Not me, but my status got my mom onto a plane that left...good story too...

She was flying to upper michigan from new york and her flight to DTW was about 2 hours late. She was on a rulebuster award ticket that I got her with my miles and with a WC pass with my FF#. When she was sitting on the ramp delayed I told her to just take the WC pass to a WC and ask for assistance being rebooked on the next flight anywhere near her destination. When she finally got there all flights were either gone or full for the next 2 days. The woman looked at my mom's ticket and typed in my FF# to see my status and was told to quickly sprint (not run or walk fast) to a gate about 5 down. As she approached, a RJ was pulling up to a gate with no flight listed. Somehow, the GA caught the plane getting ready to taxi and got it to come back to a close gate to pick her up.

Now Im no one special - yes, I may spend $10-20k a year on NW and more if you include those I book with me, but not good enough to get an RJ to come back to the gate.

I can tell you this, my mom now understands why I do a mile run if I am a little short at the end of a year. It's good to be the king.