200 winners from across the world... and I was one of them!

Having been a comper for a couple of years, I’ve learnt there is no better sound than the thud of the postman’s letters on your doormat. Every morning you get that great feeling of hope that you’ll open that all-important letter that says CONGRATULATIONS YOU’VE WON!

And I’ve had my fair share of these winning letters over my four years comping; winning flights abroad, vouchers, tickets to concerts and just recently a Nintendo DS.

However, the promoters really took me by surprise in August. It wasn’t a letter, but a call to say I’d won an all expenses paid trip to New York! I couldn’t believe it – it is my biggest prize yet!

“ Mr Klofta, what are you doing next weekend?” said Drew Meridth from over in the USA. “ Because we want to fly you over to New York for an all expenses paid VIP break- courtesy of Hard Rock Café!”

I had entered the competition on an entry form in Hard Rock Café- I heard about through Simply Prizes magazine, but had completely forgotten about it, as I enter probably 200 comps a month.

I was absolutely gob-smacked – though had to come back down to earth realised quickly as there was no time to waste – I was going to New York the following weekend!

With 1001 things to do before we left (like booking time off work, sorting the kids out, packing) you can imagine the week flew by in a fun, but mad dash! The reality of our fantastic prize only really kicked in when my partner and I landed at JFK airport and were picked up by a limo to take us to our five-star hotel!

The hotel was owned by Paramount Hard Rock Café and was just a stone’s throw away from Times Square so absolutely perfect for shopping, sightseeing and spending! We were given $250 spending money for free.

When we got there we realised that we were one of 200 winners from across the world (there were six of us from England) there to celebrate the opening of the Times Square Hard Rock café. Madonna had been there the night before to officially open it, and we were taking part in the second night of VIP celebrations.

And the night was fabulous. The red carpet was out and American stars such as Run DMC and Velvet Revolver were there, in fact Velvet Revolver did an exclusive live performance just for us. The cameras were rolling and we were all part of the buzz of celebrity life1

The rest of the trip was packed with just as much fun. All our travel expenses were paid for so we managed to pack in plenty of sightseeing! The boat ride out to the Statue of Liberty was amazing. The statue of Liberty is just like the photographs you see, though ten times bigger and more impressive. I’d say that was view of New York as a whole- even more impressive than you imagine!

We watched Billy Joel’s hit Broadway show ‘My House’ which was excellent, and had some of the best seats in the house!

Everything about the trip was just out of this world - four days and three nights of adrenaline buzz!  I have to say that it is a prize I will never, ever forget.