I made my first elite at US Airways between the Air Shuttle LGA-BOS and religiously flying LH to Europe, at age 19. I used to love the easy upgrades off-peak and familiar faces at BOS gates 15, 16, 17, LGA gates 18, 19 and 20, and onboard. I had the opportunity a number of times of flying with the same crewmembers who would bid the shuttle regularly, and LGA and BOS were very small crew bases when they were around.
While I largely left for Delta in 2008, US introduced me to the world of Status and I haven't gone a year without it since. I definitely miss CLT as my SE connecting hub instead of ATL, maybe I'll come back now that the carrier will have an upper-Midwest hub and a larger NY presence...