My comments were certainly not meant to be critical... only in gentle jest! I, like you, do believe that NH Elite should be treated well, and Diamonds are pretty close to the very top. (Gosh... I'd love to know more details about the undisclosed ranks... Big Diamonds... VIP... maybe I am an airline status pig, I don't know...) And yes, at least for me, it would be a very different story if it were Krug. I'll have to wait for the upgrades I guess!

It amuses me how every request from the smallest to the most cumbersome seem to be magically accommodated on these Asian carriers, while even basic ones seem impossible on NA airlines these days. I find that frustrating, but I guess that's why so many of us are crossing over. For all kinds of reasons, some of which you have described, we are just not able to compete with service standards and overall quality.

FF