The competition winners whose prizes went above and beyond

Snaps from pate-ci0's Monte Carlo holiday

The rest of the trip sounds seriously envy-inducing. Pick-up by limousine from the airport, Taittinger champagne waiting on ice in the hotel room, "pillows the size of small cars", full body massages at the hotel spa and the loveliest team of staff. When the morning of check-out came, the hotel obliged once again by extending the room until 4pm for free so the couple could relax until time came to catch their flight.

"It was a very special experience," writes pate-ci0, "and we will treasure it. Although we may never win anything like it again, you can bet I will be trying!"

This particular competition wasn't discovered through the MSE Forum, it should be noted – it was only the following year that pate-ci0 signed up. Since 2013 they've used the forum for comping pretty much exclusively, and reckon they typically enter up to 2,000 a month. They've racked up lots of wins, but the biggest was almost £24,000 from a Bauer Media radio competition in 2019.

'When word got round the spa that I was a competition winner, I was plied with freebies'

Forumite topaz13 has been comping since they were a teenager. The prize they remember as going above and beyond was a Champneys spa break, won via the first issue of a magazine which they spotted in their local shop: a four-night getaway for two with a free treatment each and £200 to spend on further treatments.

On the day that topaz13 and partner checked in, the receptionist upgraded their room for free. Next came the free treatment – a full body massage. When the therapist heard they'd won a competition to be there, she offered some extras – a full-size tub of body butter and a body brush. Word about the prize-winners went round the spa staff and the same thing happened the following day, when they were lavished with free bottles of lotions.

As for mealtimes: "We ate very well," topaz13 said, "and the staff were always very attentive to us, plying us with little extras, such as a glass of wine or a bottle of water, or just a little extra of a food that we particularly liked".