Apologies if this has been covered previously, but I am new to the *A & I have spent 45 minutes looking through old *A threads - can't find an exact match, so looking for help from seasoned *A flyertalkers.

Fly loads, for work and play, but most of my flying has been with the 'may-someday-be-launched' Wings carriers [KLM Platinum Elite until 2009], but recently comped by BD to *G [they courted me], and have done a lot more flying with them as a result - treated well usually & generally pretty satisfied...but apart from 1 transatlantic flight, BD does not fly anywhere outside Europe, and my flight patterns take me outside these boundaries regularly.

So, flew with LH 2 weeks ago [MAN-FRA-VCE] to test the waters on a possible move to make them my preferred long-haul carrier. Shocked by how little BD Gold counted - No priority boarding, on 2 of the 4 sectors given possibly the worst seats on the plane [e.g. On VCE-FRA, asked for window seat as far forward as poss - allocated aisle seat in last row of an A321 next to 2 large passengers when the 2 rows directly in front were completely empty!]. When I asked where the lounge was at VCE [showing my BD *G card], the check-in agent told me only LH Senators had lounge access...and appeared never to have heard of the *A!!

Was this typical, or was I just unlucky? i.e. Should I switch my allegiance to the *A, but I'd only do so if the *A is more integrated than my recent experience proved.

Thanks in advance for all help.



[This message has been edited by WKS (edited 03-13-2003).]