I know I've seen this around FT, but I couldn't find it in search. I just got *G. Is it always enough to get the check-in agent to re-enter the number? On my outbound trip, that didn't work. I was on UA, and got US GP the day before. After re-entering, the UA ticket still showed US SP. Maybe it takes a few days for things to post from US to UA? Is there another trick besides having the agent re-enter the number?

If I get *G to show on my UA boarding pass, are there lounges in NRT and ORD that are especially likely (or especially unlikely) to take just that, without me producing the *G card?

Thanks, and sorry for this repeated query.

Welcome to FT swingspan

You may be able to access while waiting for your card by showing a printout with your status - not guaranteed though.

It takes several days after your "qualifying" flight before your status propagates through the system.

Thanks for the welcome. Glad to be here.

I sort of had the impression that *G on a boarding pass would do the trick, if anything other than the card is going to work. Do you really think that me printing out my statement from the US DM website is worth it?

Some lounge bouncers want boarding pass and card - whether they accept printout showing status is another question YMMV. Other lounges are fine with just BP.

Now if your status isnt showing on BP and card hasnt arrived yet (or you havent gotten home to collect it) then your only chance is printout - ignoring being invited as eligible guest of course.

It may also depend on how the airline checks status. When I got to *G with Thai, it still showed *S on the boarding pass of my next flight. Online, it showed that I had enough miles to get *G but I was still listed with Silver status. I asked about it in the Thai lounge (also had SK *G) and was told that Thai upgrade people at the end of the calendar month. As I got to *G about 5 days into the month, I would have to wait a few weeks. The agent in the lounge was able to see how many miles I had and was able to confirm that I would get Gold status.

If I didn't have SK *G, I probably could have persuaded the agent to let me into the lounge based on the info on her system. That was in Bangkok though where I assume she had direct access to the Royal Orchid Plus database; I'm not sure how well successful I would have been outside Thailand...

As an aside, you can get TG to send you a statement saying you are *G before you get your card, if you notice you've hit the threshold. This probably works at TG lounges, but maybe not necessarily at others.

I think all airlines are different when it comes to checking status.
When I reached *G it took a while before my card arrived, it got lost in the mail.
During my first trip some lounges accepted the BP as a proof straight away, for example in the SAS lounges they just swipe the BP and get the reservation on their screen where they can see the card is valid.
In other lounges not even *G on my BP + a printout of my account status (where it clearly said level: gold) made it, but I was persistent and asked the lounge assistant to call SAS to verify that the card was valid. They weren't too happy about it (would have been a lot easier to just ask me to leave) but they did it and I was allowed to enter.
So some airlines check your status very carefully (even wanting to see the expiry date on the card) while other spend about a second looking at the BP before letting you in.

You can always call the FF-helpline and ask them to fax a paper confirming your status which you can show if they ask for your card.