I presume you're only referring to the DOM lounges, as otherwise you'd be creating a bizarre precedent.
Firstly, I don't ever see this happening; and secondly, with all due respect, I don't agree. I don't see how removing J pax who have paid for J tickets helps the situation of overcrowding or reducing OWE amenity any. In fact, access to the J lounge is not even a OWE benefit, just one that QF grants at its discretion.
Rather than trying to remove people who are entitled to be in the lounge the more logical step, like it or not (and I don't like it), is to further restrict or even remove guests. Up to 2/3 of the lounge could potentially be made up of guests who may or may not be flying, and aren't otherwise contributing to QF's coffers in a meaningful way - there's your free kick right there. As has been mentioned ad nauseum elsewhere, if guest access was limited to a certain number of passes per year (based on status), then use of guest access would be dependent on the member's discretion, more flexible and require them to make a call on when they could best use it; and regular overcrowding would decrease substantially.
Seems like there's a lot of focus on reducing benefits without a proper analysis of what (if any) impact such removal would have, and whether the objectives of changing benefits would be met in other, more effective ways.
