YClass

I've used the Salon service for arrivals and departures. Both times hand luggage only international flights. On arrival I simply wanted to get in my car ASAP and get to the hotel. It's a very stress free way to arrive - private, comfortable, no queues. Could I be out of the terminal and in a car with GE - perhaps, if not probably. Without GE (or US passport) you are likely much much faster with P/S. But for peace and quiet and security of getting out ASAP its good. Worth it is simply how much you value personal space, ease, stress free and guaranteed speed.

For departures I'd argue a more worthwhile experience. No queues, stress free, no dragging around luggage, very pleasant lounge to relax in and have decent food and drinks while you wait to depart. They take you to the plane when they've almost finished boarding and escort past everyone all the way to the seat. However, in theory you could get to TBIT and through security and plane in a shorter space of time since they like you to get to P/S 1.5hrs before.

Would I want to sit in the Salon for 4 hours, perhaps not. Couple hours would fly by I reckon. Salon or private is great with family, but of course cost wise might as well take the private suite. If you can afford them, ground services in general (VIP arrivals/departures/transfers) are excellent at all airports and IMO totally worth it with the worlds worst airports like Frankfurt etc. Bridges gap between private and commercial! So if you comp to flying private, then suddenly seems very reasonable . For $500 I think its no-brainer in context of $10k tickets, but those deals aren't around anymore I don't think.

gudugan

I was in the restaurant/lounge of the Santa Monica Proper Hotel and a couple folks in the entertainment industry were talking about how it makes sense as an expense for their VIP clients where privacy is important.

DJ_Iceman

Yes, PS is clearly designed with this kind of customer in mind. Before my first visit I assumed it was going to be very much a "show off your wealth" kind of thing, but it's quite the opposite--very subdued, very subtle, and very addicting! Unlike YClass, when I go I've taken them up on the offer to be the *first* people on the plane, so we're settled in our seats with bags stowed before the airline even begins preboarding. No fanfare, and maybe only the very first folks to board would even know we were there before them. I'm not in any way a high-profile client who values privacy to that degree, but it would be perfect for someone who is/does.

KatW

Coming to ATL: https://www.cnn.com/travel/ps-privat...ort/index.html

S.R

Considering using the PS Salon service for a SQ F departure in a few months, as I know the *A F lounge at TBIT is nothing special. Will have checked bags.
So I guess they take care of all that, such as getting us checked in, checking the bags in, and just bring us back our passports and BPs?

ABG

Yes, that is their business model

Flyloha

Yes. It's a wonderful service and with the sad state of the *A lounge, if you have the means, I would highly encourage you to give it a shot. One of the other great benefits is that the entrance is off Imperial highway and you don't have to deal with any of the ridiculous LAX traffic.

willoL

Do any of the repeat PS users here book as a guest, or are most of you paying for membership thus booking with higher priority?

I just requested The Salon for next week as a first time, non-member visitor, but the automatic response says it is a wait-list situation. Specifically:
"...due to high demand we are currently prioritizing reservation requests from our Members."

I'm wondering if they always say that and odds are I will be granted the opportunity to pay $$$ for access, or if I should plan to be in the terminal. The email also says they look at the wait-list starting 3 days ahead, which is after I've traveled from home and may be busy at the event we are attending in LA. If this is their usual language, when has anyone has had their reservation accepted from wait-list to confirmed? Closer to 3 days out, or right before travel?

Mostly looking to set my expectations appropriately here.

tfung

Does anyone know if they will help return a rental car for you, or you have to return it yourself and make your way over to PS on your own (uber, etc)?

javacodeguy

I've asked a couple times but never had a need for a rental yet. They said they would help return the car. But I'd love to hear some first hand experiences.

I'm also curious on the picking up a rental car. I figured if they wouldn't help, I'd probably leave the family to hang out in the suite while I go pick it up and then just drive back over in the rental to PS. The picking up is probably harder because Hertz or National isn't going to just hand your car over to someone else probably.

willoL

Returning to answer my own question from above...

Having requested a reservation in the P/S LAX Salon for Friday and being told I was wait-listed as a non-member, I got a confirmation email on Tuesday and did get to pay for the privilege of experiencing the private terminal. With only my single data point, I'd guess that they often do let in those of us who aren't members, but that they carefully allow time for members to book first (as I agree they should.)

This was an unusual trip for me as I arrived in Southern California (Van Nuys VNY) on a private plane, then left LAX via the private terminal. That did present an unusually easy comparison between the two situations!

First of all, while I wish PS cost somewhat less--like the price I saw in press releases about the service at its start, or even the member rate--the truth is I would pay the current fee again. I do have a psychological barrier about four digit prices vs. three digit ones, I realize.

As a person who doesn't live in the area, I managed to give the Lyft driver the wrong address, even though I cut & pasted that information from the text message a PS staff member sent ahead of my visit, so out-of-towners, beware! My Lyft driver and I were on the same named highway and at the same house number, but six miles from the airport at a strip mall. (Different town? Zip code? Something was different, but selecting in the Lyft app via the name PS at LAX was the best option for me in the end.) So I arrived 20 minutes later than expected, but still with plenty of time before my flight as I tend to arrive early in all cases due to a mild case of anxiety.

Every staff member was proactively helpful, ranging from very polite to polite-and-kind. Though I'd sent my Lyft info via text (including car details), it still took more than a minute and two brief chats with the guard to get through the gate initially, but that was as close as anything got to a service hiccup. Perhaps I made this harder because I use a passport card (not license or passport book) for domestic flight ID; the guard seemed confused between my middle name and my last name. I spoke the most with the gentleman who drove me to the plane, Marcos, who is training to be an air traffic controller and made me feel like I was in really excellent hands crossing the tarmac.

