How do the "upper class" travel?
Apr 16, 2016, 10:59 pm
#1
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How do the "upper class" travel?
I'm quoting an original post from another thread but felt I should make a separate one to address my specific question. I apologize in advance for bringing up a controversial and what may not be a completely PC topic but it's something I'm really curious about.
How do the "upper class" travel? By this, I mean only people who were financially independent, i.e. can live off their assets, from birth. That's working with the assumption that true class mobility is not possible in one generation. Please, let's gloss over any snobbery issues in this. If it's not via Four Seasons, Aman, etc., how? Perhaps some still stay at the grand estates of similar friends as the aristocrats did in the past? I'd really like to hear your opinions.
How do the "upper class" travel? By this, I mean only people who were financially independent, i.e. can live off their assets, from birth. That's working with the assumption that true class mobility is not possible in one generation. Please, let's gloss over any snobbery issues in this. If it's not via Four Seasons, Aman, etc., how? Perhaps some still stay at the grand estates of similar friends as the aristocrats did in the past? I'd really like to hear your opinions.
From the NYT Article on 4 Seasons round the world tour in a 4S manned jet.
My $120,000 Vacation
by David Brooks
"What sort of people go on a trip like this? Rich but not fancy. It is a sign of how stratified things have become that even within the top 1 percent there are differences between the single-digit millionaires and the double- or triple-digit millionaires. The people on this trip were by and large on the lower end of the upper class. One had a family carpet business. Another was an I.T. executive at an insurance company. There were a few law partners. There was a divorce coach who’d worked in finance, a woman who’d started a telecom business with her ex-husband and the vice chancellor from a medium-size university. Very few of these people were born to money. They did not dress rich, talk rich or put on airs. They have spent their lives busy with work and family, not jet-setting around or hanging out with the Davos crowd.
In other words, they were socially and intellectually unpretentious. They treated the crew as friends and equals and not as staff. Nobody was trying to prove they were better informed or more sophisticated than anybody else. "
My $120,000 Vacation
by David Brooks
"What sort of people go on a trip like this? Rich but not fancy. It is a sign of how stratified things have become that even within the top 1 percent there are differences between the single-digit millionaires and the double- or triple-digit millionaires. The people on this trip were by and large on the lower end of the upper class. One had a family carpet business. Another was an I.T. executive at an insurance company. There were a few law partners. There was a divorce coach who’d worked in finance, a woman who’d started a telecom business with her ex-husband and the vice chancellor from a medium-size university. Very few of these people were born to money. They did not dress rich, talk rich or put on airs. They have spent their lives busy with work and family, not jet-setting around or hanging out with the Davos crowd.
In other words, they were socially and intellectually unpretentious. They treated the crew as friends and equals and not as staff. Nobody was trying to prove they were better informed or more sophisticated than anybody else. "
Apr 17, 2016, 1:18 am
#3
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Mike said it! I know very rich people who do cheap vacations in rental flats or middle class hotels. We had a lot of discussion about this round the world tour, very few here were impressed. What´s my biggest issue? The mediocre jet? The idea to travel in a group? Have to stay at some mediocre hotels? They offer rooms? The fact it´s overpriced? Many reasons..........
Apr 17, 2016, 12:51 pm
#4
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I found it surprising that Gloria Vanderbilt had never been on a private jet til HBO flew her to the West Coast to promote her and Anderson Cooper's documentary.
Apr 17, 2016, 1:07 pm
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I found it surprising that Gloria Vanderbilt had never been on a private jet til HBO flew her to the West Coast to promote her and Anderson Cooper's documentary.
Apr 17, 2016, 6:41 pm
#6
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re residences - could stay as an owner, a renter, a guest, or exchange
but 'averages' are just that, doesnt apply to every member of a 'group'
interesting most dont pay attention to different regulations for general aviation
as noted re "otherwise" - can be even less regulation for flights 'by' owners
but 'averages' are just that, doesnt apply to every member of a 'group'
as noted re "otherwise" - can be even less regulation for flights 'by' owners
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Apr 17, 2016 at 7:43 pm
Apr 17, 2016, 6:48 pm
#7
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Carriers are deemed safer & being in F or Suite or " apartment " is doable .
Older ones are sometimes in a time warp , possibly octogenarians and older
Then a prop is
. So even the prop from / to Pamalican Island , Pulo & MNL is a stretch , untenable even if small jet 
.
