The LA ground staff issue was a long irritating story that I hate to discuss. to Sum it up, they refused to help me get on the evening flight since it was fully booked even though I explained I needed to get to the consulate in the morning and get a letter that could work as a passport since my passport was lost/stolen. I was forced to contact personal connections during the evening in saudi and ask them to contact a friend of theirs in the consulate to come late and open up the consulate and give me that letter and catch the morning flight. He was puzzled that EK didnt help.
EK can book you on a flight provided that you pay at the airport. Luckily, that guy from the consulate refused to let me go to the airport alone and came with me to see me off. After facing LA staff stupidity, he paid the differences himself. I felt my Gold status worth nothing at the time.
I paid SAR5000 to fly with EK Saudi-USA when there was other cheap and valuable choices worth SAR3000, just because I though I should be loyal. But now, no more....