Move over, Four Seasons. Crystal is partnering with Peninsula Hotels to launch its AirCruises Aug. 31 next year. The inaugural air voyage aboard Crystal?s own Boeing 777-200 will circle the globe visiting each of the Hong Kong-based hotel group?s 10 properties, starting in New York with stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok and Paris, before returning to the Big Apple on Sept. 26. Fare is $159,000 per person.

Private jet tours have been a hot category of late. Abercrombie & Kent recently announced it was partnering with The New York Times for a trip using a chartered Boeing 757 with approximately 50 seats that convert to flat beds. Four Seasons has been bullish on its own offering, using a similarly outfitted single-aisle 757, using its hotels as stopping off points. Presidential Private Jet Vacations has been taking a similar approach, however, it offers customers the opportunity to take over the entire plane for their trips, usually 10-12 seat chartered long-range Gulfstream and Bombarider private jets. Crystal in its cases owns the 777, and brings a new dynamic in that it is a widebody plane, and it will include several lounge and dining areas, and an extensive wine cellar in the sky, as well as seats that convert to fully flat beds as others have.
Edie Rodriguez, President and CEO of Crystal predicts the debut will be fully sold. She points to her cruise line?s recently completed 32-day Northwest Passage cruise that so...