Experiences, not money. A life lived, not worked. Friends, not colleagues. People like to slam materialism but there are some sublime moments cash can buy.
Chief among them? The Private Suite, otherwise known as “the ultimate VIP experience,” which affords rich and famous travellers private terminal access, their own private suite, private TSA screening and a personal runway chauffer at LAX.
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In other words: you get to enter LAX through a private gate, await your flight in a private suite stocked with travel essentials and amenities, bypass the long TSA lines, get driven onto the airfield directly to your flight and clear customs and immigration quickly and privately.
Not bad.
Thing is, it costs a bomb. Specifically, AU$6,650 for an annual membership, then AU$3,990 for each domestic one way VIP experience you book, or AU$4,435 for each international one way VIP experience you book (these experiences can also be bought by non-members for AU$4,500 and AU$5,925 respectively).
Members get three complementary companions, while non-members get two. Additionally, members also get pre-ordered complimentary meals, complimentary valet and eco-friendly vehicle cleaning, complimentary in-suite manicures, massages and haircuts, an on-call concierge doctor, complimentary use of a video conference room and more.
Owned and operated by Gavin de Becker and Joshua Gausman, The Private Suite at LAX is the first-of-its-kind in the US.
As News.com.au reports, “The ultra-modern complex look[s] like a luxe motel complex, fitted out with alcohol, mini-Nutella jars, lolly dispensers, coffee machines, slippers, headphones, perfume, sleeping masks, a toy menu and play area for the kids, neck pillows, beer, spirits and a lot of wine.”
The only problem? We’re unlikely to ever see anything like this in Australia. Why? Put it this way: while Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport finally got a hotel worth talking about and a new beauty cabin in May this year, due to the whole Tall Poppy Syndrome Ben Simmons exposed recently, a whole new airport experience – catering just for those with money to burn – seems a way off.