Originally Posted by Rayonline
I could use Asiana to get star gold easier but it means. As SXC noted, paying $1200US more just to get the status, for the 2 overseas return trips. $1,200US or perhaps a bit more. With Asiana, some of the AirNZ semi middle priced fares are also excluded from mileage accumulation. But certainly we need economy flexi fares. $1,200US can buy a lot of food right. 2 trips, say 4 lounge use. That's $300US each time. It might be OK for people who need to travel in the school holidays or the peak Christmas season however. Since they might be already paying that. Even if I double the use to 8 lounges with a few domestic trips that is still $150US per visit.
That's why I said don't bother with lounges.
If you get a credit card with access it will help (watch out for annual CC fees though) but, as you fly so little, the economics of doing anything else just don't make sense. And, unless you can actually tell a really good lounge from a mediocre one, and you'll never develop that sense from your 2 annual trips (compared to my 80+ for example), you could end up paying for a lounge experience that isn't worth it anyways, due to no fault of your own.