eliotbeer

It's not that they've done something about it - it's that they didn't plan ahead to eliminate the problem altogether.

It's about managing expectations, ultimately: prior to T3 opening, I (and I would imagine most other thinking EK pax) believed the lounge problem would be solved by the move to the new terminal, and larger, better-planned facilities. I put the problems down to Emirates' success, and kept my mouth shut accordingly.

Now we have T3 - and the problem hasn't gone away. The fact that Emirates shut off lounge privileges AFTER the T3 move demonstrates this is an emergency measure, and not a strategic decision.

(A strategic decision would have been to restrict access waaay back when lounge overcrowding first became a problem, and/or rejig Skywards tiers to allow an appropriate number of non-premium pax to have access.

Can I also point out that we now have the surreal situation of Gold members allowed into foreign lounges, but not DXB? Yeah, that's not a thought-through policy...)

My frustration with Emirates is not that they've made this decision, but that they've HAD to make this decision - and that there's no realistic way it can be reversed, without a major lounge rethink.

As for using T1 lounges, for me it's not an attractive option - I travel handbaggage 90% of the time, and while my bag's not large, it is heavyish, and I have no wish to wheel it 20-30 mins through the terminal, then 20-30 mins to the gate, for the benefit of fighting with a couple of hundred other Skywards members for a seat and the last dregs of orange juice.

I think this is definitely the time for a Platinum tier - if Gold is so popular they can't let them into the lounges, then it's time to rethink the whole programme. Just wish I had the slightest chance of getting on it - maybe next year...

Eliot