1. Only person in Cathay First SYD-HKG. Didn't sleep at all and was pampered from beginning to end.

2. Concorde LHR-JFK. Although I got caught up in the strike mess, it was still a very cool experience. Next time I felt that many G's was in Kanebear's car in Houston. Still have my ticket and certificate on my wall.

3. British Airways First LHR-BKK, first longhaul first class experience. The FA was like a nanny and took care of everything I needed (which wasn't much).

4. Cathay HKG-DPS through a typhoon. Found out that we were one of the last flights out that day before a typhoon decimated Hong Kong airport so we basically flew through most of it before hitting a high enough altitude to go over it. Threw us around like a ragdoll. Most long term turbulance I have encountered.

I was working a TWA flt to Europe and we had the Vienna Choir Boys onboard who proceeded to sing for us all-still gives me goosebumps.

Jumpseating in the cockpit of a 3-man-crewed 747 on my 10th birthday, chasing the sun at eye-level from Seattle to Anchorage. Indelible.

toronto to hong kong in biz....met the loveliest FA I have ever seen...that was 10 years and 3 countries ago and we are at 5 1/2 years of marriage

Now, THAT'S a cool memory!

My first (and only) op-up to international J.

Wow - 1 FTer slept with a FA, another married one!

I need to start flying more.

The first time I flew into SYD. Ever since I was a little kid it had been a dream destination of mine.

The approach took us on a route I could see the Opera House and the Bridge. My dream had come true. What more can one ask for in life?

Another memorable one for me was flying through the arctic in cariboo migrating season. Our plane did a low pass over a herd that seemed to number in the thousands... what an incredible site these animals moving what seemed so gracefully across the tundra.

3). Concorde LHR-JFK. Definitely cool, but not as cool as...

2). World Airways, 1984. After becoming engaged (over the phone), I was flying LAX-EWR to meet up with my new fiance, and the FAs (after finding out my situation) put me in first, fawned all over me, even supplying me with 3 bottles of champagne to bring home. Pretty amazing, but not as great as......

1). Very vague memories of flying in F as a small child (Pan Am & ??). Dad was in the oil business, we moved internationally (US and mostly Australia and Asia). I have cloudy memories of the lounges upstairs in 747, FAs supplying me with anything my heart desired, and watching my mom and dad socializing at the bar onboard. Makes me all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. Those were the great days of air travel....

Robin

The first thing that comes to mind is seeing the sunrise going to AMS.

The other was my first and only flight in F. I was 14, my mom brother and I gave up our seats on the CVG-SEA leg of our trip, got routed through IAH, all in FC. I was given a choice of a swiss bacon cheese burger or some salad thing. I chose the burger. When they brought me out a salad I complained and they told me it was just the first course.

My daughter's first flight at three weeks.

The flight where my (now) husband slipped a diamond ring on my finger

My most memorable flight was probably KTM-LUA in a tiny Yeti Airlines plane. The runway at Lukla is only 475 m long, and is sloped at 10-15 degrees so that inbound planes are able to slow down quickly enough. There is a giant vertical drop at the end of the runway, so when you take off you actually descend before gaining some altitude! I believe Edmund Hillary's wife and daughter died when their plane crashed into this cliff face instead of landing on the runway.

Short Wikipedia article on the airport (with photo) available here, although the runway has been upgraded since the time of the photo.

3) Flying UpperDeck in Business on a UA ORD-HKG. This was about 2 months ago and was my first trans-pac and my first time sitting in anything but cattle class. I firmly believe that I have now been ruined for coach travel. Getting a decent meal and actually attentive service from the FAs has spoilt me.

2) Flying IAD-LHR with my best friend. We were on our way to spend spring break in London and gave up our seats on the red-eye the night before for vouchers. We ended up in a half empty coach section with (if I'm remembering right) a row of four seats to ourselves on a daytime flight. We drank tons of white wine, talked, and had a blast.

1) My first flight when I was a child, from ERI down to visit my grandparents in Boca. I was three and one of my first strong memories that I have of my life, is sitting on the plane and staring out the window for hours. Apparantly my mother told me to look for the CareBears and being a focused (read, obsessive) person I stared out the window the whole time and upon landing demanded that we get back up in the air because I STILL hadn't seen them. I like to think my love of travel stems from this early experience.

My favorite flight memory was an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Washington, DC. The food was lousy and the wines were second-rate. It didn't matter. It was September 21, 2001 and I was coming home from Chennai, India, where I had spent a month working, including an all night stint on September 11, trying to help the families of colleagues get in touch with their loved ones. I flew via Singapore (SQ) and Hong Kong (CX). There were 3 people in business class, and perhaps 20 in coach.

No one watched the movie. The afternoon sun streamed in through the right side of the plane, and groups of people just gathered together and talked about their 9/11 experience. For most of us, including the flight crew, it was our first flight since 9/11. There was a level of cameraderie on that flight which only happens in times like those.