Southwest Airlines gave every passenger on this flight a free Nintendo Switch

By Gabe Gurwin July 18, 2019

Image used with permission by copyright holder

When you take a flight, particularly a domestic one, you usually expect to get a free ginger ale and perhaps some pretzels. Southwest Airlines had other plans for one lucky group of passengers, however, as it provided everyone on a flight to San Diego Comic Con with a free Nintendo Switch system.

Southwest Flight 2246 was headed from Dallas to San Diego, where its passengers were gearing up to attend the massive San Diego Comic Con. Once seated, however, a Nintendo representative appeared and gave them a chance to play a custom Super Mario Maker 2 level called “Southwest Super Sky Challenge,” and those who played entered for a chance to win a $500 gift card for Southwest as well as a Switch with Super Mario Maker 2.

What the passengers didn’t know was that everyone on the flight was getting the console. According to Funimation social media manager Nicholas Friedman, it came as a huge surprise.

“When they announced the winner, we thought that was it,” Friedman said. “But the [Nintendo] representative then said, ‘You get a Switch! You get a Switch!’ over the intercom.”

!!! pic.twitter.com/11R6BPmc9z

— Nicholas Friedman @ SDCC (@NMFreed) July 17, 2019

Hiding this many consoles on a plane likely would have caused an issue, so Nintendo and Southwest instead opted for something a little smaller on the plane itself.

“They gave us a voucher, and when we got off the plane we were each handed a red bag with the console and a code for the game inside,” Friedman added.

The only downside? As the new Nintendo Switch with a better battery hasn’t yet released, the passengers were given the original system. Still, for the price of “free,” it’s hard to beat, and Super Mario Maker 2 is a great first game to see what the system is capable of in its docked and handheld modes.

Southwest and Nintendo are currently holding a month-long giveaway called the “Let’s Play Getaway,” which gives winners a Nintendo prize pack similar to the one given away on the plane. One grand prize winner will get a round-trip plane ride with three guests, plus four Nintendo Switch systems and digital copies of Super Mario Maker 2. The Switch sure does make those plane rides more bearable, too.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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