Originally Posted by
realfortin
If you go into a lounge using your AC *A Gold, it is not Air Canada that pays your entry, it is who ever issued the ticket (and generated revenue).
This is possibly why United allows all *A Gold access in their lounges but not their own UA *G members in their domestic lounges.
How would they know who issued your ticket?
And how would that work with accessing lounges when flying on a different airline?
For example, I have a UA issued ticket accessing the MLL while flying LH using my A3 card?
The last point is incomplete, they allow their own UA*Gs into domestic lounges on international itineraries.
The reason why UA (and DL/AA) does not let their own members into clubs on domestics is the simple logistics of it. There are hundreds of thousands of gold+ elites in the system. The clubs would not be able to handle the crowds. Imagine every Tom Dick and Harry consultant/salesman/corporate drone flying domestically was allowed in.
At least UA is generous in the respect that they consider Canada/Caribbean as international itineraries - DL and AA do not.