Behind the Scenes: LAX’s Exclusive New Airport Lounge, The Salon
Driving directly to the tarmac was once reserved for private flyers, but one company has turned that trope on its head by bringing the allure of private to commercial flyers. Now it's making the experience even more lavish with an exclusive new lounge experience at LAX that is turning heads.
PS is a hospitality-forward travel company founded in 2017 and based at the Los Angeles International Airport’s airfield. It brings a novel approach to commercial travel, by operating a private airport terminal for commercial flights that allows flyers to unwind and freshen up in luxurious private suites. Whether departing or arriving, your experience includes being private TSA check-in (and customs for international flyers), before being escorted directly by private car to the waiting plane. PS is the first company cleared to operate plane-side pickups and drop-offs on commercial tarmacs, where security is notoriously tight.
PS also exclusively offers members PS Direct, a first-of-its-kind offering that chauffeurs travelers from their domestic commercial flight door straight to their home or hotel in a BMW 7-Series sedan, bypassing the airport and the PS terminal entirely. "We're the only ones in the world, to my knowledge, that can do this," Amina Belouizdad, co-CEO at PS, told Business Insider of PS Direct, its plane-side service.
Introducing The Salon
Credit: PS
Just this month, PS opened The Salon, its newest luxury travel experience redefining the airport experience for commercial flyers. The Salon is designed to provide an elevated social gathering space for solo travelers and small groups.
Spacious and beautifully designed by global interior design icon Cliff Fong, The Salon builds on PS’s founding principles of ease, indulgence and industry-leading hospitality. Guests can skip the crowded, chaotic airport lines that have long been a trademark of LAX – instead, they can enjoy chef-prepared, made-to-order Mediterranean- and California-inspired dishes and handcrafted cocktails at the lounge and full bar or unwind in a lusciously landscaped outdoor garden. The Salon’s cuisine options are crafted in partnership with renowned Los Angeles-based restauranteurs, The h.wood Group.
Credit: PS
Fong’s distinct design ethos is quietly high-end, a calm and uncluttered aesthetic that is strikingly purposeful yet naturally soothing. He is the founder of interior design firm Matt Blacke Inc and furniture show room Galerie Half, and his A-list clientele includes Ellen Degeneres and Ryan Murphy.
Credit: PS
Guests of The Salon can find vintage Goyard pieces and other one-of-a-kind new or vintage furniture and décor pieces with a significant design heritage. The Salon is also home to a curated art installation programmed by Creative Art Partners.
PS is taking its commercial air concept to new markets. According to a company spokeswoman, locations at Miami and New York’s JFK are already in the works. The company is also looking at potential other airports with high volumes of international traffic and passengers seeking expedited customs processing.
Credit: PS
A taste of private doesn’t come cheap, of course, which Belouzidad has said is a result of the licensing and regulatory requirements of operating so uniquely. But in comparison to private air travel, which can run in the five to six figures, it’s a well-worth indulgence that provides serenity, hospitality and comfort to an oft-tumultuous place – the airport.
Credit: PS
Access to The Salon is $695 per person, with or without an annual PS membership.
An annual membership to PS costs $4500 per person and includes complimentary valet parking and checked luggage, spa services and priority reservations for booking suites. PS Direct plane-side service runs an additional $3450 and is only available to annual members.
Booking a suite at PS without a membership hovers around $3250.
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