I agree to this. I was flying with Emirates in 2010 so much that I filled up a whole passport with stams in that one year. All flights were with EK and I easily achieved Gold with flights in Eco and some in Biz. As Skywards Gold Member I received fantastic service in Eco with various people approaching/ welcoming me back at the seat. I also received many upgrades from Eco to Biz or from Biz to First (most of the time upgraded after transit in Dubai before boarding the plane). In 2011 Emirates Airlines has changed their lounge policy and Gold's were no longer allowed to bring a guest to the lounge, thus I changed to Qatar and started from scratch as my wife is traveling with me most of the times. I have now also achieved status again in QR but I am treated very different to how EK has treated me. No one coming to the seat to greet us, they sometimes come to take order for privilege meals but then forget that they took the order and serve as with the main crowd asking again what we want... In my opinion, they need a lot more training and I am at the moment considering to move my travel back to Emirates.