I'd actually like to know what the problem is. F lounges have never been that busy to me. I know other people have reported otherwise but personally I haven't seen it.
Or is the problem that Diamond members just don't feel special enough after all their spending?
I'm not sure "problem" is the right word...Hurricane Irina is a "problem". Alcoholism is a "problem". I'd just say things aren't "optimal", for the sake of a less-aggressive sounding stance. Certainly fine as they are, but in the category of "could be improved".
On the big broad business sense, I personally think MPC/AM are leaving money on the table by not fully focusing on who is actually buttering their bread. But let's ignore that for here because it's a broader argument and kinda OT.
Overall, more "optimal" or more "ideal" just for me personally would be the following 4 things:
1.) Not waiting in line for The Haven on weekday mornings, still a frequent occurrence despite the dining room size increase. I'm surprised folks on here don't notice it because it's a normal thing between 6:30 and 8:30am on weekdays.
2.) Finding a seat for parties of 3 or 4 in late evenings, particularly out at Pier F. This is especially true if a number of Europe departures are near the lounge. Last week, once again, there were single seats left but two of us actually had nowhere to sit. I am baffled that folks don't encounter this because I seem to see it once a month. It's true, there are "seats available". In fact, I hazard even when it's busy only 60-70% of seats are occupied. But the main lounge area is small, and it becomes difficult to find sets of seats together IMO. It's also not 100% CX's fault... people don't sit in optimal ways when they travel alone, nobody likes to sit close to others. But what has happened to me no fewer than 3-4 times lately is that, if you show up with 2, 3 and especially 4 people, it can actually be very hard to sit together particularly at Pier F (outside of the dining room, which admittedly is less busy). I frequently end up going to Pier J and just skipping F. When designing these spaces, you need waayy more chairs than in reality because people sit inefficiently if they travel alone. Aka seats get wasted.
3.) Even half-decent (non sparkling) wine in Wing F would be nice. For the last year, CX has been offering an undrinkable bottle of white that retails for about <$5 USD. I normally don't care about price but it's undrinkable and really, you're not going to even find a "good value" wine for that price. Red remains bad in Wing F. (On the other hand, I mentioned a value red CDP in the Taipei J lounge in another thread, which was faarr superior a few weeks ago. Pleased to see it there. But it'd be nice if they could do this same thoughtfulness in Pier F).
4.) Massages. I've essentially given up. 2+ hour waits and I don't hang out in the lounge that long. To me this is purely a gimmick, because only folks who plan to maximize the lounge (or get unlucky with a long layover/delay) can use it. I guess it's cool to be on the blogs or people instagram they have a massage facility in Pier F. But practically, it's useless to me.
For nos. 1, 2 and 4 directly relate to # of people using the lounge.
For no. 3 indirectly, but it is related.
G-CIVC is adamant that the operating carrier pays for the lounge, not the loyalty program. I take him at his word. As a result, CX's HKG lounges are
not the cash cow as the argument is tossed around here, because CX is hands down the overwhelming OW capacity at HKG. Aka, CX is "paying itself" for partner elites visiting, in addition to paying the partner a rate for the Avios/AAdvantage points/etc when you stick your BA/AA etc. number on the CX flight.
Likewise, CX's lounge budget is "used" on each incremental visitor so crowds do matter to the quality of product they can offer. To be fair, this includes both partner and MPC/AM elites, although the latter is more profitable since you don't have to pay the partner's program for the miles, not to mention you control the customer relationship and can track his/her spending far more closely. My guess is, just seeing the wines on offer in F, somewhere way down the list of priorities is red and white wine; they get cost-cut in order to save money. I guess most folks don't care but once in a while I'd enjoy a glass, and I usually find it just downright bad.