Originally Posted by
CPH-Flyer
It is very easy to discern, as it is not a particularly new issue. It has been on going for years prior to the pandemic.
The overcrowding of the ANA lounges has been discussed for years, the intra Asia flights with 2/3 of the passengers going for priority boarding was not rare prepandemic. Especially Seoul Gimpo was notorious for that, you'd find 20 people in the diamond line for an ANA flight, and then all the other with various levels of priority boarding.
So, what is the ideal number of elites for any given flight? At least from a US-based perspective, we are quite used to the idea of priority boarding being commonplace. For example with United, priority boarding applies to all United elite levels + Star Alliance Gold/Silver + families w/small children + active military + elderly/disabled + anyone who purchased Economy Plus seating + anyone with a United credit card + anyone who purchased Premier Access. After those groups, general boarding begins. Important to mention that most US carriers have lifetime status holders which is increasingly common these days.
Also, there are a significant number of Star Alliance members based out of NE/SE Asia - Air China, Asiana, ANA, Thai, Singapore, EVA, Shenzhen.
Those elites could be part of the overcrowding.