It depends entirely on the airline. I flew first class once — I needed to be on the same flight as my dad, and was using points. All the economy frequent flyer seats were taken, but they had some in first class. He never let me forget that I flew first class and made him sit in coach. :-) The food and service was great, and the flight attendants were very attentive. The problem was, the beautiful, large seats that fit 2-to-a-row were underneath reading lamps that were 3-to-a-row, so I still ended up all contorted to get the light on my book so I could read. :-) Some airlines, the “first class” is basically the same as the economy, but you get more food or free alcohol. (On AirFrance, first class gets wine with your breakfast.)