{"id":1837,"date":"2012-10-01T13:51:40","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T19:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boardingarea.com\/blogs\/verygoodpoints\/2012\/10\/01\/1-yr-1-million-miles-%e2%80%93-week-1-enter-now-2-win-20k-spg-points-and-chance-at-grand-prize\/"},"modified":"2012-10-01T13:51:40","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T19:51:40","slug":"1-yr-1-million-miles-week-1-enter-now-2-win-20k-spg-points-and-chance-at-grand-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2012\/10\/01\/1-yr-1-million-miles-week-1-enter-now-2-win-20k-spg-points-and-chance-at-grand-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"1 yr 1 million miles \u2013 week 1, enter now 2 win 20k SPG points and chance at Grand Prize!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week KLM introduced their social media VIP (Very Important Puppet) named Flynt. Flynt has his own Facebook page<\/a> and it’s actually pretty funny so far.<\/p>\n

KLM has done a great job with Flynt. You should check out the interactive app<\/a>. I clicked on the diary in the seat next to Flynt and a pop up calendar appeared with Flynt’s schedule. When I clicked on his bag, a map popped up. There was a post-it that said “get snow globe”. You can see the snow globe on the seat next to him\u2026I wonder how he got that through security.<\/p>\n

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KLM’s social media team is very creative and I’m looking forward to following Flynt. The introduction of Flynt got me thinking \u2013 how many people have non-human, non-animal friends that they travel with? I know a few people, including myself, who have had a furry friend on a trip or two.<\/p>\n

When I used to travel in the US, I stayed at a lot of Kimpton Hotels. If you know Kimpton, you’ll know they’re a pet friendly brand and go out of their way to welcome four-legged friends. I am not a pet person and as a joke, brought along a stuffed dog. He checked in with me and the staff offered him a dog treat (it was pretty funny) and then when I ordered dinner, I sat him in front of the ramekins. I had just joined twitter at this time and thought it would be a fun tweet. So I tweeted @KimptonHotels that my dog was joining me for dinner and included the picture. The tweet got a response from Niki Leondakis, Chief Operating Officer and President of Kimpton Hotels! Her response, “LOL! Is that butter in his bowl?” For one reason or another, my furry friend didn’t make another trip with me \u2013 I guess I stopped staying at stuffed pet friendly hotels.<\/p>\n

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If you read One Mile at A Time<\/a> you know that Lucky’s friend \u2013 Elmo \u2013 has made at least one trip with him. I was very happy to see him seat-belted in!<\/p>\n

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Week 1 contest now closed<\/span><\/h1>\n

Winner – Caleb! Congratulations on winning 20k Starwood Points.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

My name is Caleb. I\u2019m 22 years old now and I\u2019m a Marine. I\u2019ve had a small stuffed dog since I was 5 years old and its gone everywhere with me. When I deployed for a tour in Afghanistan two years ago, my mom told me I had to take the dog with me. I packed it in my backpack.<\/span><\/h3>\n

On the flight from San Diego to New York I was seated next to a kid who was flying alone for the first time. He was 7 years old and didn\u2019t stop crying from the minute he boarded the flight. He was hysterical. The flight attendants couldn\u2019t do anything. It was going to be a very long flight!<\/span><\/h3>\n

Finally I got out my stuffed dog and told him that he was a great friend and always kept me company. I asked him if he could keep him safe while I was in Afghanistan. I knew I\u2019d never see the stuffed animal again, but the kid stopped crying and was at ease for the rest of flight.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Have you ever traveled with a friend \u2013 a stuffed friend? Here’s the contest \u2013 tell me about a travel experience that you’d have with a stuffed friend. Don’t forget \u2013 creativity is king. Did your child lose his\/her favorite friend on an airplane? Have you sat next to a child on an airplane that insisted on seat-belting and feeding his\/her friend? Have you been questioned at customs because of your furry friend? There’s got to be some great stories out there! (Note: You don’t need to be the owner of the stuffed animal in question \u2013 you could have witnessed a funny story that involved a furry friend, etc\u2026)<\/p>\n

Rules:<\/p>\n