Jaunted

Social Media / SXSW / Southwest / Southwest Airlines / Travel Contests / Airline News / Gowalla / Events / Free Stuff / → All Tags

Use Gowalla All Over Austin During SXSW to Score Free Southwest Flights

South by Southwest is here, yo. It's about frickin' time too, because we're on our last shred of patience waiting for all the big tech and movie announcements to drop. As you've probably noticed, Foursquare has just launched version 3.0, which reinforces the gaming aspects of the location-based social network, but Gowalla—their main competitor—also has a trick up its sleeves: rewards.

Partnering again with Southwest Airlines, Gowalla is introducing a Southwest airplane stamp on your profiles, plus the first of physical rewards: free Southwest Airlines roundtrip tickets. In order to score some, the only rule is to check in to Gowalla everywhere you go in Austin, just in case there's a free SWA ticket hidden there. Southwest explains a bit better on Nuts About Southwest:

more ›

Social Media / Disney / Theme Parks / Amusement Parks / Gowalla / Disneyland / Walt Disney World / Epcot / → All Tags

Disney Parks Go Gaga for Gowalla

We talk a lot about the new travel deals that location-based social network Foursquare cooks up, but there are other players in that same game. For instance, Gowalla is their biggest competitor, and although the scales still tip very heavily in Foursquare's favor (explanation: we prefer 4sq because there's more international users = more tips, the design is better and we have no friends who use Gowalla), Gowalla is worth checking out for fun things like the Disney Parks partnership they just launched.

Disney teamed up with Gowalla to offer stamps for most attractions and pins for "trips" completed at their parks, specifically at Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida (sorry, Disneyland Paris and others). Gowalla users who check in at locations within the Disney parks will uncover these rewards, which just add to your other pins and stamps like virtual girl scout badges.

[Image: Gowalla, AboutFoursquare.com]

more ›

Gowalla / Foursquare / Technology / Social Media / Hotels / Travel Promotions / → All Tags

Gowalla Tries Its Hand at Travel Partnerships

If Pennsylvania is hoping to use Fourquare to tell you about all the good stuff that the state has to offer, the InterContinental Hotels Group has a more direct approach. The international hotel chain, by room count the world's absolute largest, is partnering with location-based social network GoWalla to offer rewards to customers who check in this summer. The Hit It Big promotion promises rewards such as retail gift cards and double air miles to guests who stay multiple nights at participating IHG hotels between now and Aug. 31, 2010, including up to $500 in gift cards. (HotelChatter however was not impressed.)

In certain ways all location-based networks have to do with travel, since users go places and check in. But recently Gowalla has been emphasizing not just travel but entire trips and tours. They recently revamped their website and expanded their Trips section, offering users the ability to create de facto guidebooks. They've partnered with National Geographic and the Washington Post to create actual guidebooks - technically branded tours - where National Geographic created 15 walking tours and the Washington Post posted a guide to DC. Taken with this IHG announcement, it seems like Gowalla is ready to move beyond being just a location based game.

more ›

Google Maps / Foursquare / Technology / Social Media / Gowalla / → All Tags

Explore the World with Foursquare and Gowalla on 'Checkin Mania'

By now you probably realize that we're huge advocates location-aware social media, specifically Foursquare for its quickly blossoming community and the priceless worldwide tips they leave. But just in case you aren't yet convinced and need some help deciding between Foursquare and competitors like Gowalla and Brightkite, there's a cool Google Maps mashup site that can help you out.

It's appropriately called Checkin Mania, and on it you can simply click onto the Google Map to see the area update in real time as people check in via these apps on their smartphones. Then click on one of the locations on the right side (not shown above) and it'll display information about that spot, like it's mayor, tips and how many people have checked in there total.

more ›