Value of OneWorld Emerald Status
 

Hello, I just became an Emerald member for the first time, but I wish I had this status before the Pandemic.

I know people may value Oneworld status differently, but for me the one thing I was looking most forward to was access to First Class lounges. I know there are other perks obviously, but if I’m flying long haul I know I’d book an award ticket in at least business class, which would offer me free checked bags and business class lounge access for free anyway. I highly doubt I’d ever fly economy long haul again, and even if I did I’d have priority pass or the Centurion lounges to access for free.

After doing some research, it looks like the best Oneworld lounges to visit are the CX First lounges in HK and the Qantas First lounges around the world. I’m not optimistic CX will recover the pandemic, they seem to be the most distressed airline in the whole world right now. So that just leaves Qantas, and some of their first lounges are not open yet, and that would also make travel plans more restricted to certain destinations.

So with all that said, is there any value left in Oneworld Emerald status?

I think that the principal value to you would be when flying short-haul or medium-haul on AA or AS: free checked baggage, free extra-leg-room seats at time of ticket purchase, and free, space available upgrades to the next class of service. How useful is any of that to you?

Some of those are not Oneworld benefits, but from the AA-AS agreement, which offer more benefits than OWE status.
https://www.oneworld.com/travel-benefits#benefits

That's true, but I saw from the OP's profile that his OWE status was through AS, which is why I indicated what the benefits would be for him.

I think your staring point would be what routes will you be flying mostly.

Agree 100%.

As for CX remember they are not just an airline, but part of the larger Swire group which offers a different level of stamina.