Apr 17, 2016, 7:57 pm
#8
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not hotels >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post17353184
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...ml#post5607215
casino properties / clubs >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post13997925
hotels >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post19524254
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...l#post17353432
members clubs > http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...onghua-cn.html
castiglion del bosco tried members club, wasnt possible in italy
multiple posts in this thread - both hotels and not hotels > http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...stay-asia.html - in quoted article, more than half of survey respondents with $25m net worth spent less than $25K a year on travel. spending elsewhere instead. very low stated minimum income.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post17353184
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...ml#post5607215
casino properties / clubs >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post13997925
hotels >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...l#post19524254
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...l#post17353432
members clubs > http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...onghua-cn.html
castiglion del bosco tried members club, wasnt possible in italy
multiple posts in this thread - both hotels and not hotels > http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxur...stay-asia.html - in quoted article, more than half of survey respondents with $25m net worth spent less than $25K a year on travel. spending elsewhere instead. very low stated minimum income.
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Feb 27, 2017 at 8:08 pm
Apr 18, 2016, 3:08 am
#9
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Lots of rather wealthy people indeed don't spend that much on travel annually. In large part that is because leisure travel (at least) isn't that much of a priority; and in some part that is because the spending that does take place on travel is of the more "common" sort because feeling like you've squandered money or you've been swindled is not a feeling that is much sought after by most.
And if you look at the travel spending of such demographic, I wouldn't be surprised if most such travel spending tends to be oriented more toward destinations that are not as remote as some may expect.
I know some people who are in a pickle of a situation: fly "private" and most probably be spared the worst of the hassles of dealing with the TSA (and perhaps even the CBP); or fly common carriers and be spared the risk of flight operations subject to different/lesser regulation. An "upper class" travel "problem", some would say.
That said, Gloria Vanderbilt/Cooper may have been part of that "cut back your children's expectation to live on inherited wealth" wave and let them live a bit more like the population at large -- i.e. fly commercial.
And if you look at the travel spending of such demographic, I wouldn't be surprised if most such travel spending tends to be oriented more toward destinations that are not as remote as some may expect.
That said, Gloria Vanderbilt/Cooper may have been part of that "cut back your children's expectation to live on inherited wealth" wave and let them live a bit more like the population at large -- i.e. fly commercial.
Apr 18, 2016, 11:16 am
#10
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I'm fairly certain that, last name not withstanding, Gloria's life was far from that of privileged (from a financial standpoint).
Apr 18, 2016, 1:39 pm
#12
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The thrift practiced by some of them was unbelievable. I know two that own private jets that regularly fly commercial if that saves them money. They stay at mid-range resorts and hotels. This surprised me greatly, especially when I heard them talking about staying at places I deemed "not good enough" for my family.
Apr 18, 2016, 5:53 pm
#14
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 225
I think they travel seasonally with the "in crowd." People start their year in St. Barths or Aspen. Later their is Park City. The young hit up Coachella (a group of my friends chartered choppers from LA, booked two houses at a cost of $25K and had on direction drivers.... as for the fest they bout posh camping passes to have the best access and use of a an air conditioned TP that they weren't staying in).
It all depends on interests and what is most convenient.
It all depends on interests and what is most convenient.
Apr 19, 2016, 1:49 am
#15
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I know two billionaires quite well and have travelled with them on some short trips. They started their own companies from scratch, all their wealth is self-made. They both live in Europe.
- Both of them fly extensively in their private jets, even on very short hops e.g. London for a lunch and then back home. One of them also flies long-haul to Asia in his jet, the other prefers Singapore Airlines First as he travels with his wife and three kids (all in F).
- One of them flies to Maldives in his jet while his >100mm Yacht with a crew of 20ppl already is waiting for him there for a few days of cruising around. He spends about 3 months per year on his yacht. His business partners have to fly to wherever his boat is for business meetings.
- They often stay at their friends houses or yachts when traveling
- In terms of hotels both of them like Aman a lot
- Both of them fly extensively in their private jets, even on very short hops e.g. London for a lunch and then back home. One of them also flies long-haul to Asia in his jet, the other prefers Singapore Airlines First as he travels with his wife and three kids (all in F).
- One of them flies to Maldives in his jet while his >100mm Yacht with a crew of 20ppl already is waiting for him there for a few days of cruising around. He spends about 3 months per year on his yacht. His business partners have to fly to wherever his boat is for business meetings.
- They often stay at their friends houses or yachts when traveling
- In terms of hotels both of them like Aman a lot