Private travel takes off

In the age of Covid-19, nothing says safe like private. So it’s no wonder that one of the few travel bright spots in the pandemic has been the demand for exclusive products that enable people to satisfy their wanderlust without compromising their virus-free bubbles.

From private jets to private islands, dude ranches, hotel buyouts, villas, yachts — even private summer camp programs for kids — exclusive options are among those leading the first wave of what has turned into a slow and unpredictable travel rebound.

And as more and more people begin to venture out, advisors and travel companies alike say they expect the demand for private to continue, potentially reshaping the future of travel, particularly in the luxury sector.

“This is a movement that’s not going away,” said ANI Private Resorts president Ira Bloom. 

Perhaps nowhere is the shift to private more evident than in aviation.

In July, the number of private jet flights in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean was off just 19.6% from last year, compared with a 75% drop in commercial aviation in the U.S., according to private aviation industry data tracker Argus. 

The drop-off in commercial air, operators said, is being lessened by a surge in first-time customers in the charter jet market.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in 20 years,” said Gregg Slow, the president of FXAIR, which reported 65% of its July customers were new to private aviation, compared with the usual 8% to 10% per month.

And while Slow predicts many of those will return to commercial aviation when it’s considered safer and there are more commercial flights available, once new entrants try private aviation, “we find they almost always return to private jet travel for one-off trips and do keep it in their mix of travel options moving forward.”

Luxury agents say they are seeing similar trends. Irving Betesh, president of travel and membership services at IBC Private, said clients who used to look at charter flights as one of several options are chartering flights exclusively. And Jack Ezon, founder of Embark Beyond, said about 80% of his clients traveling right now are flying private. 

Advisors said clients venturing out are also clamoring for private accommodations.

“There are so many people who’ve been locked down for ages in almost every country and haven’t been able to see friends or family,” said Michael Marshall, chief commercial officer for Minor Hotels. “That, combined with nervousness over health and security, means that we’ve had quite a few requests over the last two months for buyouts in the Maldives, the Middle East and Asia. People want the privacy, but also an opportunity to really reconnect.”

Michael Heflin, president of Andrew Harper Travel, said he has seen an increase in requests for hotel buyouts, much of it being driven by small groups of two or three families who want to avoid crowds but are also “sick of only talking to their spouse.”

In what might seem like an oxymoronic statement, seclusion is popular.

Stacy Fischer-Rosenthal, president of Fischer Travel Enterprises in New York, said she had a family take over the 10-tent Camp Sarika, a new part of Amangiri in southern Utah that is situated away from the main resort.

To keep members of the multigenerational family busy, she said, Fischer Travel brought in an adventure team and storytellers and arranged helicopters. They even got permission to set up a private boat on Lake Powell, despite it being officially closed at the time.

Mountain resorts are also a popular option; another family, Fischer-Rosenthal said, took over the Point in the Adirondacks. 

David Rappel, a Protravel advisor in Los Angeles said it took him two weeks, but he was able to find space at a dude ranch for one of his clients. 

And Ezon has been promoting private summer camps where families can take over a section of resorts like Paws Up in Montana and retain a private activities counselor to keep the kids busy.

And while most travel at this point is domestic, luxury companies said they are seeing a return of some Americans to resorts that offer private villa experiences abroad. Both the Four Seasons Serengeti and the Four Seasons resorts in the Maldives said Americans are among their first visitors since the pandemic began, mostly flying private.

To ease the transition between transportation and accommodations, luxury properties are increasingly partnering with jet charter companies.

ANI Private Resorts, which from its inception has specialized solely in buyouts, recently entered a marketing partnership with Private Jet Services (PJS). Under the arrangement, ÀNI guests can receive a $5,000 flight credit on their first trip with PJS, while existing PJS members and clients are given a $10,000 credit for their first stay at any of ANI’s private resorts. 

“We think the private jet to private resort combination completes that ‘bubble’ experience, which [during the pandemic] is more important than ever,” said Bloom. “In the past, probably 25% of our guests would arrive private. We expect that to push closer to 50% now. A lot of our guests could always afford private but maybe just didn’t think it was worth that extra money. But now, more people see the value in it.”

In Mexico, Karisma Hotels & Resorts has partnered with two companies, Monarch Air Group and Encore Jets, to offer discounts on private charters to Mexico.

In Costa Rica, Casa Chameleon is also exploring a partnership to offer private flights to supplement full  buyouts of its villa properties.

“We’ve gotten interest from people that like the independent villa concept and the ability to travel with friends or family, but they just aren’t comfortable flying right now,” said Brent Reynolds, CEO and managing partner of Casa Chameleon owner Nolan Reynolds International. “We’re testing the waters, and if there’s a complete buyout, the numbers start to make sense when it comes to offering a charter flight out of the U.S.”

