Could someone please explain Phase Door?

[gfunk]

It seems to me that Phase Door (Sor/Wiz 7) is just a glorified version of Rope Trick (Sor/Wiz 2). You can take your whole party into a Rope Trick and you can cast it anywhere. What use is Phase Door?

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

Phase door lets you pass through a barrier, rope trick does not.

Whether or not the levels are set well may be up for debate, but phase door certainly does more.

 

[gfunk]

Could someone please provide a description of how a PC used this spell? Is it meant purely for escape?