150 strangers offered free round-trip if they can agree on destination

SINGAPORE - Who doesn't love a free vacation?

When American budget airline JetBlue offered a free round-trip to any place of choice to 150 passengers on a flight 603, it came with a caveat - they had to unanimously agree on one destination.

The passengers had 97 enticing destinations to pick from - a feat that headed off to a turbulent start as passengers began to argue their case for their chosen place.

To complicate matters, the plane had both domestic and international passengers on board.

Fortunately, they were given some time to talk over the aisle and lobby for votes. After much buzzing, they wittled down to two choices - Costa Rica or Turks and Caicos.

With the deadline drawing near, some passengers addressed the plane to sway votes.

"Turks and Caicos had alot of hands up, let's just pick and go!" one passenger said.

Another had a more practical view: "The quality of life is amazing, the dollar is strong, you get a lot for your money. I'll switch over to Costa Rica."

Costa Rica it was - with the plane bursting into a thunderous applause.

The social experiment was part of JetBlue's campaign called "Reach Across the Aisle", to advocate the spirit of working together even with differing political views.

For all the effort in settling for an answer, we would imagine that it was a tough choice to make. 

Turks and Caicos is a group of 40 islands famous for dive sites and luxury resorts while the Central American destination of Costa Rica is home to volcanoes, beaches and ancient rainforests.

Check out the galleries below to see what you can do: 

So which would you choose? Costa Rica or Turks and Caicos?

Let us know in the poll below!

debwong@sph.com.sg