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Which Travel Companies Played April Fools' Jokes This Year?
Julian Mark Kheel
Contributor
April 01, 2017
•
2 min read
Which Travel Companies Played April Fools' Jokes This Year?
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It's April 1 all day today, and in recent years travel companies have gotten in on the act of launching April Fools' pranks, some with more success than others. Here's a roundup of the best and worst this year...
WestJet said it was rebranding itself as Canada Air, emphasizing the friendliness of its home nation while poking at its big brother Air Canada with the hashtag #MostCanadian:
Emirates claimed to be launching a triple-decker aircraft with its own swimming pool, games room and more:
Richard Branson fronted Virgin Atlantic's contribution to the day of pranks. announcing the airline's new "flapenergy" technology and the resulting airplane with flappable wings named the Dreambird 1417:
Qatar Airways had a little fun playing off its new QSuites with YouSuite:
And how about Travelodge's new "Whiff and Wake" service that wafts the smell of bacon directly from your hotel room's alarm clock?
Meanwhile, the efforts of some travel companies didn't quite make the grade. Southwest claimed to have created an in-flight matchmaking app called Bucklr:
We don't know what tattoos have to do with travel insurance, but that didn't stop Australian company Travel Insurance Direct from promoting its new "tattoo spell checker" app...
We're also not sure about the Lyft Mono, a wearable hailing device, nor about the guy randomly dancing around while wearing it:
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Finally, it's not clear Etihad completely understands how this April Fools' thing works:
Cherry blossom tree in the desert. Get it? Get it...?
Did you catch our own April Fools' story this morning? Check it out here: New Uber Service Ditches Cars & Drivers for Piggyback Rides. And of course, make sure you're following our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts, where TPG himself had a little fun today as well:
Featured image by Getty Images/iStockphoto
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Apply for Capital One Venture X Business
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Best for businesses with high spending
TPG Editor‘s Rating
Go to reviewCard Rating is based on the opinion of TPG‘s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
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Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month