I presume the access to EK lounges by skywards silver is about pax in Y. If the have a J ticket then lounge access is a given.
I was thinking about this in relation to my own situation when my flying becomes less frequent. If I fly in J I get access anyway. Status then loses some of its appeal. Mind you the higher earning rate etc is attractive . I suppose this could open more debate on what type of frequent flying should get F lounge access.
Do the fly In fly out (mining) brigade get access just because they are plat. Or should the lounge be reserved for premium fare Pax?
That being F and J pax.
I like the access that being WP gives me to domestic Biz lounges and while I have had the luxury of the F lounge in Sydney just the once , it probably would NOT upset me TOO much not to get access to it were I not flying in F or J. ( well maybe just a little)
If the lounge access in QP / QP Biz and F lounge, be restricted to a combination of status and fare type, ( i. e. Y pax regardless of status would no longer get access to say F or Dom Biz lounge) would this encourage us to not hoard points as much and upgrade to J more often, or would it be counter productive and cause a minor revolt in the ranks? And see many defect to VA ?
It strikes me that a benefit once given which is then taken away is far worse than if not given in the first place.
It could be that making SG & WP more difficult to achieve would address this, thus making it harder to access lounges anyway.
Some would say, " A privilege too easily earned is not really a privilege".
In any event, while the profitability of airlines remains a problem, they are likely to keep fighting for the FF regardless.
