So, there I was, starting off on a eventual 16K mile one week round trip from BAH, starting with KLM.

At the KLM check-in, the staff couldn't be nicer. When they saw that I was NW Gold Elite, they wrote out a pass to the Dilmun lounge. I was planning on using my Priority Pass, but wanted to see how this was all going to work out.

As I get up to the Dilmun lounge, I hand over the pass - which, in my experience, has been all that's necessary to get access to VIP lounges. Imagine my surprise when the Dragons - neither of whom are Bahraini - then asked to see my SkyTeam card. I went along, wanting to see how they would handle it, and they actually looked up my GE card, saw that it was issued in the States, and called the KLM folks to cancel the pass.

They were preparing to turf me out when I produced my PP card, which they greeted with sh*t-eating grins and an admonition that "I should have used this in the first place."

Dilmun Lounge is actually very nice and the staff in the lounge itself were extremely helpful, but standby for rudeness in making your way in.