From private suites to $20,000 seats: Luxury travelers have more ways to splurge while many passengers can't afford economy

MW From private suites to $20,000 seats: Luxury travelers have more ways to splurge while many passengers can't afford economy

By Genna Contino

While you squeeze into 31B, airline are prioritizing 'the traveler willing to pay more'

Airlines are pouring money into elevating the experience for luxury travelers even as conditions in economy get tighter and costlier.

Traveling on a budget is harder than ever as airlines pass elevated jet-fuel costs along to passengers and hike checked-bag fees. But affluent travelers aren't having much trouble covering increasingly pricey fares - and airlines are banking on their business.

The top 1% - or those with net worths of at least $13 million - spend an average of $12,400 on each vacation they take, according to the 2026 Future of Luxury Travel report from the global tourism adviser Resonance Consultancy. That's a 48% jump from how much the same wealth class spent in 2022. The top 10%, or those worth upwards of $1.5 million, spend an average of $7,900 per trip, while the general population spends $3,700.

Airlines are pouring money into flashy premium-class upgrades to keep attracting these big spenders while the average traveler struggles to afford basic airfare. This stark contrast has created what feels like a new Gilded Age in commercial travel, experts say. While affluent travelers enjoy complimentary Champagne and lie-flat business-class seats, the goalposts continue to move further out of reach for middle-class travelers saving up credit-card rewards points in the hope of one day enjoying the same perks.

"Airlines can generate more revenue per seat selling premium offerings versus the same old economy seat with a few ancillary upgrades," said Katy Nastro, a travel expert with the travel website Going. "That traveler willing to pay more is always worth more to an airline."

Read more: Airline and cruise stocks soar, as 'TACO' gives way to 'trust in Trump alone'

Things could get worse for budget-conscious travelers, too. Major news outlets have reported that Spirit Airlines $(FLYYQ)$ could liquidate, as the budget carrier faces high jet-fuel costs following its second bankruptcy in August 2025. (Spirit does not "comment on market rumors and speculation," and the carrier's "operations continue as normal," a spokesperson told MarketWatch on Friday.) And while American Airlines $(AAL)$ said it is not interested in merging with United Airlines $(UAL)$ after United reportedly pitched a deal to federal government officials last week, a Citigroup $(CUL3)$ analyst said in a note that mergers-and-acquisitions activity within the industry remains likely.

The potential changes follow a chaotic March for both travelers and carriers, when airlines faced spiking jet-fuel cots while frustrated passengers waited in hours-long security lines during the partial government shutdown.

While it's not new for airlines to prioritize higher-end cabins that generate more revenue, carriers are "building capacity to fit that profit scenario more now than they have in past years," said Michael Taylor, a senior managing director with JD Power who tracks the travel industry.

Both United and Delta Air Lines $(DAL)$ are rolling out a new class of seating known as studio suites for travelers, which are essentially larger private premium-class pods with sliding privacy doors, large screens and upgraded amenities. Airlines are also relying on sleek tech and name-brand partnerships to lure premium travelers, Nastro said. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific's $(CPCAY)$ new Aria Suite has Bluetooth headphones to connect with a 24-inch, 4K screen. New international business-class seats on Alaska Airlines $(ALK)$ flights offer amenity kits with products from the luxury skincare brand Salt & Stone.

These upgrades come at a significant cost. A round-trip United Polaris ticket between San Francisco and Singapore in early June - one of the premium-class routes featuring the new suites - can cost upwards of $9,000. That is a massive premium to the roughly $2,000 price for an economy seat on the same flight, according to pricing on United's website on Monday.

From the archives (October 2025): Rich fliers are making United and Delta billions by buying premium perks

Reserving a Polaris Studio suite on top of that fare carries a $499 surcharge per segment, according to the Points Guy travel site. Other international carriers check in at similar price points. A round-trip flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific's Aria Suite for early June was priced at approximately $10,000 on Monday, according to the carrier's website.

Some new planes are being built with fewer seats to prioritize high-paying passengers. For example, Australia's Qantas $(QUBSF)$ is planning to roll out new Airbus A350 jets at the end of 2026 that dedicate 40% of floor space to first-class, business and premium economy seats. To make room for an expanded first class, the airline had to ditch more than 100 seats that normally fit in a plane of this size, according to the aviation outlet Simple Flying. While this leaves fewer options for the lowest fare class, economy passengers do get an extra inch of space in the reconfigured layout.

Read more: Why these 3 airlines are still raising bag fees even though passengers are already fed up with high prices

Luxury travelers are willing to pay big bucks for privacy and convenience, too. Eric Hrubant, the founder and president of CIRE Travel, a luxury travel agency that is an affiliate of Global Travel Collection, said long-haul commercial flights typically range from $6,000 and $8,000 for his clients, but that can jump to $10,000 even upwards of $20,000 for a peak or a last-minute booking.

"What's interesting is that clients have adjusted," Hrubant said. "If the flight, schedule and overall experience make sense, they're willing to spend it."

Historical context softens the blow a bit. "When inflation is taken into account, it's not nearly as egregious as it seems," Taylor said.

"Expressed as a percentage of disposable income, it's never been more economical to travel by air," he said. "In the 1970s it required 140 hours of labor wages to fly New York to London, [while] today the labor hours required are about a day and a half's average wage."

It's true airfare hasn't yet reached a breaking point at which people are avoiding the skies completely because they can no longer afford to fly. The International Air Transport Association, in fact, expects air-travel demand to more than double by 2050.

As demand persists, some wealthy travelers are deciding a luxury seat isn't sufficient to justify the crowds and flight delays that can come with commercial travel and choose to cough up thousands to fly private.

Despite fuel costs pushing the price of some chartered flights 20% higher than before the Iran war, one private-jet booking company said it's not seeing a dip in demand. Amalfi Jets founder and CEO Kolin Jones said the saved time and the convenience of flying private makes it worth the price for those who can afford it - and Amalfi's clientele is largely in a financial position where they aren't too bothered by price swings resulting from macroeconomic issues.

Read: 5 things to know about a potential airline merger of United and American

"Look at businesses that are doing multiple roadshow trips [or] to take four or five executives to different plants or construction zones and back. To do that commercially, that's a three- or four-day trip," Jones said. "If you take a Gulfstream [private jet], you can do all of these trips in the same day and be back by dinnertime."

As for middle-class leisure travelers who just want to get from Point A to Point B without splurging, experts don't expect doom and gloom forever.

"The 'Tiffany model' of offering ultrapremium service and goods looks profitable at the moment, but the airlines still need coach-seat passengers to pay the fixed costs of flights, and airlines will still face competition to fill those seats as economically as they can," Taylor said.

Read on: Here's the real cost of economy airfare after all the fees. 'What's next - an add-on for access to the bathroom?'

Need help deciding which college you can afford, or managing your student loans? Join our next Don't Short Yourself Live on Wednesday, April 22, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, where MarketWatch's Beth Pinsker and college admissions expert Andy Lockwood will answer your questions about cutting college costs.

-Genna Contino

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2026 10:44 ET (14:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.