I might have a bad memory, but I thought in the past, Diamonds were able to guest 2 passengers with them, to the CX designated lounge for that flight. So for example, in JFK, the Diamond CX designated lounge is the "Soho" lounge. In the past I thought Diamond members could bring 2 guests with them as it is the official CX-utilised lounge.
It appears now that there is a distinction between CX operated lounges, and non-CX operated lounges. This Soho lounge specifically says that Diamond members can only bring 1 guest with them:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...-jfk/soho.html
If you have a look at CX operated lounges, it points you to the general lounge admittance page which says Diamonds can bring 2 guests:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...dmittance.html
There is no mention on this page of a distinction between different lounges.
The Diamond benefits page also says that passengers can only guest people travelling on the same flight:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_..._1655455297241
Has there been a quiet devaluation during covid?
Good catch on the DM benefit explanation change. I hope it is okay for me to also point out CX has quietly taken away the benefit for SL and oneworld ruby members to select extra legroom seats.
The special arrangement in JFK though has been in place pre-COVID, as evidenced in
https://web.archive.org/web/20190812...ip-lounge.html I believe this may have been the case ever since CX moved to JFK T8. The mid-tier status benefit lounge passes also cannot be used in JFK lounges, while generally (at least pre-COVID) they can be used in 3rd-party lounges contracted by CX. JFK was the only exception, but I don't know if CX will make it a general case in the future.