*sigh* ‘Grasping at straws’… You realise I don’t really care one way or the other, right? I just do not think it is as cut-and-dried as you make it out to be: You are assuming separate tickets are fine, but I see there’s being ambiguity around this with MH.

Again, I see the wiggle room for OW member airlines / lounge agents coming down to what the term ‘Connecting between OW flights’ entails.

(As before, MH unfortunately never defines what a ‘connecting flight’ is explicitly in their CoC —though their usage within those COCs suggests it’s only in the context of the single ticket / conjunction ticket.

Perhaps it wasn’t clear in my above post, though I did note in that earlier thread that I reference BA’s definition solely as give one example of how the term ‘connecting flights’ can be defined. CX has a similar definition in their COC, as do other airlines. Yes, these other airlines’ explicit definition are not directly relevant, but it does help frame how the industry might be using the term generally…)

But again, yes, it comes down to the individual line agent considering the rule in light of MH’s internal line access policy. Perhaps this time will be more illuminating, if the OP asks and is willing to share their experience.

[EDIT]To be clear, my personal view as I indicated in my first post here is that a ‘connection’ / ‘connecting flights’ when considered in formal language by airlines indeed indicates a single ticket / PNR, but I am not in the industry nor a lawyer with experience in it, so my opinion is as much of a guess as any.
(And yes, it still doesn’t validate my opinion, but I do see others sharing a similar view of what a connection is, e.g.: Connecting flights on different tickets [Discussion].)