Remember that time we had that contest? And you and the rest of the Internets tried to win that contest?

That was awesome.

For those of you scoring at home (and the much larger group of you that aren’t) here is what I’m talking about. The good people at Kipling make really nice bags. By nice I mean they are both sturdy and fashionable, like me, but more so. Kipling is also really cool, and to prove it they agreed to give one lucky UpTake Vacations reader an Alcatraz II Backpack. Yes, Angela Jacobs, I’m talking about you.

Lucky Angela has won our major award, and that makes her better than the rest of us you. I know, it hurts.

Thanks for entering the Kipling Backpack Giveaway, and thanks for reading UpTake! We’ll have more fun travel-related giveaways soon!

Take the bag. Please. Luggage is often overlooked when planning a vacation. Stand around the baggage claim for twenty minutes and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Many people pay more to check a bag than to purchase it. Perhaps they are unfamiliar with the old adage, you get what you pay for. Or in this case, win.

Luckily, the good people at Kipling are providing one lucky UpTake Vacations reader with a quality piece of luggage for all their travel needs, the Alcatraz II Backpack (pictured)!

As an added bonus (to me) Kipling provided one Alcatraz II Backpack for my consideration (this is called full-disclosure). I consider it a darn nice bag.

The Alcatraz II has room for your laptop and lots of other stuff. It can be worn as a backpack or wheeled as a whatever you would call that (a wheelpack?). And it’s airline carry-on acceptable, so you can skip the aforementioned baggage claim unless you just want to stop by and rub it in. That will show them.

The bag itself is strong and sturdy with lots of zippers and pouch pockets. It is also water-resistant, which is nice. The Alcatraz retails for $228 and is available in a variety of fashionable solid colors (although the one I received is more of a calico and looks like a thousand dirty penguins as seen from space, not that I’m complaining).

Bottom line, it’s a very nice bag and winning it will give you one less thing to worry about on your vacation. Plus, you’ll look really stylish and that’s always fun.

How to enter: Leave a comment about your worst luggage experience in the space below. Make sure to enter your email address in the box provided (not the actual comment).

Comments will be open until 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, July 22, 2011. Winner will be picked in a random drawing. Winner will be contacted via email and have 24 hours from time sent to respond. Failure to respond with the allotted time will result in another winner being drawn. Contest open to U.S. residents 18 and over. Void in Alaska and Hawaii.

*baby not included.

Do you travel with a baby? Do you find the lack of highchairs and appropriate, child-friendly seating to be a common and frustrating occurrence?

You’re not alone, and also, in luck.

We are giving away a Snazzy Baby Travel Chair, a temporary and easy to carry child restraint system. It’s the perfect travel accessory for the on-the-go child. The Snazzy Baby Travel Chair can be used with a wide variety of chairs (and grocery carts). The non-slip bottom ensures that baby stays upright, which is nice.

How to enter: Leave a comment and tell us why you need the Snazzy Baby Travel Chair. It’s that easy! The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 16th. Open to residents of the U.S. and Canada, no P.O. boxes, please.

Good luck!

This contest is now closed. Find out who won the baby seat in our big winner post! Bring a friend!

The Hyatt Place Helps Sweepstakes is over and we have our two winners.  What did they win? This:

Hyatt Place has partnered with TaskUs.com, a personal virtual assistant service, to offer two lucky UpTake readers two months (30 hours) of personal virtual assistant service and a two-night stay at a Hyatt Place.

How did we pick the winners? All comments were assigned a number starting at 1 and ending at 22  (my comments and multiple comments by other readers were not counted). All tweets and Facebook entries were also assigned a number, ranging from 23 to 54.  When it was all said and done we had 54 total entries (comments + tweets + Facebook links).  Using the random number generator at Random.org we picked two numbers between 1 and 64.  They are the winners! See, it’s not rocket surgery. Read More »