Cutting lines at airports is often associated with celebrities and politicians, the rich who don't seem to play be the same rules as the rest of us. But now airlines have caught on to the demand for the service, and realized it could be profitable.
If you are willing to pay for it, the airlines have ways you, too, can be fast tracked through airport security.
Airlines have made first class a more enjoyable experience when they realize that was what passengers were looking for. Now they have realized that passengers want a way to escape the airport chaos. In response, airlines are easing the misery of the experience for their highest-paying customers and giving them an elite experience.
An increasing number of airports are providing special agents that will meet passengers at the curb and privately escort them from check-in to security to boarding.
American Airlines built a private check-in lobby for this purpose in Los Angeles, where VIPs are greeted by name, given their preprinted boarding pass and brought by elevator to the front of the security line.
After passing through airport security, passengers flying Delta out of New York are brought to Delta's new Sky Club, which includes a hidden lounge-within-a-lounge with views of the Manhattan skyline.
In Atlanta, Delta will drive VIPs from one plane to another in a Porsche, taking away the need to enter the terminal.
The special treatment does not end at boarding.
Where many passengers scramble to be first on the plane so they can find a place for their carry-on luggage, celebrities like to be last to avoid other passengers asking for autographs. The airlines make sure that last-second boarding goes smoothly.
"We even do things like reserve overhead bin space for them," Ranjan Goswami, who overseas West Coast sales for Delta Air Lines, tells ABC.
American Air Lines is going even further, reconfiguring jet bridges to allow boarding through a second door on the plane, making it so coach passengers don't need to walk through first class to get to their seats on the airlines transcontinental flights.
There is a lot of money at risk with first class flyers. At big airlines like America, 70 percent of the revenue comes from 20 percent of the customers.
A one-way transcontinental business class seat purchased last-minute can cost over $2,500 while a non-refundable coach ticket booked at least 21 days in advance might only cost $159.
"L.A. -N.Y. is the pearl of domestic flying," said airline analyst Bob Harrell. "Airlines are fighting tooth and nail to get more than their share of passengers, particularly in the front of the plane."
The services are not just for celebrities. Anyone can pay for the service.
American's program, called Five Star Service, costs between $125 and $275 for the first passenger, depending on the airport. Additional adults are $75 and children are $50 extra. Delta's VIP Select costs $125 for the first person, $75 for the second and $125 for each additional person, regardless of age. These fees are in addition to the price of the ticket.
American and Delta also offer assistance on arrival, but the same fees have to be paid again. Agents will assist passengers with baggage and, at some airports, help passengers cut the line at immigration.
"It's just nice to have somebody there to almost hold your hand through the process," said Stacy Small, the president of Elite Travel International, who often books the services for her clients.
Mark Howitson, a lawyer from San Carlos, California, and former Facebook executive, is one of those clients.
"It just makes the whole thing so much less stressful," he said. "This is a cheaper alternative to flying in a private plane."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
