Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld Team Up to Give Away 40 Trips in 40 Days

DALLAS, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for summer, Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld are teaming up to offer Customers great savings on family vacations and the chance to win a trip to visit SeaWorld! In celebration of Southwest Airlines' 40th Anniversary and SeaWorld's new Shamu show, "One Ocean," the companies have partnered to give away 40 trips in 40 days! Each prize will include the following for a family of four: tickets to the winner's SeaWorld of choice, hotel accommodations in that city, and roundtrip tickets on Southwest Airlines. Visit www.southwest.com/oneocean to enter to win. Additionally, Southwest is offering special anniversary deals in Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego. Deals include 40 percent off hotels, $40 off Avis car rentals, fourth night free on vacation packages, adult tickets at kid prices to all three SeaWorld parks, and much more.

To further the celebration, Southwest and SeaWorld Employees and Customers welcomed SeaWorld's penguins, Pete and Penny, at San Antonio International Airport today.  Southwest Customers were greeted by this pair of Magellanic penguins, along with a lemur and a wallaby, and were able to take photos with the animals while chatting with the trainers. SeaWorld also gave away park specific admission tickets at the gates.

"Southwest and SeaWorld's uniqueness is captured in today's event.  Two happy penguins, a lemur, a wallaby, and 40 trips in 40 days.  Only Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld together could create such a Shamu-sized promotion," said Andy Allmann, Southwest Airlines' Director of National Strategic Partnerships.  "For more than 25 years, Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld have partnered to provide our Customers the best overall family travel experience—from the first step into Southwest's Shamu One plane to visiting one of their parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego."

"We are proud to partner with Southwest Airlines in their 40th Anniversary celebration.  This sweepstakes gives 40 families the chance to enjoy a VIP experience like only Southwest and SeaWorld can provide," said Barbara Karasek, Corporate Vice President of Partnerships and Licensing for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. "The winners will also have the chance to dive into our brand new Shamu show called "One Ocean," a multi-sensory celebration of life underneath the sea that entertains as it educates."  

In addition to the new "One Ocean" whale show, SeaWorld San Diego also debuts this summer Turtle Reef – an attraction that will allow guests to get an up-close look at 60 threatened or endangered sea turtles, as well as learn more about the threats sea turtles face in the wild.  The attraction also will feature thousands of tropical fish, and a new ride that takes passengers on an exciting rescue mission of their own. The focal point of Turtle Reef is a nearly 300,000-gallon aquarium with a massive underwater viewing gallery.

About SeaWorld

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a portfolio company of The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), operates 10 parks across the U.S. including SeaWorld parks in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio; Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va.; Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando; Sesame Place near Philadelphia, Pa.; and water parks Adventure Island in Tampa and Water Country USA in Williamsburg.  The 10 parks play host to 23 million guests each year and employ 20,000 people nationwide.

About Southwest Airlines Co.  

In its 40th year of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low-fare carriers--offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded and has recently acquired AirTran Airways, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest serves 72 cities in 37 states and is one of the most honored airlines in the world known for its commitment to the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet. To read more about how Southwest is doing its part to be a good citizen, visit southwest.com/cares to read the Southwest Airlines One Report(TM). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 35,000 Employees systemwide.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines