Airlines in America have the WORST customer protection! And i hate how they don't indicate layovers on your ticket if you just land in a city and stay in your seat for one hour... Didn't even know this was a thing, but now i'll be more careful to check for "stop overs" on top of "layovers" I think the best airline I ever flew was Japan airline. We got METAL CUTLERY with our meal - can you imagine? So nice to feel like a human being with real utensils... And japanese ramen, with some haggen daz ice cream in the end. The first time ever I enjoyed airplane food! KLM is pretty good too :)
First class just means they'll actually get to you in a reasonable amount of time to get you your drink of choice and a slightly better snack. ooh, it's a bag of fancy chips, in a basket with ten other items that normally would cost me $2, but I'm supposed to be excited about it. But, there's definitely more leg room and elbow room. And you are the first off of the plane. You're also the first on the plane, which only matters for the sake of getting a drink, quickly. Otherwise, who is itching to board first? I mostly fly Delta. First class and "Comfort" have very little difference. I don't pay for either, but it's rare these days that I'm not upgraded to either. That said, "coach" is demonstrably worse than both. No leg room. No service and when you're in 34D it takes you 15 minutes longer to deplane than when you're in 8D. I have no doubt that first class in the 80s actually was first class.
Through an odd chain of events, Pan American Airlines purchased my mother's environmental lab in the '80s despite the fact that it had nothing to do with travel, air or otherwise. Which meant we flew Pan Am 75% off... if we wore formal dress, and if we flew standby. Which meant flying first class ensured you were more likely to get on the plane and since 25% of 200% is still 50% off, we went to Europe that way. First Class on Pan Am in the '80s meant free slippers, a free eye mask, a free sewing kit, free drinks (they didn't card me at 15; it was dope), an interminable period in an ill-fitting Haggar 3-piece and an endless buffet of largely forgettable food. The elbow room was the same, the leg room was the same, and I remember watching Ghostbusters 2 overdubbed in German because the English channel was on the fritz. Now? first class generally means you're a frequent flyer, which means you get a human amount of elbow and leg room. And steel cutlery. And glass drinkware. Really, flying first class is like riding the train but faster. I imagine things are very different on those ridiculous Emirates 380s and the like... And yes. Not having to wait for 30 rows of people is definitely a blessing.
A Canadian friend of mine who works in Dubai has been upgraded to whatever the premiere First Class is called on Emirates FOUR times. She has basically a whole suite to herself. TV, wine, bed, etc. I can't imagine what the retail on a seat like that is. $10k? $30k? I have zero knowledge of life at that level.
First Class, Round Trip, from Seattle to Dubai in the middle of the week in October will run $30k...the only reason I know this is from just now looking it up. Wow.