The Next Frontier

Travel and shopping are made for each other.

By Carol Tisch

There’s a magical synergy between travel and shopping. They support and nurture one another, especially in the luxury category. This has never been more apparent than at the party on March 29 thrown by Admiral Travel Gallery to celebrate its 10^th anniversary.

Although Saks Fifth Avenue isn’t in the travel business per se, general manager Sally Schule was there to raffle off a piece of Tumi luggage (she tells me it’s the only brand Saks carries) and to remind ATG’s guests about the partner benefits specifically related to travel for customers who sign up for a Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard.

Sally Schule of Saks and Malaka Hilton of Admiral Travel

One of those benefits is a new relationship between Saks corporate and Virtuoso Travel Services; coincidentally, Admiral Travel is part of the exclusive Virtuoso network. So if you sign up for the card, you get access to all the experiences and privileged access Virtuoso has to offer—and your perks grow in value as you buy clothes for your trip or whatever strikes your fancy while traveling. There are myriad other benefits, including access to everything from private jets to 500 airport lounges around the world.

Part of the SaksFirst program, which has four tiers of benefits depending on spending, the World Elite MasterCard also offers deals from Abercrombie & Kent, British Airways, Sentient Jet and The Yachts of Seabourn. But they haven’t gone quite as far as partnering with one upscale travel vendor attending the party: Virgin Galactic.

Malaka and Ryan Hilton, owners of Admiral Travel are the exclusive agents for the Sarasota - Tampa Bay region, and Ryan is one of the 47 “space agents” accredited by Virgin Galactic to “prepare the world’s first amateur astronauts for spaceflights.”

Tumi Ducati Turn Transporter

Though many were curious, only one of the 150 guests attending has signed up for the $200,000 trip so far: Sarasota resident, Diana Cloud. For her money she’ll get three days of astronaut training in the Mojave Desert before embarking on a three-hour flight where she’ll be able to leave her seat and float freely in the cabin, experiment with gravity and take in views that span 1000 miles of the earth’s surface.

Sounds great. But I have a few concerns: Where does she shop for clothes? And how many pounds do they allow on space flights for Tumi luggage?

Posted: 4/12/2007 8:38:37 AM | 0 comments