This is exactly what happened to one lucky passenger, Jason Murphy, who found himself sitting in the most coveted seat on a plane, 1A.

As you'll read in a moment, Jason was asked to move over and make way for a VIP passenger, and little did Jason know at the time, that he was to share his journey with hyper-successful, billionaire-entrepreneur - Sir Richard Branson.

During the course of the flight, Jason (who was about to start a new business in Australia) had the perfect traveling companion and business mentor who could give him invaluable advice and encouragement.

Here is Jason's own account of that now infamous flight.

This is the story as I remember it....

I had looked at a failed business in Australia after spending many years working in the UK. I totally believed that it was not the business that had failed, but the people who had failed the business. They simply did not have the right 'mindset' at the top level.

I was travelling around Australia looking to inspire the people of this failed business to re-launch with a new focus, and was heading to Adelaide. Being quite tall, I asked for a seat with extra leg room and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that they had such a seat, and was consequently allocated seat 1A.

As soon as I'd sat down, I was approached and told there had been a mistake and could I move seats. I asked if seat 1C was available and was told this would be OK. I shifted up 2 seats, keeping my extra leg room in tact. As the flight was almost ready to take off, I had that smug feeling of 'looks like I have got myself a treble seat!'

Just as the stewardess was about to close the door, a guy jumped on the plane and plonked himself in seat 1A! My immediate thought was 'what makes you so special?', but when I looked up I realised that what made him so special was that he was Richard Branson, a part owner of the airline!

Once I had caught my breath, I wondered what on earth I would talk to him about, if indeed he would even want to talk to the likes of me!

Australians are not renowned for overly appreciating 'poms', but to my total amazement the Australians on the plane clapped and cheered Richard Branson’s arrival.

It didn't take me long to realize why. Richard was confident, cheerful and genuinely interested in my business and dreams. He chatted away like he had known me all his life. He simply gave me respect.

This chance meeting gave me the greatest inspiration of my life. I decided that from this day forward I was going to treat everybody I met with that same respect. It does not matter if you are the garbage collector or the CEO, what people in business need to know is that ‘THEY’ are important.

On the back of this 'mindset' we have taken a failed business to a business that is currently on track to invoice some $25m (£10 million). Our new business is called 'Penny Miller Pty Ltd' and sells household products throughout Australia. (We changed the trade name from Betterware Australia)

We have, in the last month, launched the same business in New Zealand, and are currently looking at other international markets.

Jason's story was the inspiration for the best selling business book, Millionaire Upgrade: Lessons in Success From Those Who Travel at the Sharp End of the Plane.

This book tells the story of Tom, a frustrated employee who gets upgraded on a plane and finds himself sitting next to Michael, a self-made millionaire entrepreneur. During the course of the flight, Michael shares with Tom his own secrets for business success. Millionaire Upgrade has been translated into over 10 languages, and is a regular Amazon top seller.

You can download Millioniaire Upgrade here and get your own MP3 spoken word copy of the book which was inspired by a flight with Sir Richard Branson. Through the combined wisdom of interviews with 50 self-made millionaire entrepreneurs, Millionaire Upgrade takes you on your own journey of business success. To download your own copy of the book, simply click through to http://www.FreeMillionaireUpgradeBook.com