Being an airline employee since 1979 (except for quite a few years in the early 2000's), I've had a lot of good experiences ... and, conversely, some bad ones ... these 2 came to mind immediately:
1) My very first flight as an employee (all of 24 yrs old) was myself and 2 other guys going from NY to Tulsa over a weekend in September to get set up with housing, etc... as we were part of the corporate relocation ... leaving Friday afternoon, we arrived at LGA with some time to spare so had a few drinks in the bar ... on the first leg from LGA to STL, we struck up a conversation with the flight attendants about us being brand new employees and the reason for our trip (and it didn't hurt that one of the other guys had the kind of looks and big brown puppy-dog eyes that made the girls swoon) and they made sure our glasses were never empty ... since our flight was direct, we didn't need to change planes in STL and we had about an hour wait until departure for Tulsa, so we got off and went to the bar ... upon re-boarding, the other 2 guys were in front of me as I stopped to peek inside the 727 cockpit ... the First Officer was the only one there and he invited me in and said I could sit in the Captain's chair if I wanted ... we chatted for a few minutes before the Captain and Flight Engineer came in, which meant I had to get out of the pilot seat ... after they were seated, the Captain asked me why I was going to Tulsa, so I told him I was a new employee and going to find a place to live when I moved there in about a month ... after a few more minutes of chatting, they got the call from the tower it was time to go, so I said I guess it's time for me to go back to my seat ... the Captain looked at the First Officer and said 'I'm okay with it', the First Officer said he was also, then the Flight Engineer also said okay ... the Captain turned to me and asked if I would like to fly to Tulsa up here with them ... since I was, let's just say, a little tipsy, my reply can't be typed here ... he called the lead flight attendant in and said I would be joining them and could she get me situated ... no doubt, that was the greatest flight I have ever been on ... upon deplaning, I was standing at the cockpit door next to the Captain thanking the deplaning passengers for flying with us today (kind of like the old SNL skit with David Spade as a flight attendant saying buh-bye) ... my 2 friends saw me and their jaws dropped, they thought I missed the flight ... the rest, as they say, is history
2) This one is indirectly about my experience, more about my daughters ... was going to San Diego in the mid 90's with my wife and 2 young daughters (around 9 and 7) to visit my parents when the only seats remaining were 2 together in first class and 2 in coach, both middle seats with one around the center and the other in the back ... it was departure time and right after we got on they closed the door, so no time to have someone swap seats so one of us could sit next to one of the kids in coach ... the flight attendants said the 2 kids could sit together in first and they would take good care of them ... this was in the days when, in first class, you got a good dinner ... and the big vanilla ice cream sundae for dessert ... when we finally made our way up front to exit, the flight attendants said they had the best time with my daughters and of course both of them couldn't wait to tell us of the HUGE sundaes they had with the mountain of whipped cream on top ... I'm not sure to this day who had the better time.