I was a passenger on your SA 3172 flight on Monday 28SEP15 from Johannesburg to Blantyre, after connecting off SA 279 from Abu Dhabi. My ticket number was 1234567890 and my Amadeus PNR was SAASUX.

As a Star Alliance Gold tier member (TK*G 123456789), I am supposed to be granted access to your lounge at OR Tambo Airport when flying with SAA. I was however denied entry by your staff on duty at 825am on 28SEP15 on the basis that "we don't accept Star Alliance Gold for flights to Malawi as these are operated by SA Express".

The above information is outright incorrect. Flight SA 3172 is not operated by SA Express. Indeed, none of your flights to Malawi are operated by SA Express. I flew on an Airbus 320 registered ZS-SZF, which is operated by South African Airways and therefore was entitled to lounge access as per Star Alliance regulations. It is unacceptable that SAA staff assigned to a Premium Lounge at your primary hub are not even aware of the operating carriers and access rules for your own flights. As a very regular customer of Star Alliance airlines, I have never experienced this kind of ignorance at a carrier's own hub airport.

As a lawyer who travels frequently both within and outside Africa, I choose to fly with Star Alliance Airlines as the benefits promised to Star Gold members, notably that of priority services and lounge access, allow me to best utilise my time at airports and on layovers. The inability to use the lounge that morning to access my emails and respond, resulted in a delay responding to an urgent client query which fortunately did not escalate into something more serious. The negligence of your staff to deny me access that I was entitled to is the primary reason that such an incident arose in the first place.

Please investigate and advise what compensation you will provide for the services due to me that you did not provide as a result of your staff error or lack of training. A further clarification as to the cause of this incident would also be appreciated.