BEYOND FIRST CLASS

How luxury hotel brands and prestige travel companies are redifining the private jet experience...

- SI SI PENALOZA

Setting a month-long “out of office” auto-reply is the current leisure-travel power move, if the plethora of new private jet itineraries is any indication of the golden age of remote work for captains of industry. Take Abercrombie & Kent’s Around the World by Private Jet itinerary, for example, priced at US$164,950 per person, which comes fully loaded – from exploring everything from Samarkand’s Silk Road to dinner at Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, followed by a full-throttle auto race put on just for you.

Ann Epting, Abercrombie & Kent’s Senior Vice President of Private Jet & Special Interest Travel, tells us, “It’s no longer just about having the top suite in a hotel or on a cruise, flying first class, or Michelin dining. It is increasingly about privacy and exclusivity, the luxury of experience.” For CrossFit gladiators who happen to be Centurion card holders, A&K even recreated the Naadam Games, usually performed in Ulaanbaatar, in the Gobi Desert, bringing in traditional archery, wrestling, and horsemanship that speak to Mongolia’s deep military history. A&K transported a fleet of vintage Alpha Romeos from Rome to Sicily for guests to self-drive Taormina, ending with lunch at Bar Vitelli, the storied 18th-century neoclassical enclave from The Godfather. A full buyout by A&K of course, Corleone style.