More than ever private jet travelers, or elite travelers as we like to call them, are the most lucrative market for luxury brands and service providers.

With readers spending $10,000 per hour to fly privately, the over 600,000 readers Elite Traveler reaches each issue provide you a great way to make sure your message is in front of consumers who have the money to be good customers.  With our Asia Edition, Elite Traveler Superyachts, our over 60 Elite Traveler Destination Guides at Elitetraveler.com, our global database of private jet owners and our award-winning custom marketing team, we would welcome the opportunity to be of help to you in making sure you get a bigger share of our reader spending. With a Net Worth of more than $25 trillion, I hope you will agree elite travelers should be a key target for your marketing!

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“Recently we had an American customer who walked in with a copy of Elite Traveler and booked two suites that been directly featured in the magazine.  The value of the booking was in the region of $200,000.”  – Tony Potter, Corinthia Hotels

In this edition:

1. The Dow Goes Up, The 99 Percent Are Watching, Not Earning

2. $60,000 Per Month – For Maintenance

3. Google Airport, Please.  I mean Google’s Own Airport…

4. Elite Traveler New Asia Publisher/MD and Office

 

1. The Dow Goes Up, The 99 Percent Are Watching, Not Earning

So the Dow broke 14,000.  The last time it was in this territory, credit was plentiful – i.e. credit cards, home loans and small business loans.  Mass Affluent Americans were flush in cash.  The next 9 percent were living large.  Donald Trump authored a book, “Think Like a Billionaire” and the Conde Nast consumer was acting like one -at least on the spending side of the ledger.

 

Well the good times are back, right?

 

According to CNBC Wealth Reporter Robert Frank, unless you are in the Top 1 Percent, the answer is probably no.

 

Frank notes, according to the Federal Reserve, the wealthiest one percent of Americans own 52 percent of all directly owned, publicly traded stocks in the United States.

 

And while many Americans own stocks, only about a third of all Americans hold more than $10,000 in stock, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute. So while more Americans hold stock, they don’t hold much.

 

Mass affluent Wealth comes from their homes and jobs – which have as we have consistently pointed out not recovered as quickly or as strongly as stocks.

 

“Gains from the recent uptick in the stock market go almost entirely into the hands of the rich,” Edward Wolff, an economics professor at New York University who specializes in household wealth, told Frank.

 

Adding to the disparity in stocks are the investing habits of the wealthy and non-wealthy. While many smaller investors got out of the stock market during the crisis or withdrew money from funds, the wealthy kept more money in the market – at least on a dollar basis. As a result, the wealthy had more money in the market as it surged after 2009.

 

We are not arguing that the 10 million + families that make up the Next 9 Percent do spend on luxury when they can – but more than ever it is a choice.  “If we do this, we can’t do that.”  The Washington Post survey of affluent families in six major metro markets with a Household Income of $250,000 shows how it’s impossible to make ends meet without designer fashion, without luxury cars and with just $3,000 for all vacation travel annually.  For those who spend more, it means cutting back on other things.

 

Now let’s look at top of the 1 percent…

“Elite Traveler is a key media source for us with well over $200,000 in sales we can track directly back to our ads in your magazine over the past year.”  – Charles Krypell, Owner, Charles Krypell

2. $60,000 Per Month – For Maintenance

 

Even in the 1 percent there are variances.  Wealth-X estimates there are some 190,000 Ultra High Net Worth ($30 million + Net Worth) families.  Yes, they have a combined pocket book of more than $40 trillion according to Citi Private Bank.  But frankly $30 million is Learjet territory.  Learjet = Small Private Jet.  Going up the elevator in the 1 percent neighborhood, the numbers of what is spent become staggering.

 

At $95 million, it is New York’s most expensive apartment – yes apartment, not a house.   And you’d think it would come with a doorman too.  According to a report The New York Post, maintenance is $60,000… per month!

 

Even on the lower side of the 1 percent, monthly maintenance fees in Manhattan have soared to an average of $1.70 per square foot, according to the paper, meaning that a 1,200 square foot condo will cost you $2,000 a month in maintenance fees, on top of your mortgage, utilities and (usually) property taxes.

“From the Summer Edition of Elite Traveler Superyachts, as well as the Asia Edition including the May/June issue we are happy to report sales ($437,000) of the timekeepers we advertised”  – Patrik Hoffmann, CEO Ulysse Nardin

3.  Google Airport, Please.  I mean Google’s Own Airport

 

I always enjoy those press reports that insinuate Bill Gates flies economy class or the Silicon Valley crowd favors Jet Blue, even the Super Rich.  Of course, sometimes the truth comes out – private jets are the chariot of choice even for internet whiz kids.  Remember when it came out that Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were doing seven figures in private jet expenses?

 

The Google guys came on to the private jet map several years ago when they bought a former Qantas Airways 767 and converted it to a private jet, the flagship of a multi-jet fleet.

 

So once you have enough planes, you need your own terminal, right?  And that’s exactly what Google is doing.

 

Google plans to build an $82 million private airport terminal in San Jose, Calif., to accommodate its private jets. It would be an addition to the Mineta San Jose International Airport already located there.  The proposal calls for developing a 17,000-square-foot terminal, a 33,000-square-foot building for offices and retail shops, a 66,000-square-foot hangar, 18.5 acres for aircraft parking and a 300-space car parking lot, reports CBS in San Francisco.

ONLY ELITE TRAVELER – Elite Traveler is the ONLY global publication targeting and reaching private jet travelers to have its circulation successfully audited.    View our BPA statement here. 

4.  Elite Traveler New Asia Publisher/MD and Office

Publishing industry veteran and Hong Kong native Tak Man is the new Publisher of Elite Traveler’s Asia Edition and Managing Director for the Asia/Pacific region, overseeing sales and marketing for all Elite Traveler Media Group products.  Mr. Man takes over from James Lister who has returned to the UK to take another position within the company.  Man, whose background includes senior magazine and web sales and management positions in London and New York, including CEO of a B2B company he launched, said: “The Elite Traveler franchise stands out with unique access to the 1 percent who are the heavy spenders on luxury.  The Super Rich are constantly traveling and we access them for our clients via our audited distribution aboard private jets in more than 100 countries.”

Our Asia office is now open at:

Elite Traveler Media Group

66/F The Center,

99 Queens Road,

Central,

Hong Kong,

Tak Man

Managing Director, Asia/Pacific

Publisher Elite Traveler

Tel: +852 6388 7602 tak.man@elitetraveler.com