For whatever reason, the fondest of the 2 was when I called Delta and received the free upgrade for practically no reason

I suppose the charm was being on a 767 for 3 hours from CVG to SLC, rather than just 2 from PSC to DEN on a CR9.

19 and Counting,
JBDIABM

ROFL.

With my luck, most of my upgrades seem to happen on the last flight before I will be driving myself home.

I'm always happier when someone is picking me up--I'll splurge a little more!:D

19 and Counting,
JBDIABM

My first UG was on KL in Dec 2000, back when they had WBC on European flights. I was with my sister. The flight from BOS was severely delayed (due to a crack in the windshield) and we had to overnight in BOS and then AMS because we had missed our connection. There were other people in the same situation and we were in the same hotel in AMS. A bunch of us spent the night in the hotel bar and then when the bar closed we bought a bunch of beer and gathered in someone's room. When my sister and I got to the airport the next day we realized that we had been both UGed to WBC, but were both way too hungover to really appreciate it. I still have that BP :)

My girlfriend and I were upgraded on an emirates flight from SYD to DXB... that was over 14 hours of luxury. Think the plane was oversold or something, they just gave us our new tickets at the gate.

I was 9 and Dad was transferring from one side of the country to another and his company was paying. The Sydney to Perth leg was upgraded to first - so upstairs on the Qantas 747. On my birthday - with daylight savings time on the East Coast and the subsequent time difference, I had a 27 hour birthday. The comfort and extras served to allay my fears that a plane that large would not get off the ground.


First time I paid for first would be last year, to Hong Kong. I usually buy first every 1 in 3 international trips.

Yes, it was 1989. YYZ to FRA on LH. No status whatsoever, but I was UG'ed due to some seat mix up with another pax. After that, I was like Soren in "Star Trek Generations" :)

The first time I flew in first was 1989 with my family on our way to Hawaii. We flew AA JFK-LAX-HNL-LAX-JFK on four DC-10s I believe. I was just over 3 years old but look what a good flyer I was:

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye...es-DC-10-L.jpg

(Not sure what I was thinking pairing an orange shirt with green pants though)

My first self-upgrade was in February, 2003. I was 17 years old and AAdvantage Gold at the time. I paid $50 to buy an upgrade sticker at check-in and flew in First Class on an MD-80 from DFW-STL. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I remember how many times I pulled my boarding pass out of my pocket so I could see "FIRST" written on it.

My story's boring. In spring of 2002 I was flying TACA from JFK-GUA via SAL. Upon arriving at the check-in counter, I discovered mass chaos - it was explained to me that GUA workers had been on strike for several days until, I think, the day before my flight, leading to all sorts of cancellations and lots of passengers needing to be rebooked. The agent said basically that all confirmed seat reservations were voided, and that everyone in line would have to come back tomorrow.

At that point a very pushy woman pushed in front of me in line and demanded she and her daughter be put on this flight because they had a prepaid tour to catch, she was a lawyer, blah blah blah. I protested, but the guy took care of them. When the other pax left, I was prepared to have a serious fight with the guy, but he instead printed out a boarding pass for me, said I had the last seat on the plane, and escorted me to the plane, where I got to sit up front on the leg to SAL.

It was rather nice, especially knowing that the pushy lawyer was stuck in coach. Of course, I kept running into her and her daughter in Guate over the next week because we were seeing the same tourist sites at the same time...

Since then, I've only made it up front on AC flights, where I've used my status to snag a free upgrade.

First time upgraded from C to F was on a LH 744 flying JFK-FRA. Taking into account the price difference between C and F, I didn't quite get it. I try to stay away from airline food as much as possible (don't want to end up looking like an American), and apart from the chair being a bit wider and going flat, there was nothing more to it.

Second time was on a GF A330 with the old style chairs, on a night flight from LHR to BAH. Didn't eat, put the seat down as soon as the seat-belt sign went off, and frankly the seat wasn't nearly as good as for instance the BA lie-flat business.

Third time was also on GF, this time on an A340 with the new style F seats (the same seats that are today their C class). Daytime flight, and for once I was hungry. Service was very nice, but airline food is still airline food no matter how nicely it's presented on a plate.

Fourth time was on an EK 77W with suites, and THEN the penny dropped :)

Been upgraded a couple of times on domestic flights in the US, but I wouldn't call that First. At least, it's not First the way I understand it. Much nicer than being stuck down in cattle, of course.

All my upgrades except the one on EK have come at the gate without asking for, or expecting, anything. For the EK flight (DXB-FRA) I blew 25K miles; a bargain if there ever was one!

1967.....sfo-iad....twa offered the ug for $15.....i thought it wasn't worth it....

money wasn't as available as it now....also no ff mi.....

1992, TUS-DFW on AA, back when they served pre-flight drinks. At 8AM. I was so enamored with the free booze, that I got thoroughly hammered.

But my favorites have been the op-ups on CX long-haul.

I remember when I was 13 (1988) family vacation to Europe and bumped off of our flight on the way home, so KLM put us in "Royal Class" on a 747 from Amsterdam to JFK. My mom said that before she even sat down in her seat, I had my seat reclined, my feet up, slippers and blanket on, and glass of orange juice (no alcohol at that age) in my hand! I even got a tour of the cockpit in mid flight!

Waiting on mine. This is my first ever time with status, so I'm waiting for a flight to have that magical spot for me. I have a good number of trips going to the end of the year, though, so I'd be surprised if I don't hit any of them.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...e-flights.html

Oct 27th2002 MCI – Houston (Bush) 150 CO 1* +1st to be upgraded
Apr 23rd 2003 Newark-Manchester 191 CO 1* First International and TATL to be upgraded

Oh yes remember well. Like crack cocaine - very addictive. I had a free adult beverage!! or 3

8 June 2002 - at age 22 - DTW-YYZ, just made silver elite, 39 minute flight in a NW DC9, enough time for 2 vodka cranberries :)