Originally Posted by
Arnur
Oh, most definitively, I did this just last week (as a Thalys Silver Card member). This is also a published benefit according to the Thalys website. DB indeed no longer has a direct relationship with Thalys, but both companies belong to the Railteam alliance, which offers reciprocal lounge access for its elite card holders. In the case of Thalys, this means any status with The Card and a First Class ticket. They built their Store & More in Cologne after DB stopped selling Thalys tickets, but it does not offer much in terms of a lounge..
Well, the same is true for the "Store & Less" here in Aachen. A ticket counter, a coffee machine and exactly 5 seats cramped into a corner of the DB Reisezentrum.
But try the RailTeam thing in the Thalys Lounge in Brussels.. I once went there, with bahn.comfort status and a first class ticket to Aachen, and their face expression clearly told me that they had rather not let us in. The lounge itself is also pretty bad, but then I have only been there once, as I generally tend to avoic Thalys at all cost, due to several reasons.
Edit: While the status thing ("any status") might be true for Thalys' own lounges, doesn't the RailTeam lounge access policy say that only "top tier" status members have access to foreign lounges? I mean, as a DB status member (there is only one level with DB), I don't really care, but that might be important for members of other programs..