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JetBlue Hands Out Free Plane Tickets Throughout Manhattan

By DNAinfo Staff on March 10, 2010 3:40pm  | Updated on March 10, 2010 5:02pm

People lined up around the block to get free airline tickets from JetBlue on Wednesday. The airline posted this photo on Twitter, noting,
People lined up around the block to get free airline tickets from JetBlue on Wednesday. The airline posted this photo on Twitter, noting, "I think the crowd is catching on."
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JetBlue

By Jennifer Glickel

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Would-be jetsetters took advantage of a free ticket giveaway by JetBlue Airways all across Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re out of tickets for the day! THANK YOU ALL for playing with us and congrats to the winners!” read a note from JetBlue’s Twitter feed around 3:30 p.m., just three-and-a-half hours after the contest began. “So. Should we try this in another town?”

JetBlue handed out nearly 1,000 tickets in its three-and-a-half hours on the streets of Manhattan.

"You people are QUICK!," the airline tweeted after the contest.

The giveaway, part of the New York-based airline's ongoing 10th anniversary celebration, kicked off on Monday with a one-day sale of $10 fares on flights between JFK and the airline's original 10 destinations.

JetBlue announced the ticket giveaway on its blog Wednesday morning, explaining that New Yorkers could find out where tickets were being handed out throughout the day by following the airline on Twitter.

With each location post, the airline also included instructions for things people needed to do or items they needed bring with them in order to receive a free ticket.

"We're at Broadway & Dey St. Find us and bring a birthday card for JetBlue!" the airline tweeted at about noon on Wednesday.

Just after 2 p.m., JetBlue told people to wear blue clothing and bring "something airplane related" to 11th Street and University Place.

The free fares flew quickly, as it only took 23 minutes for the tickets to be handed out at the 11th Street location.

The airline then directed contestants to a location at 50th Street and Sixth Avenue — instructing them to create a homemade postcard commemorating JetBlue’s 10th original destination — but announced less than 20 minutes later that the tickets had run out.