Most people assume there are exactly two ways to fly: commercial, with all its lines and gate chaos, or private, at private-jet prices. PS exists in a strange, expensive third lane almost nobody knows about — a way to fly on a completely normal commercial airline ticket while never actually experiencing a public terminal.
Here's how it works: you're chauffeured (often in a BMW) directly across the airfield to your commercial aircraft's door, skipping the terminal entirely. PS holds the only private partnership with both TSA and Customs and Border Protection, so security and immigration happen inside their own space — private screening, no lines, no crowds. In between, there's a lounge or private suite with chef-prepared food, a full bar, and spa services, depending on which tier you book.
Currently operating at LAX, Atlanta, Dallas Fort Worth, and Miami, with Paris in the pipeline. It launched at LAX back in 2017 as "The Private Suite" and has since served nearly 250,000 passengers — reportedly popular enough with celebrities and ultra-frequent flyers that TPG (the private equity firm) backed it, and it's now being acquired by Groupe ADP, the company that runs the Paris airports.
The price tag matches the strangeness of the concept. All Access Membership runs around $4,850 a year, on top of per-use fees each time you actually fly through it. Press coverage has been glowing — Forbes, CNN Travel, and Business Insider have all called it one of the most unique ways to travel — but it's worth noting the reception isn't universal. At least one longtime user on the FlyerTalk forums, after several bookings, said flatly it wasn't worth the price for them.
This isn't a pick for most people's budgets. But as a "wait, this is a real thing you can book?" discovery, it's hard to beat — proof that somewhere between economy and a Gulfstream, there's a whole hidden lane most travelers never learn exists.