Latest perk: Safe distance from those in coach class
NEW YORK — On flights from San Francisco to Hong Kong, first-class passengers can enjoy a Mesclun salad with king crab or a grilled USDA prime beef tenderloin, stretch out in a 3-footwide seat that converts to a bed and wash it all down with a pre-slumber Krug “Grande Cuvee” Brut Champagne.
Yet some of the most cherished new international first-class perks have nothing to do with meals, drinks or seats. Global airlines are increasingly rewarding wealthy fliers with something more intangible: physical distance between them and everyone else.
The idea is to provide an exclusive experience — inaccessible, even invisible, to the masses in coach. It’s another way that a gap between the world’s wealthiest 1 percent and everyone else has widened.
Many top-paying international passengers, having put down roughly $15,000 for a ticket, now check in at secluded facilities and are driven in luxury cars directly to planes. Others can savor the same privileges by redeeming 125,000 or more frequent flier miles for a trip of a lifetime. Separate, not equal
When Emirates Airline opened a new concourse at its home airport in Dubai last year, it made sure to keep coach passengers separate from those in business and first class. The building’s top floor is a lounge for premium passengers with direct boarding to the upstairs of Emirates’ fleet of Airbus A380s. Those in coach wait a story below and board to the jet’s lower level.
London’s Heathrow Airport took a private suite area designed for the royal family and heads of state and in July opened it to any passenger flying business or first class who’s willing to pay an extra $2,500.
“First class has become a way for a traveler to have an almost private jet-like experience,” says Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst with Hudson Crossing. Airlines “will do everything but sing a lullaby.” Money on the line
The front of the plane has always been plusher than the back. But in recent years airlines have put a greater focus on catering to the most affluent fliers’ desire for new levels of privacy.
There’s a lot of money on the line. At big carriers like American Airlines, 70 percent of revenue comes from the top 20 percent of its customers.
The special treatment now starts at check-in. American and United Airlines have both developed private rooms, located in discrete corners of their terminals, that allow for a speedy check-in. Boarding passes in hand, travelers exit through hidden doors leading to the front of security lines.
Some foreign airlines have gone further.
Lufthansa offers first-class passengers a separate terminal in Frankfurt. There’s a restaurant, cigar lounge and dedicated immigration officers. For those who choose to shower or take a bath, the private restrooms come with their own rubber ducky. When it’s time to board, passengers are driven across the tarmac to their plane in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or Porsche Cayenne.
“That sort of exclusivity plays to the ego of people who are in a position to spend that much money on airline flight,” says Tim Winship, publisher of travel advice site FrequentFlier.com.
At Heathrow’s private suites, designed for up to six people, fliers pass swiftly and privately through their own immigration and security screening. While they’re waiting, hors d’oeuvres and Champagne are provided. Steak, sushi or other meals can be delivered. When it comes time to fly, passengers are driven to their plane in a BMW 7 Series sedan and escorted to their seats. Rides, boarding first
U.S. airlines have copied a bit of that touch. United started in July and Delta Air Lines in 2011 driving their top customers who have tight con- nections at major airports from one gate to another in luxury cars. No need to enter the terminal, let alone fight the crowd on the moving walkway.
Want to board first? No problem. Want to be the last one seated, moments before the door closes? Sure. Airlines will even save room for your bags in the overhead bin. First-class chefs
Austrian Airlines, Etihad Airways and Gulf Air are among the carriers to staff planes with their own first-class chefs.
Sometimes, that smell wafts back to the rest of the plane.
“You know they’ve got something good up in front of the curtain, and you know you don’t have anything close to it,” Harteveldt says. “When you fly coach, you are reminded of the fact that you are unimportant as a traveler.”