Once in a while I’ll see the word “elitist” thrown around when talking about frequent flyers and their general attitudes, but I had to laugh when I saw Thai Airways’ description of their first class product:

Royal First Class represents the ultimate in flying luxury, awarding privileged recognition to those who have achieved the pinnacle of social or professional status.

Well, having flown Thai Airways first class several times, and not having “achieved the pinnacle of social or professional status,” I guess I’ve “achieved the pinnacle of social status.” Yeah, let’s just go with that….

I’ve written several times about how the SPG Amex is the best credit card out there. SPG points are incredibly valuable, both for hotel and airline redemptions. On the hotel front, SPG points are a particularly good value with “Cash and Points,” where you can book a stay at a nice hotel for a few thousand points and somewhere around $50. On the airline side, you can transfer SPG points to a number of airlines at a 1:1 ratio, and when transferring 20,000 points you get a 5,000 mile bonus, so you’re essentially earning 1.25 miles per dollar.

For those of you that use your United Mileage Plus Visa, send United a message by canceling your card due to Starnet blocking and their recent award chart inflation, and sign up for this far superior card.

Right now they’re offering a 10,000 point sign-up bonus, and also a 5,000 point referral bonus. If you are interested in signing up for an SPG Amex, I’d really appreciate if you could send me an email at onemileatatime@hotmail.com so that I could refer you.

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to Lewis for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Bintan, Indonesia
Winner: Paul

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

As of now, United has 9,935 followers on Twitter. I’m guessing they’ll reach 10,000 followers in the next couple of hours, so we’ll probably see the “small gift” this afternoon. If you haven’t registered yet, now would be a good time.

I’m betting it’ll be a 10% off coupon. Thoughts?

I just saw this “behind the scenes” Travelzoo video, and learned a few new things. I had no clue what a huge operation the weekly “Top 20″ list was. I figured it was just one nerd at a computer publishing all this, not teams in five different offices.

Travelzoo has a $79 rate at the InterContinental Tampa for Thu-Sun stays through August. This is an amazing deal, especially since it includes breakfast at Schula’s Steak House (which is fantastic), free internet, free parking, etc. I’m tempted to just book a few of these to take advantage of the Priority Club free nights promotion which is going on at the moment. Add all that to the free minibar, suite upgrade, welcome gift, points earning potential, etc., as a Royal Ambassador, and it’s basically a gift.

(Tip of the hat to Brett)

Join us for episode 21 of the Upgrd Podcast, as we’re joined by Continental’s Managing Director of Customer Experience, Scott O’Leary, also known on FlyerTalk as CO Insider.

And yes, we ask the tough questions!

I have a few flights coming up on United this weekend, and for the first time I can remember in a very long time, all my upgrades cleared at the 100 hour window. While I eventually cleared virtually all my other upgrades in the past, I usually had to sweat it out until the day of.

Compare that to Northwest, where up until now all of my upgrades cleared before the Platinum window.

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to Kai for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Frankfurt, Germany
Winner: Lewis

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

This SAS commercial is brilliant, in my opinion. It says so little, yet says so much.