Whilst I've managed to wrangle a few upgrades on flights and more in hotels over the years, my favourites were on two key 'firsts' for me, as a flyer.
The first was in the early 2000s as a young guy taking his first international flight. I was travelling for work SYD-xAKL-WLG to deliver some training. Being young and
naive enthusiastic, I went the whole way; donning the suit & tie I'd recently purchased, and proudly carrying my new laptop briefcase. I had no idea about seat selections and what my seat number actually meant as I departed the check-in area, and so it was only when I boarded the Queen of the Skies to AKL and was directed upstairs to what I now know as a MK1 Skybed that I realised something special was happening! I was too nervous to ask how my seat worked, or ask for anything but what I was given, but damn did it put the fire in me to get up there again!
The second was about 5 years back and the first time I ever paid with my own money to fly J. Now, I'd flown J countless times by this stage... but mostly it had been Awards / upgrades, or by convincing my boss/es to cough up fare difference on a flex Y ticket for long-haul or red-eyes. For this one, my wife and I were headed over the ditch for a short break ahead of the birth of our son, and with her being concerned with comfort and space, didn't want to
chance the upgrade to J on QF, so we paid outright for J with EK SYD-AKL-SYD on the 388, instead. I was QF WP by this stage, and thanks to AFF, was aware that upgrades on EK were possible, but the delight of seeing that red light on boarding - suggesting the upgrade to F was a 'go' - not only on the outbound flight, but the
inbound as well, is something else! Too bad I had to have [most] of her share of the Dom in our F suites, each way
Cheers,
Matt.