About 40 years ago as a bachelor that was flying a lot I obtained lifetime lounge access that are valid today for AA and Delta, the lounges have become crowded in that time. I accessed the main Skyclub at DTW a few years ago and it was packed. It was difficult to find 2 seats together.
To make things worse I needed to make some changes to my flight but the attendants said they didn’t support that anymore and I’d have to call 800 number. Having top notch support at those clubs was a great help.
And they’ve changed the rules with things like you can only access the lounges within 2 hours of a flight and/or can only access if you’re booked on that airline.
To me the whole point of lounges were that they were oases amid the high stress environment of the airport. I don’t travel much anymore and given this and so much more about air travel today I’m glad I don’t.