Emirates IO, Qantas Chairman Lounge, Etihad Guest Exclusive.

Emirates IO, Qantas Chairman Lounge, Etihad Guest Exclusive.

How does one get into those unpublished tiers ? I have seen an old article on ausbt mentioning that for Emirates IO, one is rumored to need 50 paid business fares at the highest class. Any information out there would be appreciated from anyone on ausbt that is on those aforementioned tiers.

Get into those published tiers apart from being invited just because your famous, rich or senior corporate leader*

Hi nw, not sure if this is the article you saw but if not, you'll find some extra details here, including how you might be able to qualify: http://www.ausbt.com.au/inside-the-secret-world-of-vip-travel-and-invitation-only-lounges

Cheers for that Chris, clocked over 130,000 tier miles on etihad guest and due to gain a few more, but seems like since generally the information isnt published, doubt i'll ever make it to exclusive.

Unless you get elected to an office, you're going to have to 10x that travel to realistically break into a tier like that, 

Here are some different ones and what they require to qualify

United Airlines : US$50,000 spent on fully fare Biz/First class UA flights

American Airlines : US$100,000 spent on AA flights

Delta : US$40,000 spent on Delta Flights

Cathay Pacific : Top 1% of Diamond Status earners based on highest tier credits

Emirates : 50+ full fare Business/First class tickets on EK flights

Qantas : CEO of high QF flight spending company or Politician

Chairman's Lounge and Virgin's Club are strictly Invitation Only.  They are not for frequent flyers per se , they are for decision influencers.  That is why both QF and VA target CEOs, Top 200 board members, politicians etc.  These exclusive lounges are a lobbying tool.  Invitations to these lounges are not a decision of the loyalty program; they are made by the top elechon of the airline; in QF's case Leigh Clifford and in VA's case John Borghetti.

I have been in the Chairman's Lounge in SYD as a guest and, as a lounge, it is not that impressive.  What is impressive is the people you see sitting around you and the level of service offered.  I was travelling wth my CEO who was greeted as a respected old friend and a few minutes later greeted again with the revised boarding pass putting him in Business Class.  Unfortunately, no such luck for me.

Keep dreaming

Following on from Reeves post, I sat beside a CL member on a flight from SYD-BNE a few years ago - he actually turned down the upgrade from economy to business and was happy to sit in 4F when I was in 4D. As it turns out we had a mutual friend who was also CL and a former very senior St George bank exec. 

He shared a few funny stories of life inside CL, and asked the crew to look after me as well which meant 55+mins of biz class food and beverage! Lovely chap, but clearly stated it was his Board roles that got him into CL. He seemed happy to enjoy the (CL) experience whilst his POI was relevant to Qantas. 

As has been noted above - these types of lounges are about influence and PR...

Influence and spend. I know a few companies with big Qantas spends where they are given a certain number of CL memberships and it's up to the Chair/CEO to allocate them

Join politics and there you have your Chairman's Lounge card!

If you have to ask, then it's not for you...