July 1996.
On my way to study at grad school in Israel with the plan to stay at least a year and see what happened. Stayed much longer.
Oh, and I got an upgrade to business.
There was some computer malfunction in the check-in line + a gazillion teens on a tour, so they have me a pass and said get a seat at the gate. I had to practically choke someone to get them to stop and give me a BP with a seat assignment. When they handed it to me, I didn't even look at it, really. I just got on board, and what a most excellent surprise.