I was on a LAN-DTW flight once. I was coming home from grad school at MSU for the first time, back in 2009, so the flights were still Northwest / Northwest Airlink branded even though Delta had completed their acquisition the previous year. It was memorable since we cruised at only 7000' (in a jet, no less - it had upgraded from a Saab 340 to a CRJ in its last few years, though I'm honestly not sure how much of an upgrade that really was). In hindsight, I should have just started at DTW - it took 3 bus routes and nearly 2 hours to get to LAN (for those familiar with the area, the #20 to Grand River Ave, the #1 to downtown, and then #14 to the airport), whereas there's coach service to the DTW airport that picks up in East Lansing (walking distance from my apartment).

Oh, my dad told me a story about those once. He regularly flew standby on the Air Canada youth card when he was in grad school in Vancouver and returning home to Montreal a few times a year. On his first such occasion, he was told there was one seat open, and to get on board and take it. So, not knowing any better, he plopped himself down in the first open seat he saw - in first class. Flight attendant gets back on the radio and tells the gate agent there's still a seat, and by the time my dad realizes what he's done, they're boarding the next standby and closing the door.

Not wanting to get caught, he decides to say as little as possible, so when the FA comes around for drink orders, he just points to his neighbor and says, "what he has"... which, it turned out, was scotch and water.