Originally Posted by
hirohito888
For the most part, use of contract lounges is carrier specific. The carrier will determine if they want to grant *G (and their elites) access to contract lounges. So in the case of BUD/LGW, it is up to CA to see what arrangement they have for their passengers.
Star Alliance lounge finder site shows that CA passengers have access to the SkyCourt lounge in BUD.
That's largely correct if flying on UA since they're cheap, but not for other *A carriers. There's a thread in the LH forum about how a LH*G was denied lounge access at BCN on a UA flight but they allow *G to enter for other *A carriers.
Agreed, this is exactly my experience.
For contract lounges it is entirely dependent on the operating airline if they offer lounge access to Star Gold. Air China has been relatively generous, I cannot think of a time they did not offer me access to a contract lounge in Asia on a Y ticket.
The lounges may not have been mind-blowing, but you could get a seat, a drink and relax.