I would agree with your analysis. There are definitely some problems. Going to both restrooms and finding a huge line and then having to go back down the escalator through the duty free area to use the regular one, then come back up the escalator and recheck in should not happen in a premium lounge. I do miss the days before JFK service started at least as far as the lounge goes. Taking a mid-day flight to Beirut or Damascus on the Arabian Airpass in First, there would only be a handful of people in the lounge and it actually was relaxing. SwissAir used to use the GulfAir lounge which also was nice and often empty. Now there are masses of people passing through DXB every day so I guess lounge crowding should be expected.

For O/D passengers, the lounge is not that big of a deal. The food was not that appealing and they feed you enough on the plane. The atmosphere was not incredibly relaxing either. As I have an e-gate pass and can check in relatively quickly, I will simply arrive at the airport later and just go to the gate and board. If I have a long transit in Dubai, I just take the flight the next day and sleep at a hotel so again I don't care too much. With a 4-5 hour layover, it may be a pain--but then again I guess I would have the 40 minutes to walk to and from terminal one.

With the introduction of the ULH flights, it does not take much to get to Silver which I'm sure has increased the number of both Silver and Gold members. You get over 16,000 miles in coach from LAX/SFO to DXB return. If one flys RT LAX/SFO-CPT-LAX/SFO, then for less than $1500 that is more than enough miles to qualify for Silver. Travelling in First, it already brings a Gold Card. With more members, the benefits have to be trimmed I suppose.

I still prefer EK because of the young, multi-cultural staff, the route network, the location of its hub, quality inflight product, and flexibility in changing coach tickets. It is nice to see airline employees that are excited about travelling but are not on a treadmill flying from ORD to DSM everyday for 30 years. I also couldn't imagine flying all the way from SFO to DXB on any American carrier no matter what class of service I was flying.