Sounds like Delta, where the lounges are packed and the execs refer to their elites as "ham sandwiches". My lifetime lounge membership seemed like such a good deal when I forked over $2800 to NW for it.
Correct on many counts, but there are still a few perks. At Terminal 2 at O'Hare the preferred security line is the one that is the farthest away from the only naked body scanner in operation there. Elite flyers have the smallest chance of being herded into the Scope-or-Grope line, so I always choose the Elite line, even if it's longer.