BRIT Awards tickets, 11 dream jet-set holidays, the top suite in one of Dubai’s most prestigious five-star hotels and a FREE wedding.
These are just a few of the insane won by Kayley Hill, 37, after she began applying nearly a decade ago “on a whim”.
Kayley Hill has won more than 11 holidays through competitions
One win saw her bag a top suite at Dubai’s famous Shangri-La Hotel
Another competition saw her family whisked off to Universal Studios in Florida
A bag of goodies that awaited Kayley at a five-star gotel
The mum, from Langwith, , applied for 100 draws a day at her peak and has certainly been rewarded, nabbing £50,000 worth of wins in just one year alone.
From luxury food gift hamper to kids’ toys, enviable getaways and vacations in dreamy destinations, her entries have certainly paid off.
Kayley says becoming a ‘comper’ – someone whose hobby is entering competitions – has enabled her to enjoy “things we can’t afford” and give her daughter, who has disabilities, “the best life”.
Now she shares her biggest wins and tips with The Sun’s readers – including the easiest types of competitions to win and a hack for increasing your chances of victory that costs just 13p a day.
Kayley tells us: “If you want to get into it properly it’s like a full-time job because if you enter 10 competitions a day you’re probably not going to win.
“I love to go for experiences we would never be able to have. One of my favourites was going to HQ with Jack Daniels for a party there and to see all the cars.
“It comes in handy, I enter competitions for things we can’t afford and sometimes for birthday and .
“I’ve won 10 holidays and I’ve got more booked.
“We won a £4,000 TUI voucher, which we’ll use for and to go the Maldives before heading to an all-inclusive island in St Lucia where we get married.”
Kayley started to apply for competitions nine years ago, initially starting out “on a whim, randomly”, and vied for a massive box of 99-calorie snacks and goodies.
Kayley and her family on a trip to the Dominican Republic
Terry and Kayley also won an F1 experience to visit McLaren headquarters
At her peak, Kayley was applying for 100 competitions a day
All it took was retweeting a post on Twitter – now known as X – and commenting, and she won.
Since then Kayley has been hooked and it led to her apply for more than 100 competitions a day at her most active.
13p hack & best prize hunting ground
The mum claims one of the big helpers for locating prize draws is the website Super Lucky – Di Cope’s Comping Community, which costs £5 per month or £50 per year, roughly 13p a day.
“A lot of them are holidays and I like holidays,” she says.
Kayley also follows Money Saving Expert’s free competitions too on Instagram and Facebook to look out for draws she likes.
She also keeps an eye on radio, newspaper and TV opportunities – but says social media is one of the best hunting grounds.
“Instagram is where I got a lot of my wins over the past couple of years,” Kayley says.
“But I won a trip to Cuba through the Evening Standard newspaper and , from Channel 5 on Facebook.”
Five-star stays
The effort required for competitions vary. Some demand pictures or written submissions on why you should win, but some simply request filling in your contact details.
It’s led to a treasure trove of holidays for Kayley so far including , , , , , , twice, and her upcoming vacations to Dubai, and .
Kayley has also bagged “lots of weekends away” including treehouse and five-star hotel stays in the UK and overseas, which she says are usually way above her budget.
We met Fleur East, who’s very small, literally tiny; Frank Skinner, who left my partner starstruck, and Rob Beckett, who was funny too
Kayley Hill
Kayley adds: “My Cuba holiday win was literally writing my name, date of birth, address and email. For Florida, I had to send a picture in a Halloween costume.
“I don’t know if it was random or they picked the best one. Thinking about it, mine definitely wasn’t the best one. I hadn’t put in a lot of effort, I was just a vampire.
“We won a holiday with a private pool in Greece and then Dubai was amazing too, we got the top suite in Shangri-La, all our meals included and the flights.”
It was a big win because some of the most expensive rooms at the aforementioned five-star hotel, which is close to the famous Burj Khalifa, cost £559 per night alone.
That’s not including the endless gift hampers, baby toys, kitchen appliances, push chairs, car seats, everyday items and things she “couldn’t afford on a single income”.
Celeb shindigs
Among her favourites wins was a visit to giants McLaren’s headquarters for a free party, to see cars and other motor experiences there – but that’s not all.
“We went to the Brit Awards when Adele won everything and poor won nothing,” she says, referring to the Hello singer’s record-breaking four gongs in a night spree, back in 2016.
Kayley has also been to Cuba (above), Dubai, Majorca, Iceland and many other locations
She met Rylan Clark after one win and he helped deliver the news that she was pregnant in a video for family and friends
Kayley and the family have also scored UK stays as well as the jet-set holidays
“We met , who’s very small, literally tiny; Frank Skinner, who left my partner starsttruck, and Rob Beckett, who was funny too.”
Kayley was also part of a 100-person win for Jet2 Holidays competition for a vacation that allowed her to meet X Factor star turned presenter .
“It was a big party – all the food, drinks including alcohol, everything was free,” she says. “But I couldn’t get involved as much because I was pregnant at the time.
“But he recorded a video with me and announced I was expecting so that I could share it for family and friends, I was nine weeks gone at the time.”
Think small (business)
Some compers tell The Sun they go to great lengths to think of creative photographs with custom-made costumes and sometimes comedically bad ones are prize nabbers too.
Kayley admits she’s not that inventive when it comes to applying but she’s very tactical in which she invests her time into – as some will have countless applications.
“There’s also the Tesco ones, I haven’t won anything big but if you scan your receipt in they enter you into a prize draw, it’s pretty good and not everyone knows it,” she says.
“I don’t tend to go for small things unless it’s something we need but there’s a lot out there from smaller companies, I go for things we can’t afford, dream prizes and stuff like that.
We are a single income family now so can’t afford these dream holidays, entering competitions gives us that and our daughter the best life she can have
Kayley Hill
“I like to enter competitions to get things for people’s birthdays as well and keep an eye out for things my family like, I do tend to give away a lot of stuff too.
“I’d say search Instagram, maybe look for small or local companies because they will have less entries and while it may be smaller giveaways it’s still worth money.
“A lot of ‘comping’ friends tag me in competitions too, so my feed is full on Facebook and Instagram.”
Kayley and Terry won a trip to Orlando, Florida
She’s scooped bundles of prizes including hampers of food, drink and toys
Terry with a Marilyn Monroe lookalike in Orlando
Kayley and her fiancé Terry Baggaley had enjoyed some remarkable experiences thanks to her determination in applying to competitions.
She has less time to commit to now she’s a full-time carer for her child, now only getting a maximum of 10 per day, and credits her daughter as the inspiration.
Kayley says: “My daughter has Down’s Syndrome and autism, I’m her full-time carer.
“We are a single income family now so can’t afford these dream holidays, entering competitions gives us that and our daughter the best life she can have.”
