I've made two Pan calls. One front page news, the other not a whisper. Luck of the draw I guess. The Minimum Fuel call gets you no priority but the Pan will. That's just the way it's designed. I've had a conversation with ATC about how we had a pax with chest pains and on oxygen and wanted direct to the field, we were given it then slowed to 230kts and sequenced number five to land with no explanation. I queried that and he said we would need to declare an emergency if we wanted priority. There is no " common sense" involved now days as everyone tries to stick to the 'rules' in order to protect themselves. Both the controller and I have English as a first language and the situation was obvious and understood by both parties, yet the actions didn't reflect that. The ensuing paperwork concluded with the finding that the controller was correct in that I did need to declare a Pan to get priority. Now I know I guess.