PS LAX - The Only Way To Fly
Imagine for a moment that you live in Los Angeles, and you've just booked a trip to Asia for the trip of a lifetime. Say you want to recreate the end of "Crazy Rich Asians" and party on top of the boat hotel in Singapore. What does your typical airport experience look like?
You pack your bag, drive to the airport, park, go through check-in, suffer through security, grab all your stuff in a mad dash and find a cold metal bench to put your shoes and belt back on. You rush to the Starbucks for an ill-advised Mocha Frapp before looking for a book or a couple of magazines and some motion sickness medication to be able to stomach the 17+ hour commercial flights stuck in Economy. Maybe you even manage to snag a seat in an overcrowded airport lounge. You get to the gate physically worn out, caffeinated and you left your headphones in the security bucket because you were too distracted by that lady next to you hacking up a lung. Your zone is called and you stand in the cattle call line to board the plane, where you fold yourself into a seat and wait for your microwaved food. Sounds...fun?
What if I told you there was another way to do it? A way so exclusive, the world's most expensive and secret credit card included this as a membership perk. Welcome to the Private Suite at Los Angeles International Airport.
What Is PS LAX?
The Private Suites at LAX are a series of solitary bungalows that allow a wealthy traveler to relax and unwind before their flight. The PS (what the insiders call it) is, in a word: unfair. The fact that this exists and you'll likely never get to use it is borderline torturous. But let's pretend that you have the means. You struck oil, or got the big inheritance and now you're looking to splash the cash. Let's walk you through what you get, and how to get it.
Arrival at The Private Suites
The PS at LAX is, well, only at LAX. Which means you have to either live in Los Angeles, or fly through LAX enough to justify the cost, so you're probably a celebrity or someone with a West Coast home. When you get to LAX, you don't park in the econo-lot. Oh no. You drive right up to the PS private terminal and announce yourself with aplomb. And by "aplomb," I mean present them your annual membership. How do you become one of these vaunted PS Members? You can gain a membership by either purchasing one for $4,500 per year, or having the American Express Centurion Card, which I've covered in a previous edition of Millionaire Lifestyle.
Related: The American Express Black Card
Once you arrive at the entrance, you're greeted by a PS agent who will then collect your fee. Oh yes. You owe more money. Because each time you use this beauty, it's an extra $3,150, and that covers up to 4 people in a traveling party, meaning I would roll into this as a solo traveler to make this worth your while. So you chuck your Amex Black in the reader, throw your keys to the valet parking attendant (and even get car detailing included) and you are then escorted to your own room. Well, suite.
PS LAX Suites
Here it is. Here's what you're paying the big bucks for.
Designed by celebrity interior designer Cliff Fong and his creative art partners, the suite is a masterpiece of solitude. You're a fair distance from the airport itself, but the rooms at the PS Terminal are sound dampened anyway to give you the peace and quiet needed prior to your flight with the riff-raff. Some of the suites even come with a patio if you want to get some time in the sun before stuffing yourself into a tin can and hopping on any number of international flights (or domestic flights if you really need this experience for a quick hop).
And no Starbucks here! Top drawer amenities abound in the suite, which comes with its own stocked minibar and pantry, all included in the hefty price tag. Want a drink prior to the flight? No longer will you have to drag yourself to a Margaritaville Express, listening to Jimmy Buffett wail in your ear while you sip an $18 strawberry "daiquiri." Beer? Wine? Knob Creek if you're a psychopath? They have it all. And by "have it all," I also mean that there's an in-house chef ready to prepare you any number of chef-prepared meals so you don't have to eat with the proletariat on the plane.
So let's say you downed all of the Knob Creek shooters and now you're feeling like the girl from The Exorcist. They've thought of that too. Wander into the five-star bathroom and there's enough medication in there to make Keith Richards jealous. The cherry on top? You can book a massage therapist for in-suite massages to work out those final knots prior to your departure so you can get all knotted up again in your lie-flat first class cabin suite (more on that in a later edition of Millionaire Lifestyle).
When It's Time to Leave the Private Suites
Eventually, it all has to end. But in this case, it ends in the most baller way possible. You'll be notified by a PS representative that it's time to leave. They'll grab your bags and walk you out to YOUR OWN PRIVATE SECURITY PROCESS. That's right. Even TSA is bending to your financial will by building you your own TSA checkpoint. And you're guaranteed to be the only one in line. Even if there is another passenger on your same flight, the PS has promised that they work it out logistically to where you'll never see that person. That's service.
So once you've made it through your own "no shirt, no shoes, no problem" security line, you remember that you drove here. How are you getting to your flight, which is down the road? Well they have that covered too with a complimentary trip in a private luxury branded BMW.
This is really the kick in the teeth that the normal people with window seats need. Their sitting folded up origami-style while you hop out of a BMW with a personal attendant carrying your bags. That badassery is worth almost $8,000, right?
The PS Salon - Cheaper Options for New Memberships
If you're in the mood for luxury, complimentary services and a private BMW ride to your jet bridge along with a full bar, then get ready for the PS Salon. This is a shared lounge that has a much cheaper price point than the private suites themselves, and has...most of the amenities of the luxurious lounge option. You're still skipping the long lines inside the actual airport itself, but you're not necessarily getting the "celebrity" feel of the suites or some of the spa services.
The Bottom Line
This isn't just cool; it's one of the coolest things you can do. Look, the price tag is steep. Like, really steep. And, even though there are plans to expand this format to New York and Miami, this is aggressively targeted to people who frequently travel through LAX. If you can stomach the price tag and extreme douchiness of the whole process, then go for it! Ball out homie. Grab yourself one of those Private Suites at LAX and never look back.
If you could afford to fly like this, would you? Let me know in the comments below! And don't forget to sign up for the email list so you get these in your inbox as soon as they post!
