i guess i'll soon start sharing steve's crabby attitude to comp'd spongers, but i have to admit being one of them - i would not have bothered with FD if it weren't for last year's fabulous comp scheme, which tempted me over from *A Gold.

otoh, i earned KLM 130k revenue miles this year so they certainly made a lot out of this.

as for crowded lounges, as others have pointed out, it's not too many elites but too few lounges, and poor lounge services. it's fine to use comp'ing as an incentive to attract frequent fliers and carry over elite status to retain the loyalty of fliers who have previously shown (if not in 2003) high spending ability. but lounge capacity and services should be upgraded accordingly.

i still really miss the SK EBG lounge at CPH, with free internet access, lockable bedrooms with showers...

-rishab