Originally Posted by GUWonder

Given the voting structure in Star Alliance, I suspect that it won’t be too long until Star Alliance sets up a third elite level across the Alliance, with the current * Gold status level benefits being further devalued — all while the new, higher Alliance elite tier becomes sort of like what * Gold used to be. One way I would expect this to play out is with the lounge access provision being cut back for the status level that is *G today, perhaps beginning with elimination of the free guest.

The lounges which I use in Europe and Asia and North America tend to be at their most crowded when I see most people entering the lounge alone. So I don’t expect guest elimination to do me any good when I’m in the lounges. But these changes too won’t be done because of “overcrowding”; these changes will be done because of airline initiatives to cut airline costs and to more comprehensively milk airline customers.