tmorse6570

The first times were upgrades on domestic flights. The thing I remember most was that the attendants smiled more and would address me by name when taking my lunch order. Plus there was more space.

SANspotter

We may have been on the same flight in the same cabin. I was on that DTW-ATL 744 in D1 (seat 13K) on November 16th. I was supposed to be on the continuation of that flight to SEA, but it had a mechanical issue and they put us on an A330 instead. Boo!

obscure2k

I felt great!! I was on my honeymoon, it was the 60's and I was 21. Sailed to Honolulu on the S.S. Lurline and flew Pan Am home to LAX. It was a magic trip.

ATOBTTR

My first experience in the "premium" cabin was on AirTran on ATL-MCO back in 2005. You could buy-up for as cheap as $35 per segment at the airport counter on AirTran. I was under 21 so I didn't get to take in that much but it was my first and I have to say at the time I felt "on top of the world" sitting upfront as as a teenager. I took advantage of that promo a few more times flying FL to/from Florida over school breaks.

My first experience in the premium cabin on a widebody with a lie-flat seat was on LAX-ATL on a DL 777-200LR in 2010. I used Skymiles (45K r/t IIRC) for a domestic F round-trip from MCO to LAX, which included a return on the 777-200LR upfront (though standard domestic F service).

My first international J experience was on KLM from YVR to LHR via AMS. YVR-AMS and AMS-YVR were on an A330-300. My wife and I were so excited when the FA's brought around the Delft Houses as we didn't know about that which made the experience that much more fun. We were excited to again fly KLM as part of a trip to Europe in Summer 2020 to add to our Delft House collection but that trip was cancelled due to COVID. We're rescheduled to go next year and I'll be looking to see if any KLM J Award flight options pop-up so we can add to our collection.

mtofell

PDX>LAS on an E175, an upgrade to a FC seat on the single seat side. It was pretty cool because (of course) it was FC, I was going to Vegas and my two buddies had to pass by me on their way to coach

Honestly, FC is nice but I really notice very little difference between that and PC with an empty middle seat. My biggest desire on a plane is just space around me - exit row, PC, empty middle seat.... whatever. Just give me some space!

The only FC I've had is AS which is pretty basic. A lie-flat would be pretty cool. I can never sleep on planes but think it's because I can't get flat enough. A lie-flat may just fix that.

planesquid

Early 1990s at the tender age of 20 on an intra-European BA flight (ca. 90 minutes), I guess it was a 737, though didn't pay much attention to those things back then. Only flying it because someone else was paying (part of a longer trip with some weird ticketing arrangements). Not really impressed as it was just three rows at the front of the cabin separated by a curtain from the hoi-polloi, and the third row was the smoking row which made the whole concept of smoking/non-smoking sections rather pointless. Got some strange looks from the mainly stodgy besuited business types as I'd rolled up in my scruffy (but clean) impoverished student garb. I think I refused the proffered sparkly stuff as it was quite early AM and I had a long journey. Overall not really impressed, have never seen the point of non-economy short-haul (unless someone else is paying).

pinniped

First simple domestic U.S. F would have been 1995, just hit AA Gold, used my 500-mile stickers on MCI-ORD. Don't recall any magical feeling from that - I had an older coworker explaining the mileage game so I kind of knew what to expect. Including the fact that as a Gold, you take the short upgrades when you can. Back then there was only Gold and Plat, so hitting Plat was the real game changer.

First TATL J - 1996 AA ORD-BHX, 767 barcalounger style seats. The best part about this flight was that I learned about lounge access from the counter agent as I was checking in. She's tagging my bags and starting to give me directions to the AAdmiral's Club and I'm thinking "why? I'm not a member." I remember thinking the lounge was fantastic. AA's lounges were okay back then, but little did I know what else was out there.

