William “The Refrigerator” Perry sacked many quarterbacks during his NFL playing career, but he had a hard time tackling a five-pound birthday cake yesterday.
The 300-plus pound Fridge, who got his nickname in college because he is built like a refrigerator, lost to 130-pound Rich LeFevre and a dozen other competitive eaters in a cake eating contest at Grand Central Station in New York City sponsored by Cendant hotel loyalty program TripRewards, which was celebrating its first birthday.
For his efforts, LeFevre, a 60-year-old from Henderson, NV, who downed the cake in 11:26, won 1 million TripRewards points and was crowned “World Birthday Cake-Eating Champion” by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, which officially sanctioned the contest.
LeFevre’s 1 million points can be redeemed for 166 free hotel night stays, five months worth of car rentals, 181 $25 gift cards from top retailers, 30 mountain bikes, 68 blenders, or 18 plane tickets or other rewards, said Jill Noblett, VP-Loyalty Marketing, Cendant Hotels, which owns TripRewards.
Noblett told the crowd at Grand Central Station City and the viewers of the event’s Web cast that TripRewards has a great reason to celebrate its first birthday. In its first year, the program has grown into the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, with 6,000 hotels, 50 partners and more than 150 point-redemption options.
There are more than 4 million members in the program, which links Cendant-franchised hotels including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Travelodge, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Wingate Inn and AmeriHost Inn to auto rental companies Avis and Budget and to 46 retailers such as L.L. Bean, Kohl’s, Eddie Bauer, Linens ‘n Things and FTD.com.
“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” Noblett said. “Out goal was to reward members quickly for their hotel stays and then get them to come back to our flagship brands.”
Points can be redeemed for either hotel stays—with no blackout dates—or additional partner rewards including airline tickets, resort vacations, electronics, home appliances, sporting goods, movie and theme park tickets and gift certificates from 46 retailers and restaurants. Member can elect to earn points, airline miles or rail points for their hotel stays. Members cannot earn points for eating cake.
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