Thanks
B-HXB.
When I visit the Qantas premium check in area it is empty. The check in agent is dumbfounded by my itinerary showing on the screen - to the other agents "come and look at this", and to me "you should be Chairman's Lounge". Yeah I wish. Chairman's Lounge is Qantas' invite only status handed out for political business or social influence.
I get 3 boarding passes and deal with immigration pre-clearance in the lobby and head upstairs. Only a couple of immigration desks are open with a moderate queue in front of the one closest to me. As far as I can tell there is a family group of about 12 being processed in a chaotic manner - whose passport is this and which departure form goes with it, etc. After a couple of minutes another immigration officer sidles up, scans the departure tax sticker and with a quick check that my passport matches boarding pass opens the chain for me to slip through before closing the chain again. Security is quick as no queue. I thought I might get pulled over for the "random" wanding/explosives check but manage to avoid the gaze of said security officers and hurry off to the lounge.
The lounge agents are busy dealing with someone who appears to have an issue of some sort, but upon seeing me one breaks off scans my boarding pass and welcomes me back. To be honest I felt a bit uncomfortable when they started chit chatting while this other passenger was being held up on my behalf so I made my excuses and went into the inner sanctum that is the first class lounge. Yes despite not flying first class themselves to/from New Zealand for a few years now, Qantas continues to have a first class lounge to cater for One World Emerald passengers plus the LAN first class passengers. Why can't Air New Zealand do the same I often wonder - Singapore and Thai still both have first class to/from New Zealand, and it would be a nice touch to offer a less crowded lounge to Air NZ's top elites.
I quite like this lounge, and especially like the ability to access it whenever flying internationally (regardless of airline or class of travel), thanks to my status. Indeed while waiting for a recent flight in Thai first class I visited the Air NZ lounge for all of 2 minutes, saw how ridiculously overcrowded it was (no seats free anywhere!) and left for the Qantas first class lounge. But, it seems this benefit will not last - Qantas has just this week
announced from next April that to access the first class lounge we need to be flying on One World 
As I unwind in the lounge I do some prep for an upcoming meeting, grab a late lunch and find my mind wandering. It is starting to dawn on me at this late stage just how much travel I have in front of me. So much that even after a few days crossing most time zones I will still have an enormous amount to fly in the following weeks. Hmmm - have I bitten off more than I can chew? I'd already dropped a couple of flights in the past few days due to "cold feet". Will I end up dropping more? If so, will I actually make my target of lifetime status? My travel plans allow for some disruption resulting in loss of status earning, thus I am targetting a margin above the minimum I need. But will it be enough?