ST Lounge Question
 

I know that as a Plat I can use any ST lounge when I am flying on an international ticket. What I am wondering is- if I am FB plat, going on an AF flight and there is an AF lounge- am I still free to use any ST lounge I want at the airport or would, say, the Alitalia lounge refer me to go to the AF lounge since I am flying with them?

I recently had opportunity to visit a few ST lounges at NRT and all of them let me in although the KAL lounge gave me a strange look and took a long time writing down my info. To my surprise KAL was actually the worst of the lounges- when I was there there was no food except for some crackers and the lounge itself was very boring and outdated. It's possible there weren't any KE flights going out and that's why the elections were so poor but still surprising. Next I tried AF lounge- it was a lot more modern with great seating and nice bar chairs in red/white. They had a small selection of snacks and the standard variety of drinks. Finally moved to new NW lounge next door- a pleasant surprise. It was large and part of it almost looked like an open kitchen restaurant. There were quite a few snacks including sushi, sandwiches, kimbap. Free wireless without password.

All in all I thought NRT would have some of the better lounges such as in SIN or KUL but I guess they belong to other non Skyteam airlines such as ANA. Was pleasantly surprised by NW lounge however as it's certainly a stepup from the US Worldclubs.

They all 'should' let you in although I have known both AF and KE to put up some resistance from time to time if you were flying another carrier who had their own lounge. They also always have the "SkyTeam Elite Plus members traveling in Economy Class enjoy complimentary access to most SkyTeam partner lounges worldwide." loophole to fall back on so YMMV applies.

It's all random. I'm often met with strange looks when visiting a lounge different to the one that I "should" be visiting, but I don't recall ever encountering serious resistance. Actually I do recall one occasion, but I was flying Lufthansa on an AZ ticket that had been endorsed because of a cancelled AZ flight, and I guess the AF loungedragon at FCO was right to tell me to go away (I did end up using the Alitalia lounge without any problems).

I was turned away from the KE lounge in MNL when arriving on a CO Micronesia flight. I didn't fight it too hard, as my wife didin't really want to deal. And the "most" caveat lets them do whatever they want.

I had similar experiences as a *G (also supposed to have access to all partner lounges) on our recent NZ trip, particularly in SYD where both the NZ and SQ agents said "you know that the UA lounge is downstairs, right?" After explaining that I did know that and that I also knew their facilities were better I was granted admission. FWIW, the NZ lounge is actually better in SYD but not the SQ.

Sounds like the "most" is a cop-out. Why did I bust my butt to get Plat status then?