Glenn Close“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” — Oscar Wilde

My Midwesterner heart still flutters when I have a brush with celebrity. Often times, it’s when I’m at LAX where I’m still amazed to find famous people flying commercial airlines. Typically, they are in first or business class although I did see Mark Harmon once sitting with the masses.

That’s the other thing: when celebrities fly they get the airline appointed entourage. Julie Andrews had a huge Japanese contingency meet and greet her at the gate when we landed in Tokyo. I’m sure they view this as a major on-the-job perk of working for American Airlines: escorting Ms. Andrews to baggage claim.

Anyway, it makes you wonder, do celebrities ever fly coach or better yet a discount airline? I often take the Southwest shuttle north and I’ve never seen anyone remotely famous standing in the A, B, C lines. I take that back… I once saw Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker walking out of the Southwest terminal but is this even considered a brush with celebrity… since the last time I saw them on TV was something like 1989. I would not have recognized them except that Jill carried herself with such grace that I did a double take and immediately flashed back to an episode of LA Law.

I have mild stalker tendencies so it was with great enthusiasm that I listened to my friend’s story the other day. He was vacationing at someone’s summer home near Portland, Maine and flying jetBlue back to JFK. There was Glenn Close squeezed into a middle seat. Glenn was flying a discount airline and obviously booked late because she was sandwiched between Middle America on vacation in Maine.

My friend was well positioned to note her program selection on DIRECTV, but like most smart people, she quietly read her book: The Secret Life of Lobsters and skipped the InFlight entertainment. She seemed relieved that the passengers on both sides missed the Fatal Attraction generation and had no idea that she ever boiled bunnies on film.

All this Hollywood fuss begs the question… does Glenn fly jetBlue out of convenience or is she really that concerned about saving money? jetBlue fares out of New York are as low as $59 one way. What a deal!

Glenn married David Shaw earlier this year and David lives in Maine… yes, I read People magazine on occasion. It’s likely that her choice of airline is motivated by convenience, but there’s the frugal part of me that appreciates how Glenn can rough it with the masses and stuff her bag into the overhead bin just like everyone else traveling this summer on a budget.