Hello, I just became an Emerald member for the first time, but I wish I had this status before the Pandemic.

I know people may value Oneworld status differently, but for me the one thing I was looking most forward to was access to First Class lounges. I know there are other perks obviously, but if I’m flying long haul I know I’d book an award ticket in at least business class, which would offer me free checked bags and business class lounge access for free anyway. I highly doubt I’d ever fly economy long haul again, and even if I did I’d have priority pass or the Centurion lounges to access for free.

After doing some research, it looks like the best Oneworld lounges to visit are the CX First lounges in HK and the Qantas First lounges around the world. I’m not optimistic CX will recover the pandemic, they seem to be the most distressed airline in the whole world right now. So that just leaves Qantas, and some of their first lounges are not open yet, and that would also make travel plans more restricted to certain destinations.

So with all that said, is there any value left in Oneworld Emerald status?