a sweepstakes to provide three future members of the undead a funeral in exchange for placing the race's URL on their tombstones. Don't worry, they're not trying to put you in an early grave. They are willing to wait however long it takes, so don't start shopping for caskets just yet. The Run For Your Lives "Win Your Funeral" Sweepstakes will actually award a check for $5,000 to all three winners which can be used for funeral expenses. Details on how to enter can be found on the SweepsU.com Sweeps List.

Gwen Beauchamp

Pinterest is the current latest greatest in social media, following in the footsteps of Facebook and Twitter.  Think of it as a bulletin board where you hang photos, souvenirs, memorabilia…anything of interest to you.  That is just what Pinterest is – a virtual, online bulletin board where you can share the things you like in picture format.

So what could this possibly have to do with sweepstakes and contests? Marketing experts figured out quickly that offering promotions on Pinterest was a great way to get consumers to their websites. By having you create a board pinned with photos from their site, not only did they get your attention, they now have all of your Pinterest followers viewing their merchandise as well. Pretty slick if you ask me!

Since Pinterest sweeps are popping up everywhere, we have added them as a new method of entry on SweepsU.com. Just open the Quick Search menu on the Sweeps Listing page, click on “by Type”, then click on Pinterest to view all of the current Pinterest sweepstakes and contests. Not all Pinterest promotions are the same. You need to pay close attention to the rules to see how the winners will be selected. Some are skilled contests where each entry will be judged to determine the best board to represent the sponsor’s theme. Others will only require that you follow all the steps in the entry process and they will randomly draw a winner.

Because Pinterest is a very new media for promotions, many people have not yet tried it. Some are afraid of anything new and others just haven’t had time to learn yet another new entry method. Do yourself a favor…overcome your fears and make time to learn something new.  There is much less competition as sweepstakers are just starting to figure Pinterest out.  Now is your best opportunity to enter and win. Some good ones to get you started are the Windows Mother’s Day Sweepstakes, Domino Sugar Pin 2 Win Sweepstakes and the Gifts.com Pin a Gift Idea & Win It Sweepstakes. All three will select the winners via a random drawing.

I’m a bare basics beginner on Pinterest, so I am not going to try and tell you how to create a board. I will suggest that you go to www.google.com and do a search for Pinterest.  You will have a multitude of articles, step by step instructions and even some videos to guide you through the process. I do know that you must receive an invitation to become a member of Pinterest. If you will go to the SweepsU.com Forums and respond to the “Are you on Pinterest?” message posted by Rose7a under the Sweepstakes Chat topic she will send you an invitation.

Gwen Beauchamp

Winning prizes is so much fun, but paying taxes on them is not. With the deadline for filing your 2011 tax returns just a week away this seemed like a good time to remind everyone that you must pay taxes on each and every prize you win. Always keep that in mind when determining which sweepstakes you want to enter. Trips can get especially expensive as sponsors throw in one of a kind events that you will be expected to pay taxes on. The 2012 Summer Olympics in London are a good example. On SweepsU.com we have several sweepstakes offering Olympic trips, among them are The Deck Pass 2012 London Olympic Games Sweepstakes ($25,000) and the Visa London 2012 Olympic Games Sweepstakes ($18,050). Depending on your income, you will be expected to pay between 25% to 33% of the prize value in taxes. As much as I would love to go to the Olympics, I just cannot afford the taxes on Deck Pass Sweepstakes. I will not be entering that one. However, I can afford to win the Visa London Sweepstakes because they are including over $5,000 in the prize package to help pay those taxes.

The moral of this blog: always read the rules thoroughly to make sure you can afford what you are entering to win.

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!

It is that time of year again! The Men's College Basketball Tournament brackets were announced on Sunday, March 11, setting off Sweepstakes and Prediction Contests all over the country. You will find both local and National promotions revolving around this theme with a wide variety of prizes. Do Not let the prediction contests scare you away if you are not a college basketball fan. Years ago I read a newspaper article about a woman who beat her husband (a BIG Basketball fan) and everyone else in her community with her picks and walked away with a $10,000 check. Her husband laughed at her predictions which were based on things totally unrelated to basketball. The woman stated that he stopped laughing somewhere between the 4th & 5th Rounds of the tournament.

Some of the promotions may be sweeptakes that require predictions, but will select a winner via a random drawing. The ESPN Mike & Mike Sheets of Integrity Challenge is just such a sweepstakes. It really doesn't matter what you pick...you just need to enter. So read the rules carefully, paying attention to how the winners will be selected and get your entries in quickly. Most of these promotions will end when the games begin!

The dates for each of the basketball rounds are:

• First Round: March 15-16, 2012
• Second Round: March 17-18, 2012
• Third Round: March 22-23, 2012
• Fourth Round: March 24-25, 2012
• Fifth Round: Final Four: March 31, 2012
• Sixth Round: National Championship: April 2, 2012

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!

The U.S. Postal Service and NBC's The Biggest Loser have joined forces to promote heart health awareness with the new Heart Health Forever Stamps and a sweepstakes sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service. You can only enter the sweepstakes by sending a letter of encouragement to your favorite contestant on The Biggest Loser. Each letter you send enters you for a chance to win a week at The Biggest Loser Resort, a month of healthy meals, or tickets to the 2013 Finale.

The only way to enter this promotion is through the U.S. Postal Service, so many sweepers may opt out of a great opportunity to win. Those who are willing to put out the extra effort it takes to hand write an entry, address an envelope and pay for a stamp to mail it will have slightly better odds than they would with an online entry. Just remember this: The harder it is to enter, the easier it is to win!

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!

It is a common marketing practice to use a sweepstakes to generate interest in a movie premiere, but I have never seen so many sweepstakes revolving around one premiere. Hunger Game Sweepstakes are being promoted by a huge number of sponsors. We currently have 23 Hunger Game Sweepstakes listed on SweepsU.com with more being added as we find them. If you are interested in attending the Los Angeles premiere of the Hunger Games on March 12 get your entries in quickly. Most of these promotions end from February 16 to February 29.

To view all 23 Hunger Game sweepstakes on the SweepsU.com Sweepstakes and Contest List, do a Custom Search by typing the word "hunger" (without the quote marks) in the Contest Name field.

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!

LOVE is in the air! It can also be found in grocery stores, newspapers, Facebook, websites and over the airwaves (radio & TV)! Sweepstakes and contests promoting the season of love are all around us at this time of year. Diligent sweepers should be monitoring all of the above sources for the next week or so. Short running, local promotions will be popping up everywhere and you'll have to pay attention to participate in as many as possible. Remember that radio station call-in to win promotions are much easier to win on the weekends when fewer people are listening. The next two weekends should have some nice prizes being offered by radio stations all over the country. So turn that dial frequently and listen to a variety of stations to determine which ones are sponsoring sweepstakes and contests of interest to you!

Remember that SweepsU.com posts local sweepstakes and contests as well as national. Be sure to check our list frequently for promotions in your area. You can find the local sweeps quickly by clicking on the Search icon at the top of the page to open the Custom Search menu. Then click on "by Type" and "Local". You can also eliminate sweeps open to states other than your own by clicking on "by Status" and checking the box next to the words "Hide listings you are ineligible for (by region)".

To find Valentine's Day sweepstakes on the SweepsU.com Sweepstakes and Contest list, do a Custom Search and type one of the following words in the Contest Name field: valentine, romance, love.

Gwen Beauchamp

Luck is spelled W-O-R-K!