I want to add my thanks to rgdave and eternaltransit for the thoughtful sideline discussion. I initially cheered the idea of a "Department of Common Sense" (and not just for airlines!) although I understand the counter-points raised about the problems with timing for issues that arise and need to be resolved during check-in. There may still be a place for this in service recovery or problems that arise well before check-in, though.

Two points I'd like to add to this.

First, airlines have made their "product" complicated and multi-dimensional, to the point where even staff, much less customers, have trouble understanding the rules. (This is not exclusive to airlines; fast food, insurance companies and mobile phone companies have done the same.)

[Curmudgeon] In the Good Old Days (tm), airline X sold you a ticket from A to B for a given date and time, and the choice was pretty much (a) Economy, Business or First and (b) smoking or non-smoking. Simples.

Now there are multiple FFPs with complicated rules based on marketing airline, operating airline, fare basis, status, etc etc. There are multiple methods for upgrading to a higher class, with different benefits for different methods. There are lounges with entry criteria being not just class of travel but whether you paid, upgraded, were op-uped, and then airline status, etc. There are ancillary benefits (chauffeur drive, Dubai Connect) with various criteria that are not only complicated but change from location to location or time to time. [/curmudgeon]

No doubt every rule, individually, made sense at the time from a business cost/benefit analysis. But if we're honest, most of the questions, complaints and discussion in the airline end of FT is because of the complexity of the overall package. Even airline staff or airline IT are often caught out by some of the complex situations.

Which leads to my second point: I agree completely that customers shouldn't have to know or care about the internal processes of the airline. Therefore, an airline's front-facing staff should reflect this in their attitude. They could acknowledge that it's confusing, that they might be mistaken, and if they are right, turn down requests in a polite way. If it's complicated, they could offer to check with someone else rather than just say (inevitably) "no."

In the early days of the EK/QF (so-called) partnership, there was confusion on both sides about lounge access (now it's just QF that's confused ). Both EK and QF were quite rude about it, even when it eventually turned out they were wrong. It seemed to be a case where it was easier to say "no" rather than think about the situation, check with a supervisor, or review the rules. If they can't understand their own rules, they shouldn't be snarky to passengers for being confused. (I'm still trying to get QF to figure out the rules for QF domestic lounge entry for EK Golds. )