PS (which was initially founded in 2017 as The Private Suite) is a company that operates exclusive airport facilities, intended to allow people to bypass the typical airport experience, when flying commercially. The company’s latest outpost has just opened at Miami International Airport (MIA), so if you have $1,295 to drop to enhance your pre-flight…
Continue reading: PS MIA: Miami Airport’s New $1,295+ Per Visit Private Terminal Opens
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
i could see this being a fun way to kick off a big international trip. would be super weird to splurge on this and then board a domestic first class flight to DFW or something.
Look forward to your review Ben!!
I don't really understand the point of this. Who wants to get to the airport early enough to even take advantage of all these amenities? If you're connecting flights, that's one thing. But it doesn't seem like this works for connecting passengers. But if you're originating or terminating in MIA, assuming you're not some sort of VIP celebrity, it seems like more hassle than it's worth.
Could I talk myself into spending $1.25K to "splurge" on this? Doubtful. I'll just slum it in the AA FL.
I wonder how this is even possible to integrate a facility like this into formal airport proceedings.
Can anybody open a private (commercial) facility at a US airport and get it services by TSA and Immigration?
Yeah, totes agree. The art screams "Patrick Nagel draft of a Duran Duran album cover ca. 1982."
That's a very bad thing.
How long before Ben (and maybe Miles who seems to be an aviation geek in his own right) gives this a try? It is the home airport, isn't it?
I actually think this concept makes a lot of sense at airports that see a lot of wealthy foreign nationals. Foreign nationals from most countries cannot register for Global Entry or TSA Precheck, so for those wealthy individuals who travel to the US frequently (or infrequently), and aren't flying private, they still need to spend hours waiting at immigration, even if they just got off a $10K+ First Class seat. Same with TSA lines (though the foreing nationals immigration line at some terminals in the US is much, much worse in my experience). For people in those circumstances, I absolutely see PS being a great option.
I have a close friend who's family is very wealthy, and they fly to the US multiple times a year from their foreign home country (as they have a place in NYC). However, despite routinely spending thousands on premium cabin tickets, they still have to spend hours at immigration (they aren't eligible for Global Entry).
PS Miami will likely benefit from this crowd, though as Ben said, even the local market will make it work here. I wonder if we will see a PS at JFK and/or EWR anytime soon.
They pay the federal government for the dedicated TSA and Customs. It's exactly what Delta does for its dedicated TSA at select Delta One departure points. PS has fewer people across which to amortize the expense. Which is why the price is so high. AA used to have a similar service at LAX.
I'm SO happy to see this repurposing of the long-abandoned Pan Am building. It really warms my heart. For that reason alone, I hope the project proves viable and remains sustainable for years to come.
Oh my how you are wrong. You never touch your luggage. You relax in what is essentially a 5* hotel suite for an hour or so, then they drive you to your plane just before it departs. Except for sharing the plane with the great unwashed, it is even better than flying private (most FBOs are pretty dumpy places designed mostly for pilots to hang out). For domestic, it is great. For international, it is life changing. Try it, then say you don’t get it.
The one thing they really need to fix is people using it for connecting flights. It shouldn't cost almost double for a connection and you shouldn't have to reclear security in the facility if it's a domestic to domestic or domestic to intl. Once they fix that, I would use it more often.
Is there a time limit? To make this worth it you'd need to show up 4 hrs before the flight.
The 1% may fly private domestically but often will fly on airlines when going long-haul because those planes are better outfitted for long travel quite frankly. That's the point of La Premiere and Singapore Suites. For someone spending 15-20K on a ticket, using this service is attractive and in a place like Miami, I get it.
You’ve never even used it before so how can you say you’d use it more often? It JUST opened.
yes good point. its all those women driving around Miami in flashy ferraris/lambos/bugattis. damn them!!!!
I'm dying thinking of all the ultra-"masc" influencers in Miami splurging for this and then being too embarrassed to post a picture in what looks like a 10 year old girl's bedroom. It's horrid.
For these people, they don't wait hours in FBO either. Jet is ready to go, you walk straight to the plane. Few places don't even have security.
For international, pilots just have more paperwork and takes more time, still not your problem unless you run into issues with CBP.
If you had to wait longer for international flights, it's your pilots.
Unless you're very late or just decided to go or it's not your own jet.
Planning and being on time should never take you more than 10 mins car to jet.
This will be great when I fly on my coach 99 dollar flights
But at these low prices aren’t they giving it away?
2 hours for arrivals
3 hours for departures
6 hours for connections
But you'll never make it "worth it." The value is in the privacy, comfort, and skipping all the airport stress.
It's because you're paying for double the transfers. You do get a 25% discount, so it's not exactly double. The biggest cost and biggest limiter on being able to accept more people is they need 3 or 4 staff to take you in or out from a plane.