Prize airline tickets 'taxed'The winner of an American Airlines contest says he would have been better off losing - and declined the prize of 12 return tickets for two to anywhere in the world covered by the airline.

The contest awarded free tickets to travellers submitting the best videos, essays or photographs about their flying experiences. But the 'lucky' winner was lumbered with federal and state income taxes on the company's "approximate retail value" of the tickets - valued at £30,000.

That's equivalent to about £455 for each of the 24 tickets.
Winner Jack McCall, from New York, turned down the prize after calculating he could probably buy the tickets cheaper than they cost in taxes in today's cut-rate airline pricing environment.