Does rank still have privileges?

Not to put too fine a point on it, sir, but if you are out hunting the privileges of your rank, you may have missed the point. Particularly as an O-5, you have the honor and privilege of leading people.

Got to laugh. I spent 12 to 13 years as a reserve officer. They housed me in open bay barracks once with enlisted folks. I got saluted once while on "the throne" . I returned (while still steating and said " carry on". When I was active duty I flew out of Osan Korea on a military 727. All the Air Force enlisted folks had the best seats. So it went. Going through central issue no respect. Once as a second Louie it helped. CIF had just closed. They wouldn't touch my stuff. So I went in the exit door and ran into an old Sargent. Looking confused I said " I'm not sure where to go to return these item". The Sargent looked at me like I had fallen off the turnip truck and ordered a private to get me squared away. I probably confirmed every stereotype image of Second Louie's he had.

Always seemed to be the opposite at AUAB. The entire bomb squadron had seven total vehicles for 50~ish aircrew, intel, AFE, and ARMS troops. The vehicles were beaten down, stripped down pickups or 15 pax vans. Meanwhile, sitting out at the bus stop, it was very common to see E-3s and E-4s driving brand new SUVs, alone, no one else in the car.

Depends on your location and service, too. Also, tradition.

In the Navy:
At sea or overseas, there were only a few officers and they had a LOT of responsibility for lives. They lived in Officer Country where enlisted couldn't go, and they actually had servants. One day, I made rank, and suddenly people thought I was a different person, like I knew all the answers.
TRADITIONALLY, we treated Os like Gods. They decided what rules to follow or ignore. Very decentralized decision-making.

In the Air Force:
Overseas, the mission was paramount 24/7, against real commies. Officers were expected to lead.
Stateside, there was rarely a life-and-death environment, and there were a lot of officers, usually with average responsibilities except the commanders. There was much more equality between Os and Es. Mixed housing, mixed clubs. it seemed like an 8-5 JOB. Bored me to tears.
TRADITIONALLY, the USAF kept O and E aircrew together, and expected them to eat, sleep and play together. For that reason, during the entire time I was in, there was never a conviction for fraternization. And enlisted could often question an officer if they thought the officer was wrong.

A brand new colonel once wrote a letter to the editor of the base paper. He said it was amazing how, on the day he pinned on colonel, suddenly he was treated as if he were smarter and his jokes were funnier.

LTC (Join to see) Your conclusions are certainly plausible. Probably exceptions are extant.

The privilege of rank is the opportunity to make harder decisions.

When I was enlisted it was "rank has its privileges". When I became an officer is was suddenly "taking care of soldiers". lol

Always

I would say yes and no, in my last two billets in the USCG, I was a PO-1 (E-6). I was respectively XPO of an 10 man support unity and Electronics LPO on a 210' cutter. As XPO, I did not stand duty on a regular basis, however I carried a pager and was on call 24/7 if help was needed. On the ship, the PO-1s had their own little berthing area, sort of a mini goat locker with better racks, larger lockers, and a small lounge area. However most of us also had administrative duties for their departments. So that little lunge area saw an awful lot of ship's business in port and underway. The closest thing we got to a perk was head of the line privileges at mess.

There are times to exercise those privileges and times not to. I never exercised privileges if my people were exposed to hardship. Yes, it would have been my privilege, but it was also my privilege and my responsibility to decline privileges in the interest of good leadership. Rank may have its privileges, but, above all, RHIR: Rank Has Its Responsibilities.