“Another blini for your caviar, Madame?” I'm asked as we drive over Iceland's snow-capped mountains and I settle into my wide Italian cream leather and walnut throne.
Around me, my fellow guests, all smartly dressed and full of anticipation, are sipping perfectly chilled 2013 vintage Dom Perignon champagne (costing more than £200 a bottle) and getting to know each other.
We're aboard Abercrombie & Kent's private jet, flying in extreme style from Reykjavik, Iceland to Portland, Oregon.
The company whisks small groups of wealthy travelers on trips around the globe that cost up to £156,605 ($200,000) for up to 26 days.
Private jet tours like these have grown in popularity since the pandemic and are now offered by several luxury travel companies, including hotel groups Aman and Four Seasons. I'm trying it out for a trip.
Harriet Sime travels on the Abercrombie & Kent private jet, which is designed to carry small groups on trips around the world that cost up to £156,605. Harriet is pictured above enjoying a glass of Dom Perignon vintage 2013 champagne, which costs more than £200 a bottle
The Abercrombie & Kent jet (pictured) is a reconfigured and customized Boeing 757
As they criss-cross the world, guests will be treated to three-course meals prepared by private chefs, reclining seats, fluffy slippers and duvets, Briggs & Riley cosmetic bags filled with L'Occitane goodies, iPads loaded with newly released films and a trip pampered “porter” in charge of luggage and a photographer ready to capture every moment. For absolute safety, there is even a doctor on board for the duration of the trip.
The Abercrombie & Kent jet is a reconfigured and customized Boeing 757. Planes like this typically carry around 200 passengers. But this one only has 48 handcrafted business class-like seats that massage their passengers in various modes and lie flat at the touch of a button.
I'm assigned 9A, a window seat with absolutely everything I need within easy reach: almost as soon as I realize my phone's battery is dead, I find a charger in a side pocket; As the chatter in the cabin grows louder as I fall asleep, I find Bose noise-cancelling headphones above my head. The moment I feel hungry or need a refill, a flight attendant comes over and places something on the wide walnut table in front of me.
On Abercrombie & Kent's Wildlife Safari tour, passengers travel to eight countries, stopping to spot snow monkeys in Japan, bears in Malaysia, Bengal tigers in India, lemurs in Madagascar and gorillas in Uganda – all wrapped in luxury
Planes like this usually carry around 200 passengers, but this plane only has 48 business class-like seats, reveals Harriet. She describes her seat as an “Italian throne of cream leather and walnut.”
The guest-to-cabin crew ratio is 1:7 and staff wear navy skirt suits, corsages and big smiles.
During the flight, conversation flows as quickly as the champagne. “On these trips, we become like one big family,” says Ann Epting, senior vice president of private jet travel at A&K. It may sound cheesy – but it's true.
As we cross Canada's deep blue lakes, white linen towels are placed on our tables and we are treated to chicken Caesar salads, followed by honey and lime glazed arctic char with lobster sauce and a caramel chocolate mousse pudding with crumbled brownies.
The chairs “massage their sitter in various modes and lie flat at the push of a button.”
Harriet is impressed by the food on board and says she has “eaten worse in Michelin star restaurants”.
As well as top-notch food, Harriet explains, there's an extensive and unlimited drinks menu, which includes Negronis and espresso martinis, Campari, Martini, Cognac and bottles of red and white wine that would cost upwards of £100 at your local restaurant
The guest-to-cabin crew ratio is 1:7 and “staff wear navy skirt suits, corsages and big smiles.”
The Briggs & Riley toiletry bag with L'Occitane goodies that each passenger receives
I've eaten worse at Michelin-starred restaurants and can't quite believe what I'm tasting at 38,000 feet.
The extensive and unlimited drinks menu includes Negronis and Espresso Martinis, Campari, Martini, Cognac and bottles of red and white wine that would cost over £100 at your local restaurant.
The eight hours pass in a ridiculously luxurious rush, and before we know it, the jet lands in Portland. I've never been so unhappy getting off a plane.
As soon as we disembark, the jet will be cleaned and re-equipped so that the lucky guests can continue their 25-day wildlife safari tour, visiting eight countries and making stops to see snow monkeys in Japan, bears in Malaysia , Bengal tigers in India, lemurs in Madagascar and gorillas in Uganda – all in luxury bubble wrap.
In total they will be in the air for 55 hours. A similar itinerary using commercial flights would take 117 hours, plus 77 additional stops. Traveling on another tour between Cebu in the Philippines and Sandakan in Malaysia would normally take 19 hours plus two stops; A&K's private jet makes it there in 40 minutes.
Passengers never have to wait in line and are guided through private terminals with immigration cards pre-filled by staff.
Meanwhile, hotel stops will be made at the world's top brands, including The Peninsular, Shangri-La and Ritz-Carlton.
Passengers on the Abercrombie & Kent Private Jet Tour never have to wait in line and are escorted through private terminals with immigration cards pre-filled by staff
When the plane lands somewhere off the luxury hotel route, A&K books a three- or four-star hotel and converts it to a five-star hotel. They train the staff (or bring in their own staff), replace furniture, linens and mattresses, paint walls and add artwork.
This all-inclusive odyssey will set you back £139,670 per person ($176,000). Demand is high and almost 40 percent of customers come back for their second, third or even ninth trip.
Of course, guests spending what some people pay for a house means that expectations are very high. So do the staff ever say “no” to guests? “No,” comes Ann’s quick reply, a wry smile spreading across her face. “Honestly, we do everything we can to accommodate our guests’ needs and “no” isn’t really in our vocabulary. “One time a couple wanted eight feather pillows in every hotel room, so we made sure that happened.”
Then there was the woman who brought nine suitcases and presented seven pages of dietary needs; the veterinarian who wanted to eat a pig's head in the remote Philippines; the man who proposed to him after he was flown by helicopter to Everest Base Camp, and then asked if the staff would arrange his wedding a few days later – which of course they did in Sicily.
So is it worth it? If you have the money, definitely. But it is also dangerous. Jet around the world like that and you may never want to take a regular commercial flight again.
TRAVEL FACTS
Abercrombie & Kent offers private jet tours around the world from £139,670. The next Wildlife & Nature tour starts in Hawaii on September 2 (abercrombiekent.co.uk, 03330 603892).