An Al Story™

You never know who you might be flying with when you take a trip. Is that someone famous behind those Foster Grants or is it just someone trying to hide their bloodshot eyes?

An Al Travel Tip™ - Insiders say that the best flight for stargazing is the Friday night American Airlines flight 30 redeye from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to JFK (New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport). A close second for star power is United's Friday night LAX-JFK redeye, flight 18.

Proper star etiquette is the same as in a museum: Look, but don't touch. Leave the celebs alone, no pictures, no autographs. (Yes, I am a spoilsport) You want a quiet flight, they want a quiet flight.

Over the years I've flown with and next to quite a few celebrities. I've sat next to Kirk Douglas (he slept the whole flight), behind Patti Labelle, across from Tony Bennett, surrounded by the cast of Hill Street Blues, across the aisle from Montel Williams and many more whose names escape me.

But this isn't a story about a laundry list of all of the stars I've flown with. No, this is a story about one particular mega star. A star of her own TV series and movies. A star with animal magnetism.. A star beloved by generations. A star that you could always look up to as a role model.

It all started at LAX as I was getting ready to fly to San Francisco. I knew that something was happening since the gate agents were abuzz. A United concierge kept running back and forth making phone calls. Who could it be?

We boarded and and I settled into seat 1C.. Seats 1A and 1B were open. Could they be reserved for the celebrity? About 5 minutes before departure the concierge appeared with her charge, not just any celebrity, but a true megastar.

It was..........

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