Your seat will have a blanket and a pillow waiting for you as you sit down. You will be greeted by the flight attendant while everyone else is still boarding. They will ask what kind of drink you want and will give it to you in a glass cup. you may get refills but then they’ll collect the glasses before take off. On a long flight you’ll get complimentary meals, like what used to be offered in coach 20 years ago, they’ll pass around a snack basket and you can take what you want from it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ll keep track of your kid while you use the restroom although I’ve never had this situation.
It just looks like bigger seats until they close that curtain. Then they bring out the champagne and caviar. You can get a mani-pedi in your seat. They show movies that haven’t been released in theaters yet. There may not be more than one massage table so you do have to wait. And happy endings are only provided by the high end airlines.
I’d been bumped up to “1st class” a couple of times back when I had status on Northwest. Since it was only a couple of domestic flights on your typical B757 or A319/320, first class was just a bigger seat and the attendants offering drinks prior to takeoff.
This will depend on the airline. Sun Country has a very affordable first class (about $100-$150 more than coach), so I often fly it. In maybe 15 flights, I can only remember the first class cabin being full once.
I’ve flown first class on international flights on Delta quite a few times, and it is awesome. It’s maybe more appreciated on a 10+ hour long flight. You basically have your own little cube area. Not sure how to describe it, but you’re not in a row of seats with someone right next to you. The seats can lay flat. You have a bigger monitor. You get all the drinks and snacks you could possibly want. Including alcoholic beverages. Plus better meal options. If it’s not a big deal to upgrade (or if your company is paying for it) it’s the way to go.
You can run into some very first class entitled people in first. A woman who wanted to wait in the aisle for her friends from coach to join comes to mind.
The question was did I ever fly first class, and what was it like, and the answer was Yes, but it was such a short flight, it didn’t matter much. As a very brief aside (less than two lines), I explained the circumstances, just to be folksy, and the OP can freely ignore it. But it seems to have attracted a lot of attention from other posters, and I continued to reply to their direct queries.
After a lifetime of traveling in coach, squeezed in with people with nasty kids, BO, and trying to squeeze 400 pounds of lard into a 20 pound can, I only fly first class now. I don’t fly that often, so the extra expense is not an issue for me. I like having a hot meal with actual cutlery, a couple of free drinks and free entertainment, boarding first and deplaning first, and the extra room.
I flew 1st class once only.
It was a big silver plane with ribbed skin, 4 big props, the seats had ash trays, the stewardess gave me cracker jacks and some pilots wings, the plane was noisey.
You did not exit the plane into a tunnel to the terminal, you walked down a portable stairs
to the pavement.
That’s all i remember for 1st class, probably not relevant for this century 
i recently flew Air Canada to South Korea, 11 hrs from Vancouver, in coach, and we were fed 2 big meals and 3 additional bev runs all free. each seat had its own entertainment center with all the free movies and tv you could possibly want. so there’s no complaining from me on the amenities. and, no matter which class you fly, everyone ends up in the customs and immigration queue and go through that hell together.
up in 1st class they did have those individual pods which would’ve made taking a nap nicer, but all in all a very comfortable trip!
mc