On July 17, a Chinese netizen shared her experience of being denied access to the international First Class Lounge at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan province, southwestern China.

“I arrived early at the airport and searched online for lounges,” she wrote. “I saw that Golden Sunflower clients could access them, and since I’m one of them, I called to confirm. That’s when I learned I’d need to verify 20 million yuan in assets—and property and cars don’t count! Poverty really limits my imagination!,” she wrote, the South China Morning Post reported.

She had booked an economy-class ticket but hoped to use the lounge at Terminal 1 as part of the benefits associated with her Golden Sunflower membership.

According to publicly available information, a Golden Sunflower card typically requires an average monthly balance of 500,000 yuan ($70,000) to qualify, with lounge access advertised as a core benefit, Son News reported.

Airport staff explained that the asset verification requirement is currently unique to Chengdu Tianfu Airport, where high passenger volumes and lounge overcapacity led to the new policy in an effort to ensure service quality.

China Merchants Bank confirmed that the rule has been in effect since June 2024.

The incident has stirred heated debate online.

“I do think this is a bit outrageous,” one user commented.

“Someone with 20 million in savings wouldn’t be flying economy,” another wrote.

“They only serve the rich—the rich are the real customers,” read another post.

One user pointed out: “This is what happens when they issue Golden Sunflower cards too freely. They advertised VIP lounge access when we signed up, and now they’re doing asset checks? This really damages the card’s reputation.”