how frustrating it must be to live amidst others who have a sense of humor.

*lice reference are part of FT culture (i.e. gatelice)

Carriers created this mess for the future to save themselves during the economic downturn. Everything was for sale: elite status, access to premium security line, check-in & boarding. If everyone is elite, nobody is elite. Now that the economy is improving and businesses willing to pay for premium seats: 1) the other premium benefits mean less; and 2) the sole meaningful benefits of premium status are before one boards the aircraft becs. UG's are declining and soon to be a thing of the past (can't blame carrier for wanting to sell an F seat for an F fare!).

All comes down to short-term strategy to save the carrier vs. long-term strategy to maintain loyalty.

My travel is much better now that I am not hog-tied to a mileage program. I am flying in F on the carrier & flights which best suit my need for a particular trip. That's great for me and terrible for carriers.

No, there is a line and that crossed it.
The sad thing is that you didn't notice it and/or can't see it.

[Oh, and humour has a 'u' in it, but it isn't appropriate in this case.]

I may have to agree here. The guy who parked himself and his carry-on in the Priority AAccess line at ORD on Tuesday and did NOT board with F qualifies as a louse. The person who flies 100k+ on OW carriers and enjoys his published entitlement to a layover at the Flagship/Wing F/JAL F/Galleries F lounge does not.

Entitlement to F facilities (check-in, boarding, and lounges) is something that sets OW apart from the other alliances. It makes the limited coverage of OW a bit more bearable. OW has its problems - limited coverage, poor integration of carriers, limited codeshare availability between some partners, and no reciprocal baggage allowances. But overcrowded F lounges and a deteriorating F product among its major carriers is not among them.

BA CCRs are for their F pax and they have them at JFK (i've never seen it packed) at T5 (again busy but never packed from my experience). I haven't found the CX F lounge in HKG ever overly full, nor the JL F lounge at NRT, so I can't really agree with OP's comments.

The only places i have seen F lounges overly stuff is the tiny AA FL in ORD. I've never noticed JFK or LAX FLs as being too full.

I actually see (as others have said) the OW lounge policy as a big plus over the other two alliances.

humoUr is supposed to be humorous . I find insulting members / general passengers is rarely humorous . Neither the terms "lice" or "tosser" come across as vaguely amusing to me

Dave

[No hat to put on yet] While I am only moderator-in-training for this forum (Kiwi had to pass the baton and I'm the replacement-designate) I'd like to ask members to keep it civil and respectful. This is a great forum, seldom touched by TOS problems; let's keep it that way.

Speaking personally, I think using terms like "lice" and "kettles" in reference to fellow travel(l)ers is not in the best taste. We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns.
[/no hat]

Though some in this thread seem to not be aware of this, humor is spelled without the letter "u" in American English. I would be careful before I correct someone next time if I were you ;)

With regards to the issue of F access for Emeralds, I think it is a legitimate way that OW differentiates itself from *A and ST. Some *A carriers allow their own top tier elites into F lounges (LH, LX, OZ, SA, SQ) so it's not a foreign idea in *A. If you frequently fly across your alliance, then the benefits of top-tier status are greater on OW than on *A, as a UA 1K gets no more recognition on any other *A carrier than a UA 1P. There isn't any differentiation in *A between medium and top-tier status.

Looks like Mr. Colin here is a prude premium-only traveler... and he is indirectly bragging about his ability to buy premium class, etc. here on FT by complaining about y-lices in the F-lounges.

Nonetheless, back to the topic... I think allowing Emeralds into F lounge is one of the novel perks to be had with OW. If this 'perk' is gone, there really is not much better reason to fly OW as in most parts of the world (with an exception to Australia) OW does not offer good connecting service (especially in Canada!)

Hence, having been LAN Comodoro (2 years) and AA EXP (1 year), I am moving back to *A with CO/UA. So, Colin, you will see one less y-lice in your F lounge. Ciao!

It sounds like LAX needs a bigger lounge. I can't think of any reason why one would want to downgrade the OneWorld proposition.

I have been called many things in my life, some good & many bad, but this is the 1st time I have been likened to an obligate parasite!!