Don't know if it has been done before, but great thread idea! ^

In the early 90's, I was AA Gold and definitely enjoyed the pampering and service from my first elite program experience. I was just out of college, and at that time young elites seemed very rare. Made it feel all that more 'elite.' Living near RDU when it was one of the AA hubs meant that I could go plenty of places non-stop, and I loved that RDU-ORY route. When I moved west to CA, I still racked up plenty of miles doing transcons back to the east coast.

At Thxgvng '94, I took a vacation to Maui with my bf. We went out on separate days. Can't remember who I flew to OGG, but I joined him on UA for the return to SFO. He was 2P at the time, and had us both upgraded to First. Wish I could remember the equip. DC-10 maybe? Anyway, I do remember being 'worried' that UA First wouldn't measure up to my AA First experiences, and was I ever wrong. We had an amazing flight, very attentive service, a gifted bottle of white to take home, great food... Before we descended into SFO, I got up and spoke to the purser to tell her that it was my first UA flight, and that I was hooked.

Never looked back, and never flew another airline for the next five years.