I ended up having an interesting experience at DFW. The check-in agent said when I asked about FL access that she thinks they will let all 4 of us in with me (even though I'm only PP). "I know the girls over there and during the summer when the kids are off they are pretty lenient about it." Well, I was very friendly and humble in my request and was very bluntly told to pound sand. I told her my wife had a status match pending and would be Platinum any day but she wouldn't look at it and basically gave us a hell no.

But, we got lucky. Since they moved the entrance to share with AC instead of Capital One lounge, she sent us upstairs (am AA member) and I got a second shot to appeal to the agent up there. She was hesitant at first but asked me the kids' ages and how long until our flight. We had 45 minutes until boarding and the kids were young so she let us in!

Then our flight was delayed 3 hours 😁 😁 😁

Anyway, I'm now very glad I didn't waste 12K mi. on Status for a Day for her. Saved that for the way back so we can all hit JAL First Class. (And that ended up being unnecessary too since we all changed into JAL J and would have had lounge access anyway.)

But I will say, big fan of FL. I mean, basically an AC with better food. But they had some drinks I like available for self-service and some smoked salmon. I'm good to go.