Pecking order for lounge access: business class vs star alliance gold

Question

I always assumed that business class travellers on an airline came above star alliance gold status members so far as lounge access policy was concerned.

But I was just reading Lufthansa's policy for Frankfurt and their Senator lounge access table says Yes for Star Alliance Gold but No for Business class ( presumably even on Lufthansa's own flights)

https://www.lufthansa.com/er/en/admission-rules

Just found it interesting and was wondering if there is a consistent policy across airlines. Do business class flyers get less or more lounge access than star alliance gold.

Eg take Turkish airlines at Istanbul: both lounges are accessible for business flyers but only one is allowed for star alliance gold flyers flying economy.

This would indicate that SA Gold is lower down the pecking order than Business class.

Answer 1

The policies vary between airline.

In most cases where multiple levels of lounge exist, business class would be considered "higher" than status-based access. For example, United Airlines "Polaris" lounges are only accessible by Business Class passengers, whilst those with status travelling in Economy are relegated to their lower-level United Class lounges. In many cases these business class-only lounges are significantly better than the status-based alternatives.

The same is also true at the Turkish Lounges in the new Istanbul airport as you mentioned. In the old Istanbul airport this was not the case and there was a single lounge used by all eligible passengers, however even then there were specific perks of the lounge that were only accessible for business class passengers - such as the use of the sleeping rooms, or the direct land-side access to the lounge (which included it's own security and immigration check-points).

Lufthansa Group airlines (which includes Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian) for some reason have this reversed - Business Class passengers have access to their Business Class lounges, whilst those with status (in any class) have access to their Senator Lounges. The "Senator" lounges are deemed to be better than the normal lounges, but in practice are generally pretty much the same as the business lounges - with potentially one or two additional minor perks such as slightly better food or alcohol.

Lufthansa also operate "First Class" lounges in some location which are a higher level of service than both their Business and Senator Lounges, and only accessible by first class passengers. To some extent, these lounges are the nearer equivalent of the lounges like the United Polaris lounge - especially given that most airlines now days no longer offer First Class.

Answer 2

is there is a consistent policy across airlines ?

I don't believe so. Most lounge policies are rather complicated and difficult to read. The question of a "pecking" order really just comes into play at locations where the airline operates multiple lounges with different levels, which are typically the main hubs only.

In most cases, the highest level is reserved for the top airline tier and/or highest ticket class. That typically excludes Star Alliance Gold. Examples are the ANA Suites, Singapore First Class, LH First class, United Polaris, etc.

LH is a bit of an outlier since they operate three lounge levels ( business, senator, First) and they also do the business/senator split in a few non-hub airports (LHR for example). I'm guessing this is because LH flies a lot of business class within Europe, which is a relative low revenue ticket and they want to entice higher revenue costumers with Senator status. Personally, I've been to both types of lounges many times and don't feel that there is much of a difference.