Inside, the lounge started out practically empty (no one with me on the side of the room I preferred) to full-enough-that-a-couple-shared-a-seating-group-with-solo-me 90 minutes later. I came in ~09:30 and I went to TSA ~10:30, but have no ideas if there's a trend to how busy it is. My husband (still VERY COVID-cautious) would've found it too close for comfort, but I thought it was fine (if nicer when I had couch/loveseat/2 chairs to myself.) Most Salon visitors seemed to be in couples or small groups of 3-4 people, but I'm not the type who feels like an oddball traveling alone and was quite comfortable with the tiny bit of small talk required to navigate sitting near the couple who joined me. (Though that couple did have a well-behaved dog, which I wouldn't have seated myself next to if I'd arrived after them. Achoo!) At its most full, my ballpark estimate was that the Salon had less than ~1/4-1/3 the human density of the typical airport lounge.

The Salon served an espresso that equaled the quality I'd had at the coffee shop at my resort (Terranea), satisfying my first requirement for an expensive lounge early in the day. I found the menu far larger than I personally require, but appropriate to the price point. I appreciated that one could order anything, not just "breakfast," regardless of the hour, though I opted for eggs and potatoes (and they were happy to hold the meat at my request.) Caviar and champagne was proactively offered, but I declined and can't speak to the alcohol selection as that's not my usual morning beverage of choice, even when flying.

Availability of an array of toiletries was mentioned, but I only saw a few in the restroom I visited, so I think they are either by request or were displayed somewhere else. I will comment to the ladies, the one type of item I might wish to find in a restroom and not have to request from a staff member at the bar was NOT there in case I needed one, though condoms, hair brushes, and other less immediately necessary items were. (Every airport restroom I visited during fuel stops while flying private did properly stock hygiene items in their ladies' rooms.) There was also no convenient hook or shelf for a small handbag one might prefer to have at one's side instead of across the room on the bench or vanity.

Both toilets on the end of the Salon I visited were handicapped accessible, but neither offered feminine hygiene supplies

I didn't walk around the lounge or visit the restrooms on the opposite side; I just read my book with my coffee(s) and followed up with some messages that were coming in at the time. I loved that the WiFi password was on my personal welcome slip placed on a table next to me, not across the room where I had to seek it out.

One point I wondered about was TSA PreCheck. If you have it, you won't need to remove shoes, liquids, etc., even at the PS TSA checkpoint. Since I figured they would have chairs there (and they did), I didn't stress over this, but was happy to have the more streamlined experience I'm used to at the private terminal. Also, I had two bags of coffee beans and a tub of collagen powder (a bit of swag from the conference) in my carry on, and the agents did inspect just as thoroughly here as they would in the main terminal, which is as it should be. The difference was, I didn't feel anxious or as if I was holding anyone else up as he swabbed my suspicious-on-x-ray items.

As a mobility-limited (but not disabled) passenger, I loved that someone was always offering to carry my bags, but it felt like I was being attended to as a general, high-quality service, not like my no-longer-fully-able body was being humored because I'm so lame. (I shouldn't fret about this, but this kind of thing adds to my overall stress so I notice.) My big struggle is long distances and lifting, so this was fantastic for me, and I was not physically taxed. I did hold on to both hand rails climbing the stairs onto my plane (an E175), but someone else carried my bags up, so that remained easily within my range of abilities.

I can't guarantee that I'd use the private terminal at LAX again if flying solo, but I'll certainly consider it, and it might not be an option for my most common trips as I travel most often with my teen. I would book it every time when bringing my travel-averse spouse, however, and I'd be joining as a member today if they served my usual airport. PS LAX does make me feel slightly more inclined to transit LAX in future, because it was just so comfortable and such a stress-reducer. Too bad they only offer LAX and ATL for now; plans to open at DFW or MIA are irrelevant to me as those are states I actively avoid. If they can get into JFK or another major hub in the northern US, I would pick an airport they serve for international flights for sure.

HaleiwaFlyer

You can also pre purchase a pack of 20 visit for 750 per visit, as a Salon member.

S.R

Just submitted my Salon booking for Memorial day Monday, so almost 2 months in advance as a non member, and got the same response in my confirmation email. I'm sure that is a busy travel day, but I guess they do give the "waitlist" response to any non member?
Also I really hope we're the only ones on our SQ flight using the Salon, as having a shared ride to the plane would significantly detract from the experience.

willoL

As a non-status non-member, I was brought to (the private PS version of) TSA while another party (a couple) was still passing through, but it didn't really cause me any stress. The whole experience was still much better than the public terminal in every way.

I suppose it might've been less awesome to be shoved three across in the back of the sedan that drove me to the gate, but that seems wildly unlikely based upon my single experience of PS. Almost everything felt quite up-market in their private terminal, except that they seemed to lack basic necessities for ladies in the toilets.

Had I been asked to share the chauffeured car with one other single traveler, and if I wasn't forced into actual contact with said person, I don't think my trip would've been markedly worse. Sharing a car does feel more like a $300 service than the four figure cost of my day at PS, however, so I see where you are coming from.

Here's a question for this forum: I left a tip on the food service bill that was handed to me while I waited in the lounge. What do others do? Tip in the "restaurant style folio" or tip multiple times?

In truth, my driver was my favorite individual during the experience, but it didn't occur to me to palm some cash toward him or anyone else. (Who carries cash now?) I just added a little on the gratuity line on the credit card slip, hoping it hit the right pockets. If I should do something different in future in a similar situation, I'd like to hear thoughts from regular visitors to PS.

DJ_Iceman

I tip in the folio for food and beverage service. I tried to tip my driver once and she graciously declined, saying they were fully compensated and not allowed to accept tips. I didn't push it to test whether this is one of those "after two nos you can say yes" things, but like I said she seemed gracious and honest in turning down the tip.