My nephew used to work for Delta and would get free passes. He gave a First Class one to my wife to fly back East and visit relatives.
The stewardess treated her like crap - until she said something about a "Delta employee". Wife answered back that she was not. The color drained from her face and thenceforth couldn't do enough for her. Nephew said the stews looked down on Delta employees for "flying free".
And yet the stews/FAs use passes themselves and for their families. Maybe a different attitude toward employees who are not flight crew, an upstairs/downstairs thing?