Many, many years ago I was flying as captain for a small airline where we wore three stripes. At one airport we were getting very poor service from the agents, so I went into their office. Service didn't improve until I heard the handler on the phone say "I've got the First Officer of the XX here". I pointed out that he actually had the captain there, and things started to get done. I later managed to get company policy changed, on the basis that agents, like passengers, expect the captain to have four stripes. It's all about perception.