No, this blog has not become TMZ – I am pleased to say.

Last Sunday I was flying from LAX to New York JFK, on American Airlines A321 service. As it is a three-class plane I was able to use the BusinessExtraa points to get an upgrade to First. First is Nice. It has single seats, all at the window and form a big flat bed.

In the queue to board was Spike Lee, and he duly sat in the seat across the aisle from my seat.

The three things I learned:

1. He doesn’t have PreCheck. Perhaps because AA whisks him through a super speedy lane for VIP’s, I don’t know.
2. He drinks mimosas, or bucks fizz as we call it in the UK.
3. He is unfailingly polite when people recognise him and want to chat or hug him. I was astounded by how nice he was to everyone who saw him. From people just going past and saying ‘Hi Spike’ to someone who wanted to hug him. He was full of class and spent a moment with each one. What that pressure must be like every time you go somewhere I cannot imagine.

So those were my three things learned from spending about 5 hours on the same plane.