Here is something to irritate that travel bug! It wasn’t enough that Four Seasons launched round-the-world journeys by private jet. In the two years the trips have been offered, they’ve found more than enough travelers willing to pay the six-figure price tag to hop effortlessly from one Four Seasons hotel to another.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” says Susan Helstab, executive vice president, marketing for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “The fact that our Around the World trips continuously sold out underscores how important this level of experience is to our guests.” She adds that many guests have already taken more than one Four Seasons private jet trip, and had begun asking the company to create a more fully immersive experience.
So now the hotel company is going a step further, taking its brand to the skies with its own customized private jet. Starting next February, the Four Seasons Jet will ferry 52 guests at a time, with the promise of the same high-touch service and design standards they expect from the company on land. The interiors—tricked out with handcrafted leather flat-bed seats and international in-flight Wi-Fi—are done by the same design team behind many of the hotels, the globally-inspired menus were conceived by Four Seasons chefs, and the in-flight concierges undergo the same rigorous training as the ones on the ground.
They’re there to arrange spa treatments, tee times, dinner reservations and private excursions upon landing, letting guests further customize the already bespoke itineraries, which are packed with insider experiences like backstage tours and private viewings. Even if Four Seasons is leaving nothing to chance—and why else would they go to the trouble of kitting out their own plane and hiring their own pilots?—but giving guests a feeling of spontaneity.
Helstab explains the thinking behind it: “These travelers want ultimate personalization paired with seamless, genuine and intuitive service delivery. They embody a spirit of adventure and discovery, but want their experiences delivered in elegant, relaxed surroundings.”
In addition to set itineraries—a 24-day jaunt to nine destinations around the world in February and August ($119,000 per person) and a 16-day, six-city arts-focused European tour in April ($69,000 per person), the jet will be available for private charter, though it will only stop where passengers are staying at a Four Seasons hotel.