What It’s Like to Destination Hop on a Private Jet, and the Best Around-the-world Jet Trips of 2025

I draped myself in an alpaca-lined blanket and wedged my toes into plush slippers. The airplane door closed, and I stated farewell to Bolivia’s ethereal Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat.

Our subsequent vacation spot, only a few hours away, was Bogotá, Colombia. It will be the ultimate cease of a 13-day expedition via South America. Only a week earlier, I had been trekking among the many rugged peaks of Torres del Paine Nationwide Park, in Chilean Patagonia. A couple of days earlier than that, I had rubbed elbows with gauchos within the wine nation of Argentina. Two days prior, I had crouched beside hundred-year-old Galápagos tortoises within the hills of Ecuador’s Santa Cruz Island.

It was, to say the least, no abnormal journey. This full-tilt immersion in a few of South America’s most coveted locations was the work of TCS World Travel, an operator that makes a speciality of expeditions by non-public jet. TCS is one thing of a pioneer within the area — one of many few journey corporations that may pull off these logistically advanced itineraries. Since working its first journey in 1995, TCS has organized greater than 300 non-public expeditions, together with many round-the-world journeys; most are about three weeks lengthy.

My very own, final October, was shorter, if extra targeted. Together with 37 different passengers, the overwhelming majority of whom had traveled with TCS earlier than, I took off from Miami in a custom-designed Airbus A321neo. A typical business model of this jet may need a crew of seven and 196 passengers. Ours had simply 52 seats and an 18-person crew: pilots, flight attendants, a chef, expedition leaders, lecturers, cameramen, and a physician. The inside was organized in business-class type, with two-by-two Italian leather-based seats that may lie absolutely flat. The multicourse meals have been a selected spotlight, with menus tailor-made to every nation we have been visiting: flaky Colombian empanadas, butter-poached Ecuadoran lobster, beers and wines sourced from locations we handed via.

Upon arrival, we have been usually met by an escort, who helped us bypass any traces. Wherever attainable, the required paperwork — immigration kinds and the like — was dealt with on our behalf.

It’s little surprise vacationers are embracing these journeys, says John Clifford, the founding father of Worldwide Journey Administration, a luxurious journey company. “Excessive-net-worth purchasers worth time — an unrenewable useful resource — and there’s the exclusivity of getting a choose group of visitors be a part of them,” Clifford says. 

Exclusivity was one motivation; entry was one other, as I discovered whereas placing up a dialog with Lynda Riesbeck, who, alongside together with her husband, Bob, was touring with TCS for the primary time. “The expertise offered the chance to step outdoors of our consolation zone and discover components of the world we could not take into account touring to by ourselves,” she informed me.

Along with the VIP therapy, we had lodging at high-end lodges, such because the Vines Resort & Spa, in Mendoza, Argentina, and the Singular Patagonia, in southern Chile, each of which charge extremely on the T+L World’s Best Awards survey. TCS additionally organizes actions at each cease. One evening in Mendoza, for instance, a group of cooks prepped an asado in the midst of a winery whereas tango performers placed on a present.

The corporate’s expertise actually got here to the fore when issues went sideways. Simply hours into our journey, the crew discovered {that a} allow permitting our jet to land within the Galápagos Islands had been revoked. The TCS floor workers, led by veteran expedition chief Eszter Foldvary, pivoted and organized tickets to the islands for all the touring celebration on scheduled business flights from Guayaquil, Ecuador. “We at all times remind visitors that these are true ‘expeditions,’ the place flexibility is vital,” says Shelley Cline, president of TCS.

By the point we landed in Bolivia, all the pieces was operating seamlessly. From our lodge, Los Tajibos, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, we have been taken by airplane after which a caravan of SUVs deep into the Salar. Quickly sufficient, we arrived at Portal, a monumental sculpture constructed from 5,000 salt bricks. The ephemeral work is the brainchild of the late Bolivian artist Gastón Ugalde, and TCS had organized for it to be re-created for our go to below the auspices of the Gastón Ugalde Basis. Additionally becoming a member of us have been the artist’s grownup kids, Mariano and Canela Ugalde, who’re the director and president, respectively, of the muse that carries on the artist’s legacy.

“Sharing Bolivia with vacationers from all over the world is deeply private,” Mariano informed me later. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the nation’s unimaginable variety, from its landscapes to its tradition and artwork — and with TCS, we’re capable of craft moments that depart lasting impressions.” So far as I’m involved, they most definitely succeeded.

FOUR MORE OPTIONS FOR ULTRA-LUXE FLIGHTS

For Asia Aficionados

Remote Lands, which makes a speciality of journey to Asia, has teamed up with Aman for its non-public “fly-tineraries,” just like the 15-day journey slated for October 2025 that can contact down in Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka.

For Luxurious Lovers

One among a number of Non-public Jet Experiences from Four Seasons, which operates in partnership with TCS, is a 24-day journey from Seattle to St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, that visits evocative locations together with Japan, Vietnam, the Maldives, Tanzania, and Turkey.

For Adventurers

Storied operator Abercrombie & Kent coordinates a choose few Non-public Jet Journeys yearly. One choice for 2025 will likely be a wildlife-focused, round-the-world odyssey that stops in Palau, Nepal, Seychelles, Namibia, Brazil, and Panama over 24 days.

For Landmark Chasers

Paris-based Safrans du Monde affords a selection of two journey courses — Membership and Première — on its private-jet itineraries. The corporate’s Grands Classiques journeys span 25 days and hit iconic websites akin to Angkor Wat, Easter Island, and the Taj Mahal.

A model of this story first appeared within the February 2025 difficulty of Journey + Leisure below the headline “Proper This Method.”