I Won A Round Trip Ticket to Philippines

Then Covid happened...

In August 2019, I got a call from a Sydney land line number while at work. I took it 'cause we have office in Sydney, and thought maybe it's someone from work. Turned out, it's someone from Forex Cargo. It's a freight forwarding service that I have used to send my first ever balik bayan box to PH.

The person on the other line told me I won the major prize on their promo. I'm like a deer in the headlights cause I never joined any contests recently (though I do have good track record - read here).

The prize? A two round-trip ticket to the PH from Forex Cargo

How did I win this? By sending a balik-bayan box to PH. Again, I did not even know they have a contest at that time, I just genuinely required their service... and won!

This was the email I got:

 

Hi [Full Name Redacted], Congratulations, you’ve won the GRAND PRIZE on our Forex De Mayo 2019 Raffle Draw Promo. As the winner, you are entitled to Two (2) return flights (flying Philippine Airlines) to Palawan from any Australian major city where PAL flies (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane). This amazing package includes up to 5 nights accommodation plus a tour package courtesy of Forex Travel.

So as a background, Forex, the company that held the contest, is highly-recommended by Filos here in AU on their cargo services. Back in February-2019, I have requested that they send me a box to fill to send to the PH which they delivered right away, I did not get to fill it until July-2019 and then I requested that they pick it up for sending back home. Between the time that I ordered the box and sent it back, they have launched this contest. If I have sent the box back earlier, I may have missed the contest (blessed!).

Honestly, thought the call was a scam! And to be fair, I do have lots of reason to think it is - first, I have not joined in, and second, I've never dealt with Forex before (that's a different story now 'cause I have since used them regularl - I mean, they garnered a loyal customer from me since I got this prize plus they really do provide great freight forwarding service - not biased!).

When I got the call I did calmly asked the person to explain what I won, and requested that they email me the details instead. After the call, I checked their official website to confirm if they indeed have a contest, and waited for their email.

For this experience, my practical tip is not around how to win it, but how to be cautious. Before answering to the email they sent, I have made my thorough research online and found a valid reason to believe that what I won is genuine (i.e. the email/call I got is from the official communications lines of Forex), also I did not pay one bit to claim my prize. So if it requires you to pay something, I would say a further research or validation is recommended.

We requested our flight to be booked March-2020 so we can celebrate my son's birthday over in PH, but as you maybe aware that's when Covid hit most of countries including AU/PH. We had to postpone it.

I decided to post about this today though because Forex Cargo team has kindly converted the tickets to cash when the terms and conditions of the contest says it's not convertible. I know, wow it took that long? But in reality, they had to go thru some hoops to get here. I requested it to be travel voucher first, but with all the uncertainty of the world (still, at this moment) I requested it to be converted to cash which they had to do thru with the airline - so yes, I got the prize in the end. But to be fair to all parties, Covid is an unprecedented event. 

However, I would take going home to PH any day. Still, thankful about the fund we can use for our eventual visit home.

xx, Belle.