Pomp and Circumstance: Luxury Travel Trends for 2025

As the new year approaches, luxury travel trends have begun to take shape. Some are continuations of the latest developments but expanded to more clients and others are all new concepts. 

Exclusive Airport Lounges

United Airlines launched a separate business and first class-only lounge, Polaris, separate from membership enabled United Clubs. Polaris lounges are expansive spaces with showers, sleeping rooms, elevated service, bars, and a restaurant inside in addition to a buffet. American added Flagship dining for the same customer set and top tier elites. 

American Express Centurion Lounges and Chase Sapphire Lounges have further elevated the lounge experience with premium food, beautiful spaces, and premium services. 

Delta Air Lines has surpassed all of these options in its new JFK Terminal 4 Delta One lounge experience. Premium food and luxury spaces are mandatory but what Delta did that changed the game was add a private entrance and security for its premium guests. It has also added similar lounges at Los Angeles International (LAX) and Boston Logan (BOS).

This is the new standard. Delta examined the entire travel experience and brought it all within the bounds of its own control. It created a smoother experience for business class passengers from the airport curb through to departure and that’s the direction others will have to take their lounge experiences to compete going forward. 

Closed Door Business Class Suites

It wasn’t so long ago that business class standards were elevated from “angled flat” to lie flat and direct aisle access as the standard. However, a few years ago Singapore, Emirates, and Etihad introduced doors to business class and first class seats. The doors don’t go to the ceiling (except in the case of a handful of products) but the problem that doors solve is that when a traveler is lying flat or trying to sleep, passersby cross through the aisles at waist level. On shorter trans-Atlantic flights, this could be a rattling cart right by your head as you’re trying to sleep and skipping breakfast. 

Doors solve this. American Airlines is already moving to this, Delta has added doors to some of its aircraft but not all. JetBlue offers this in Mint class, but in 2025 we will see far more carriers moving in this direction. This will invigorate high end travelers especially as Premium Economy moves ever closer to what international first class was not so long ago. 

Elevation Of Boutique Properties

Small Leading Hotels (SLH) partnered with Hyatt a few years ago and introduced the company’s worldwide membership to luxury boutique hotels that they otherwise might not have found or chosen. SLH moved to Hilton this year as Hyatt bought Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a similar boutique hotel distribution service. 

The drive for unique stays at smaller properties has been something the big chains have tried to match for years through brands they have built themselves. But with greater demand for the boutique segment comes new challenges to market those hotels to broader markets. Services like Tablet, American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, Virtuoso, and Affluent Traveler Collection (among others) provide consumers a way to find these unique stays and enhanced benefits give them a reason to book. 

The team behind the popular website, The Points Guy, has started Journey, a loyalty program for premium travelers that extends beyond hotels. In 2025, we will see more of these boutique networks and marketing relationships that help luxury travelers find the boutique experiences they crave. 

Alternative Expeditions

Antarctica and the Arctic have come on strong in the last few years most products have been luxury. But outside of the poles, where can these vessels spend the shoulder seasons from March to June and September to November? Travelers seek immersive experiences and bucket list locations that will feed a growing desire to see even more hard-to-visit destinations.

Many operators have added the Kimberley in recent years, and even sailings into the Amazon but luxury adventure travelers are really explorers and yearn for more. In 2025 (and forward) we should see some new alternatives that take high net worth global travelers to the further edges of earth. 

Bonus: Saudi Arabia

While NEOM appears to be years away, Saudi Arabia has opened its doors to tourists beyond Haj pilgrimages. It’s launching a new airline, Riyadh Air, with a modern fleet of 132 ordered aircraft (A321-NEO, and 787-9) creating a whole new travel market. It seizes on key trends for the unexplored, elite, limited, and ultra-luxury amenities. Travel advisors would be smart to get ahead of this and become experts on what Saudi Arabia is building. 

Kyle Stewart has been a travel writer for over a decade and appeared in the Wall Street Journal, TIME, Forbes, Travel & Leisure, among other publications. He runs Scott & Thomas, a luxury travel agency, and splits time between Pittsburgh and Fort Myers when he isn’t traveling with his family of four.