But having 4 bars on your shoulders can help. I had to do some swift talking at Athens to be allowed OFF the airport as the two of us were wearing jeans and collared t-shirts and not in uniform. The reasoning behind the Security was that aircrew don't crew aircraft in jeans and t-shirts.
Unless you operated a DC-8 freighter with a cargo of live cattle. Did just that, Montreal to Athens, (long time ago). Worked in jeans and T shirt and they went into a garbage bag on deplaning, then into your suitcase which came out of another garbage bag with the rest of your clothes, so you did not smell like a barnyard for the rest of the pairing. Sorry to go OT, hard to resist.
Back to the thread. A fair number of years ago I had a friend who was a retired Pan Am skipper. This was a time when Pan Am was among the prominent international operators.
Upon his retirement one of the things he was presented with by the airline was a box of business cards, embossed with logo, Captain xxx, Pan Am, (retired).
I guess the airline thought it was recognition and was appreciated at the time.
Things change I suppose.