Agreed. Other business lounges globally blow away the facilities of US carriers. Further, the claim of "generic" lounges with unempowered (in the event of IRROPS) staff is preposterous in all but the most remote outstations. My flying is based chiefly out of major cities, and the lounges are either alliance or carrier owned.

As for amenities, I have noticed (in business lounges):

~Superior SELF-SERVE beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, coffee/tea.
~Bathrooms of a superior hygienic and aesthetic standard (granite/marble vs high school locker-room tile)
~Showers are ubiquitous
~Real food (fruit, veg, higher end cookies/bakery, hot items). Not hydrolized, hydrogenated, over-processed "snack" food.
~Various overpriced Mac computers in the working areas (does it provide a marginal value over PCs? No. Does it give a great appearance? Oh yes.)

United lounges are downright spectacular when compared to:

- Whatever that lounge is near the AA gate at PVG where J/F pax go. It's another one of those shared lounges
- The aforementioned Star lounge in MAD
- The Star lounges at CAI - operated by MS - even the new terminal one is pretty weak. (The old terminal one is literally a single room with a few magazines and soft drinks.)
- The lounge for US Envoy Class at LGW...although that prior to US joining any alliance so I'm sure it's different today
- Most lounges willing to let me in with my Diner's Club card.

Guys, I'm not trying to say that United lounges are terrific. I'm just saying that there's a greater continuum of lounges out there - good and bad - with your standard United Club not at either extreme.

If you want another example of a really good J lounge, I liked the atmosphere/ambiance and food/drink at ANA.

I've always liked LH Sen lounges but LH Biz lounges are so-so...

It does make a difference. The post-2000 history of financial troubles for airlines that are or were domiciled in Europe, Asia and Latin America are testimony to what you noted. It's also a factor in the US, where the US legacy majors with TATL and TPAC service have surrendered domestic market-share to LCCs of sorts.

Some DL SCs have self-serve bars, and they are actually not bad. I would actually consider paying for SC membership if I flew DL more and didn't have an Amex Plat. State-side UCs are rubbish (including SFO... they're just slightly better than others) but the UCs in GRU and NRT are much better and HKG UC is actually pretty good (plenty of hot food). The NRT and HKG UCs (haven't used the ones at GRU) have very decent showers as well.