I once got a free TATL flight for my birthday.. kinda.
Back in the paper ticket days, I had an expired ticket JNB-EZE and some heimishe guy fixed it up with a "sticker" for me, it was scheduled for my birthday.
Upon checking in the employee made such a stink about my birthday that they barely looked into my ticket (I was taking a long shot to begin with), they also waved my very overweight bags through with no issues at all.