--- title: Save the Points' Gilbert Ott Giving Away First Class Seats description: One man is giving travelers the ultimate scavenger hunt: Find him in any airport and he’ll give you his first or business class seat. canonical: https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-19T17:53:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:07.064Z og:title: Find This Man in an Airport and He’ll Give You His First Class Seat og:description: Gilbert Ott is sending travelers on an exciting scavenger hunt og:url: https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8bc93cf7d187b07/6988d64f97cdff45326b1a7b/travel-stock-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4808 og:image:height: 2705 og:image:alt: The Traveler og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Find This Man in an Airport and He’ll Give You His First Class Seat twitter:description: Gilbert Ott is sending travelers on an exciting scavenger hunt twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8bc93cf7d187b07/6988d64f97cdff45326b1a7b/travel-stock-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Man Will Trade His First Class Seat With You If You Find Him at the Airport > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=9c07e547-fdc5-4a6a-b846-3077ad7d8572&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What You Can Get for Free if Your Flight Is Delayed or Canceled [Watch (HLS stream): What You Can Get for Free if Your Flight Is Delayed or Canceled](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywf9OQoC.m3u8) (2:16)  _Published 2017-05-11. MONEY VIDEO_ by [Cailey Rizzo / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Cailey Rizzo / Travel + Leisure Jul 19, 2017 5:53 PM UTC  Portrait of a traveling man. Portrait of a traveling man. Getty Images by [Cailey Rizzo / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Cailey Rizzo / Travel + Leisure Jul 19, 2017 5:53 PM UTC One man is giving travelers the ultimate scavenger hunt: Find him in any airport and he’ll give you his first or business class seat. Gilbert Ott, the man behind the travel blog [God Save the Points](http://www.godsavethepoints.com/), spends every day revealing travel points hacks, tips for accruing airline miles and ticket deals. But for the rest of the year, in an ode to Richard Branson’s publicity stunts, Ott will relinquish his coveted luxury airplane seats to anybody who recognizes him. “If you find me in an airport: check in counter, security lane, terminal, lounge or even boarding gate, I’ll switch seats with you, provided we’re on the same flight,” he wrote on his blog. Through December 31, anybody who spots him in the airport and who has a ticket on his same flight can ask to swap seats. (Although Ott told Travel + Leisure that if somebody approaches him in the airport in 2018 and remembers the contest, he will still give up his seat.) Commit this man’s face to memory. This face. This is the man you’re looking for. Should you see him in the airport, run over and say something like “Gilbert, GodSaveThePoints. I want your seat.” He will arrange to switch. For those looking to increase their chances of getting Ott’s luxury seat, here’s a hint: Business and first class passengers usually have complimentary access to the airline’s lounge. For a better chance of finding Ott, skulk around there or buy a day pass. Travelers can also keep an eye on the God Save the Points website or [Ott’s Twitter page](https://twitter.com/godsavethepoint) for teasers of his upcoming flights and destinations. So far, Ott has teased out flights to Europe, Asia and Africa. “I may come to regret it, but for now it’s fun,” Ott told T+L. And for those without any upcoming travel plans, there’s also a chance to win business class tickets from home. By [commenting on the God Save the Points post with some feedback](http://www.godsavethepoints.com/2017/07/15/gilbert-ott-catch-me-if-you-can-upgrade-challenge/), travelers enter themselves in a contest to win two business class tickets to select destinations in the U.S. or Europe. Winners will be selected at random. _This_ [_article_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/travel-blogger-first-class-seat-exchange) _originally appeared on_ [_TravelandLeisure.com_](http://travelandleisure.com) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/"},"headline":"This Man Will Trade His First Class Seat With You If You Find Him at the Airport","datePublished":"2017-07-19T17:53:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:07.064Z","description":"Gilbert Ott is sending travelers on an exciting scavenger hunt","url":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/","keywords":["Living","Travel","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8bc93cf7d187b07/6988d64f97cdff45326b1a7b/travel-stock-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cailey Rizzo / Travel + Leisure"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8bc93cf7d187b07/6988d64f97cdff45326b1a7b/travel-stock-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Traveler","caption":"The Traveler","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/","name":"This Man Will Trade His First Class Seat With You If You Find Him at the Airport"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What You Can Get for Free if Your Flight Is Delayed or Canceled","description":"MONEY VIDEO","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ywf9OQoC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-11T21:27:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywf9OQoC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4864896/gilbert-ott-god-save-the-points/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```