Want a lifetime of free flights? Give birth on board

There’s one lucky newborn baby and mom living in Malaysia. The mother, a 31-year-old Malaysian woman, added excitement and drama to an AirAsia flight from Penang to Kuching this past Wednesday when she gave birth to her bundle of joy while the plane was still in the air.

Shortly after the baby was born, the plane landed in Kuala Lumpur. The aim was for the emergency landing to occur before the baby arrived but obviously the baby had other ideas.

Giving birth in flight, with the help of a doctor who was on board, has landed this mom a jackpot of free flights on AirAsia for life. The airline has also bestowed these riches to the newborn.

Can you believe the luck? Just two days old and already a budget traveler to envy. Think of all the nifty vacations this kid will be able to go on. AirAsia, a budget carrier, flies all over Asia and to the United Kingdom.

In a way, this is also like being granted lifelong companion fare status. If either mom or son want to travel with a friend or relative, they could offer to pay a portion of the companion’s ticket in order to share the wealth and have a steady stream of traveling pals.

Happily, mother and son are doing well, even though, the birth was 11 weeks premature.

Want to be a pilot? No experience required

Those of you that have been reading Kent Wien’s Cockpit Chronicles may experience the deep envy that many feel when we read about the great destinations, experiences and adventures that a pilot is privy to. Indeed for many, the job of a pilot is a dream, something that we aspire to as children but rarely pursue later in life. And by the time many of realize how much we want to chase that dream, well, we may think that it’s too late to inviest the time and money in training. If you win this contest, however, that could all change.

Air Asia, Malaysia’s most successful low cost carrier has a shortage of pilots, and in an effort to build interest and support in the brand they’re launching the “So you Wanna be a Pilot” competition. 10 lucky winners who submit a blog entry to their site could be selected to win training from the ground up. Obviously you have to have basic education in Physics, Mathematics and the like, but every pilot should have that, right? Oh and the other caveat? You need to have a good command of Bahasa Malaysia. But that’s not hard to learn, right?

Check out the rest of the details on AirAsia’s blog.