The Oscars 2015 Red Carpet Experience With United Airlines

Arnette RTWgirl Oscars Selfie
Hello, friends! A handful of you may have seen me posting from the Oscars 2015 Red Carpet the other day and asked…
“How the hell are you at The Oscars!!?”

Well here’s your answer!

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One day in early January (2015), I received an email with the subject line that said:

Academy Awards Invitation from United Airlines

After reading my email a few times, I realized United Airlines really emailed me. HOLY…UNITED AIRLINES JUST EMAILED ME! I did a small dance of joy in my room and of course, replied to the email to make sure it wasn’t one of my friends playing a prank on me.

When United’s representative emailed back I found out that as an official sponsor of the Academy Awards, United is given several passes for the “Oscar Fan Experience”. The fan experience is bleacher seats along the Oscars Red Carpet outside of the Dolby Theatre. The rep for United said that they had found my travel blog and wanted to extend an invitation to me.

WHATTTTT!! EEEEEK!

The only catch was that I had to respond with an answer by the end of the day and fill out paperwork for security clearance. This is mandated by the Academy and must be done within 3 days. Some of you may know this but most will not…I have a hard time committing to anything. But how could I say no to United or the Academy Awards??! I accepted the invitation right away and filled out the necessary paperwork over the weekend and waited with bated breath.

I checked some of the travel blogger forums and no one mentioned anything about the Oscars and I asked a few blogger friends if they had received an invitation. No one knew what I was talking about. I decided to not think about it for a while and not get my hopes up. In the meanwhile, I went to Whistler to go snowboarding and bobsledding, San Francisco for a couple of meetings, and then celebrated my birthday in late January (woo). Still thinking it was a practical joke, I pushed the Oscars out of my head. During this time I was invited to go to Düsseldorf with Tourism Düsseldorf and the now-defunct Air Berlin. I thought about staying in Germany for a few weeks if I didn’t hear back from United. 

A month later, another email came in with the subject line: Update: United Airlines Oscars Invite.

When I opened up the email, I was packing for Düsseldorf. The email was from a fellow named Rob, the social media manager from United who would be joining me at the Red Carpet Experience. He sending over a package with the details and information about the day. Because I was going away, I had the package delivered to my friend and forgot all about it while consuming beer and wiener schnitzel in Germany.

While I was away I received a couple of messages from two LA-based bloggers who were also invited.  The package that was sitting at my friend’s place was a list of the bloggers who had been invited to go to the Oscars, details about our day, and a bit of swag from United.

United Airlines Oscars Invite

OMGGGGG!!!

When I returned home from Germany I was tired and jet-lagged but excited for the biggest day in Hollywood. Oh yeah…I may not have mentioned this before but I live 2 blocks from the Dolby Theatre, right smack dab in Hollywood. Yes, it’s true…I live stumbling distance from where they set up the Red Carpet and the roads here have been blocked off for several weeks prior.

Hollywood Boulevard Oscars Red Carpet Prep 2015

I shot this photo on my way to get groceries 2 days before the Oscars

A little about the day:

In our instructions, we were told what we could bring and not bring (Wahhh!! No selfie sticks!). And for my friends who are wondering…did I get dressed up? No. It was suggested to us that we should dress comfortably and in layers. 

We were asked to arrive at 10:30 am even though the Red Carpet does not start until about 3 pm and the Awards ceremony at 6 pm.

So what happens between 10:30 and 3 pm?

We arrive, check into the event, and show our ID that must match our security forms. Then we receive our credentials. We are told about 200 times that we cannot take photos of our credentials, even by accident, or face immediate ejection. Then we go through metal detectors to get into the Hollywood and Highland Center where the Red Carpet is set up. We then found our seats and scoped out the situation.

Whoa!! I was in the first row, Row A!!! Amen to that because I am so short and have horrible vision!

Oscars 2015 Fan Experience Bleachers

Oscar Red Carpet Bleachers – I sat on the left in the first row!!

Arnette RTWgirl Oscars Selfie

A selfie in front of the Oscars Red Carpet from my seat!

Oscars Red Carpet 2015 Fan Experience

The Red Carpet bleachers filled up

Then what happens for so many hours??

We are given plenty of food to eat. We were provided coffee and pastries by Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the morning. Then we were told that we could line up to get makeovers and manicures by Maybelline, who is a sponsor. A few hours later we were given a packed lunch, our swag bags, tons of snacks and treats to eat. If we wanted we could bring extra food just in case but I figured I wouldn’t be so hungry thinking about the gorgeous thin actresses and models coming along the Red Carpet. There’s also a People & Maybelline charging station because we were all going crazy with our phones snapping photos, taking video and using social media.

Maybelline Makeup Tent Oscars Red Carpet Experience 2015

Maybelline makeup and manicure tents

Maybelline Makeup Tent Oscars Red Carpet Experience 2015

Maybelline makeup and manicure tents

Song of Style Aimee Red Carpet 2015

I spotted blogger Aimee from Song of Style who was Maybelline guest

Oh yeah, we could take lots of official photos and selfies! Here’s one of the United Oscars Crew!

United Airlines Red Carpet 2015 Crew

From Left to right: Monica from Run Eat Repeat, Lisa from We Said Go Travel, Rob from United, Spencer from Whiskey Tango Globetrot and Diana from LA by Diana Marks, and the shorty with the bad cowlick in the front is me!

RTWgirl Arnette

An official Oscar selfie…maybe I’m born with it…maybe it’s Maybelline!

Oscars 2015

One of the many Oscar statues on site

After the Red Carpet Experience, we went to El Capitan Theatre which hosted a private viewing party for all of the folks who were there all day. We were served a buffet dinner and snacks. At this point, I stopped taking photos from having sensory overload. Haha. Thank goodness I only had to walk home two blocks!

El Capitan Red Carpet Viewing Party 2015

El Capitan Theatre for the Private Oscars Viewing Party

Thanks for visiting my page and checking out my Oscars 2015 Red Carpet Experience!!! 

Oh, wait…you want to see celebrities right?? Haha!! That’s a whole separate post !! Click here!!

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