Demand for private villas and small-hotel buyouts was already a growing trend before the pandemic, said Sylvia Lebovitch, an advisor with Ovation Travel Group in Brooklyn, “so now it’s really a no-brainer.”

ANI’s Bloom agreed and noted that although the concept isn’t new, it’s accelerating. “All these boutique hotels are now saying ‘we’re only available on a buyout basis.’ It’s a growing market. And I think you’ll start to see a segment of the villa market upgrading their staff, amenities and services to try to cater to that upper-end market.”

Lebovitch said she is also seeing surging demand for domestic private yacht rentals. 

“That’s something that I have never done before,” she said. “I’ve always done them in the south of France, or in Capri, or up the coast of Italy — that sort of thing. But now people want to explore Maine, and they want to visit, let’s say, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, places where they don’t have luxury hotels, really.”

And Fischer-Rosenthal said private home rentals — and longer stays — are both increasing in popularity.

“We have one client taking a month in Whitefish, Mont., a month in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and a month [elsewhere] in Wyoming.”

While most private jet, private homes and hotel buyout options cater to the one percenters, a growing number of mainstream travel companies are also marketing privacy, from small-group coach tours in Europe to safaris or having exclusive use of sections of hotels or resorts that are also accommodating other guests.

The Travel Corporation’s Trafalgar, Insight and Luxury Gold brands, for instance, recently began marketing their coach tours for private buyouts for families and groups of 12 or more. And the Globus family of brands has expended its options for private groups of two to two dozen across all of its 81 European itineraries.

Will the boom in private travel last beyond the pandemic?

It will evolve, said Andrew Harper’s Heflin. The current popularity of private experiences, he said, will drive “more traditional hotels or hospitality companies to offer alternative accommodation options that can be catered in a way that feels like private travel.”

This report was written by Jeri Clausing with reporting from Jamie Biesiada, Christina Jelski and Robert Silk.

What advisors should know about private jet charters

Private charter flight operators are enjoying a surge of well-heeled new customers seeking alternatives to crowded commercial aircraft during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many charter operators pay agency commissions, and the current climate opens opportunities for advisors to explore this lucrative channel.

“Inquiries from travel agents have grown dramatically,” said Gregg Slow, an industry veteran who is president of the new private charter brand FXAIR.  

But for travel advisors who are new to booking private flying, there are plenty of nuances that need to be learned. 

To begin, it’s crucial to understand the differences among various charter and private flight models. Clients new to the space are likely to start with one-off charter bookings, in which they book and pay for a specific itinerary. But a wide variety of private jet companies also offer jet cards — essentially subscription programs through which customers can lock in prices for a year and ease the booking and cancellation processes.

The next step up from there — and it’s a big step — is participation in a fractional ownership program, like those run by industry stalwarts NetJets and Flexjet. Fractional owners purchase shares in an aircraft on a contract that typically lasts three to five years, said Doug Gollan, founder and editor-in-chief of the newsletter Private Jet Card Comparisons. 

Gollan warns that agents arranging charter flights must be certain that they are working with a Part 135 certified charter operator. Strict regulations govern charter flying, and even informal arrangements involving private aircraft that aren’t flying on Part 135 certificates tend to be illegal. 

Gollan’s first piece of advice for agents: Engage a good charter aircraft broker. Brokers, he said, offer the same type of know-how and expertise in their trade that travel advisors offer in theirs.

“A knowledgeable broker can explain why three Gulfstream 450s all manufactured in the same year have three different prices for the same route that you are trying to book,” Gollan said by way of example. 

He also said travel advisors need to make sure clients are aware that in the charter industry, departures typically aren’t guaranteed. If a charter operator pulls a flight at the last minute, the customer has to decide whether to line up a new one and pay any extra costs that involves.

Here are several additional matters that Gollan said travel advisors should watch out for:

• If the client wants WiFi, check if it’s included in the price. If it’s extra, charter customers will often get a bill after the flight for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
• The price typically doesn’t include catering.
• In winter, charter customers can find themselves on the hook for hefty de-icing bills. Make sure clients understand this is a possibility. Some brokers offer de-icing insurance.
• Arrange ground transportation carefully. Some large airports have numerous Fixed Base Operator (FBO) terminals catering to different charter companies. Make sure you know the specific terminal your client will be using.
• Private jet passengers don’t have tickets. Instead, they’re given the aircraft tail number. That’s what they’ll need to have handy upon arrival at the terminal.
• Don’t assume a plane will wait for late passengers. If a client is going to be late, make sure they call the operator, agent and the FBO. 

—Robert Silk

A previous version of this report gave an incorrect name for David Rappel, a Protravel advisor in Los Angeles.