First long-haul 3-cabin F - IAD-FRA, LH 747, 2007. This one was magical from start to finish. Soft product before, during and after. Also my first lie-flat seat and first experience with a truly top-shelf first class lounge. On the return flight (FRA-IAD) we got the full car-to-the-plane service from the first class terminal.

strickerj

Had to check; looks like it was 11/26 (DL 1640) outbound and 11/28 (DL 2005) returning. (Thanksgiving was 11/24 that year, so I went the weekend immediately after.) Both were N662US. Come to think of it, it had mechanical delays on both of my flights as well. (Well, one was actually a fueling error rather than a breakdown.)

Ber2dca

This would have been 14 years ago or so. I was in my 20s and it was my first domestic flight in the U.S. - a westbound Delta transcon. Also, my first Delta flight period. I got an operational upgrade to 1st in spite of not having status or anything. I simply arrived early at the counter (like 2-3 hours before the flight) to request my boarding pass and the staff person there said "good news, you're now in first class, here's your boarding pass".

At the time I thought I thought I was lucky - but I had no way of realizing just how lucky it was to be upgraded as a very infrequent flyer up to that point without any notion of what a frequent flyer program is. I still recall being very impressed by the food. It was an evening flight and the dinner was enchiladas with chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Both were very tasty and certainly the best thing I had ever eaten on an airplane up to that point.

I think it actually played a pretty significant part in getting me interested in premium cabin travel and gave me a good opinion of Delta as an airline at the time (and even to this day I instinctively prefer them over AA and UA).

lhrsfo

Sadly I’ve never traveled in First and probably never will as fewer and fewer routes offer it. But Business is good enough for me and I still get excited by it.

Artpen100

The first time I took a buy up offer to upgrade domestically. I thought it was nice, but not earth-shattering. I used to fly internationally only in economy and was miserable. Starting to fly in international business was totally a game changer. From miserable to comfortable.

pekkav

My kind of first time was in 90's, me in my teens flying with parents, Finnair used to fly to TFS using MD-11, it was a charter flight. We got J seats as seats were assigned in random.Those times there were no IFE in seats.I loved that experience so much that I swore I would never fly couch again.Well, my first flight by myself early 2000's (and payed myself too), was indeed in J, on AY HEL-MAD (with stopover in ARN in those days). You got 2 full meals on that flight too! Well, I have managed to keep that promise so far and have avoided Y like plague.Couple of years ago on AY a350 flight FA said to my son, 7 y.o. "oh you got to fly in business this time" - in kind of demeaning way. In which we replied "well it's a downgrade for him as last time he flew in intercontinental first class". That shut her mouth 🤣

diburning

2011. It was a family trip to Philadelphia (from Boston). Outbound flight was uneventful, but I remembered that they announced that they were offering upgrades for $50. During the trip, there was an argument over something, so on the return, I walked up to the counter, and paid the $50 to upgrade to first class just so that I could be away from them for a bit. it was my first time on an E190, and that (King Nut) snack mix they served was the best snack mix I've ever had.

Hvr

It was 2008 and I'd purchased a Circle Asia fare in J. Checked in at CBR for the connection to SYD then BKK on QF1. The points upgrade had come through and for some reason the counter agent seemed annoyed.

Got to visit the QF F lounge in SYD and then enjoy the flight on an old QF747. It was a magic trip and the staff looked after me very well.

Since then I've flown QF and EK A380 in F, having a shower in the latter. I've also flown F on CX HKG-YVR-JFK, enjoyed that.
The halcyon days of points travel.

Having said that, a lie flat seat in enough and I can sleep well on flights. Now I'm just looking forward to flying somewhere again.

janddouglas

1988 - LGW-MSP in F on the 742. I'd joined NWA in res in London in the April and after 6 months you were given a fam ticket to the US to experience NW. Airport Manager generously upgraded me from Y to F and ruined me forever. Remember the full trolley service, caviar to start, Stolli Vodka back when that was premium. Very fond memories. Onward to LAX on a DC10 in Y less an experience. Then onto to HNL on a DL L1011 where was denied an upgrade to F as I didn't have a sports jacket to go with shirt, tie and smart trousers - doh!