Would you mind expanding on the "random lounge access." Would be curious to better understand that. We (my wife and I) are fairly vested in Oneworld (both of us are OWE), but we have been starting to use Star Alliance for intra-Europe (or intra Asia awards) due to the broader availability. Most of the time flying in economy is fine for those short routes (usually in J for long haul route). However, we don't have any Star Alliance status and thus don't have lounge access for those flights (and usually not worth the extra miles for intra-Euro biz class).

So, even though I've been a vocal critic of TK's program, I've actually been considering taking advantage of the status match to TK, primarily to obtain Star Alliance Gold, precisely for things lounge lounge access, *G fast track (where available) on these short haul trips. However, your comment about random lounge access gives me a bit of pause...

I'd also hoped that having TK status might solve the problem many face of not being able to book awards for more than one person without a lot of hassle and thought I'd do some awards as well. However, with the changes just announced, I'd likely not use TK status for crediting miles or looking for awards, but rather would use solely for *G benefits when flying on awards booked, mostly likely, with Aeroplan.

Regards

P.S. I am aware that *G doesn't provide seat selection on partners, which is unfortunate but manageable