From a private dinner on the Great Wall of China to a trip to France for a bubbly soaked luncheon in Champagne, a new round-the-world travel package is being launched for travelers with $159,000 to spare. In partnership with The Peninsula hotel brand, Crystal AirCruises has launched a round-the-world jet tour that will help inaugurate the debut of their Boeing 777-200LR jet, which takes to the skies next summer.
Over 27 days, guests will fly to 10 metropolitan cities, including New York, Paris, and Tokyo, for a variety of cultural and culinary experiences unique to each destination. While staying at The Peninsula Beijing, for instance, guests can learn the art of making dumplings and participate in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Local insiders such as artists, gallerists, and fashion and jewelry designers, will greet guests and share their personal insights into what makes their city tick.
The launch marks Crystal’s expansion from luxury cruise liners—for which the brand is best known—into the world of luxury air travel.
The Boeing 777 has been reconfigured to convert seats into 180-degree lie-flat beds. The plane will also feature a more social lounge area with stand-up bar and table seating, while in-flight meals will be prepared by a designated executive chef. Amenities include Bose noise-canceling headphones, Apple iPads, and complimentary Wi-Fi. Crystal AirCruises is not the first to hit upon the idea of an air travel and hotel tie-up, or expand from sea to sky.
The Four Seasons hotel brand launched their own branded private jet tours last year, converting a Boeing 757-200ER into a luxury jet that can whisk 52 passengers to Four Seasons hotels around the world. And moving from sky to sea, Sir Richard Branson revealed this month that his newest venture after airlines, hotels, and commercial space flight, will be cruise ships, which will set sail under the banner of “Virgin Voyages” by 2020.
Bookings for Crystal AirCruises packages open on November 1, 2016, for travel from August 31, 2017. —Relaxnews
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.