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The holiday you won’t want to end

Holidays are a time to escape from everyday life, so why not go the whole nine yards and travel in the epitome of style and luxury. Flight Centre’s luxury tours take you to the world’s most exciting and exotic places while ensuring you stay in absolute comfort at four- or five-star hotels. Accompanied by experienced guides and generous staff, you experience first-class hospitality along with memorable tours and activities. A luxury tour with Flight Centre doubles down on the extravagance and provides the moments you’ll cherish for life, ensuring you return home completely rested with stories to share.

The range of destinations and attractions is diverse, with tours lasting as short as three days or keeping the fun and luxury going for fifteen days. Enjoy a guided tour through the splendours of Japan including sushi making and meals at traditional Japanese restaurants, or see the magnificent gorillas in Rwanda. The possibilities are endless, with some tours taking you off land and onto the water such as the fifteen-day tour of Vietnam and Cambodia, which includes staying on a traditional Vietnamese Junk boat and eating a delicious meal on a Vietnamese herb farm. Flight Centre takes care of everything during your luxury tour, so you spend zero minutes dealing with complications and every minute enjoying your holiday.

Luxury isn’t just about staying in the finest hotels, but also about sharing the experiences that few others are fortunate enough to enjoy. Staying in a traditional Japanese Monastery Inn, visiting a local Lhasa family’s home, receiving a relaxing Thai massage in the grounds of Wat Pho temple and attending a Buddhist service are just some of the moments that can make your holiday special. Don’t let your holiday be filled with annoying crowds, uncomfortable accommodation and unnecessary complications. If you’re interested in enjoying peace and comfort while travelling the world, browse through the popular luxury tours below or contact a Flight Centre consultant.

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How Australian Travel Agency Flight Centre Is Building Luxury Revenue 

Selene Brophy , Skift

February 7th, 2023 at 10:30 AM EST

Tour operator Scott Dunn might be a small company compared to its new parent company Flight Centre Travel Group. Still, it punches well above its weight in the luxury travel segment, especially in the U.S., where Flight Centre lacked a luxury presence.

Selene Brophy

Flight Centre, the Australian-based travel agency well known for its mass-market brands, is firmly fixed on tapping into the rising demand for luxury experiences with an expected 15 percent growth in revenue for the segment.

The firm recently acquired UK-based tour operator  Scott Dunn  for $150 million toward this end. The luxury-focused brand, founded in 1986 as a luxury ski operator, will now act as an “ entry point into the U.K. and U.S. luxury market where Flight Centre is underrepresented.

The luxury travel segment has seen a business boom coming out of the pandemic. Globally it was valued at $638.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $1,650 billion by 2031 . It continues to be the pandemic anomaly with no signs of a luxury bubble bursting soon. 

The move kickstarts the group’s pre-Covid plans to elevate and grow its luxury collection, together with its only other luxury offering, Travel Associates, in Australia and New Zealand.

James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Global Leisure Travel CEO, believes the economics are quite favorable, stating that expected “growth rates in the U.K. and the U.S. are between 9 to 11 percent.” 

“Luxury accounted for about 7 percent of our sales volume in the leisure segment. Scott Dunn will bring it to about 9 percent. So the uplift is not too significant from a sales volume but will lift revenues to 15 percent. This end of the market has good, attractive financials, and we’ve got a great value proposition to win more share.” 

Kavanagh described the Scott Dunn customers as typically “cash-rich and time-poor guests looking for an exceptional experience that makes up quite complex trips,with an average of about eight components in a trip. 

According to Scott Dunn, it sees an average U.S. booking value of $40,000 per trip. This is in contrast to Flight Centre’s average trip spend of $3,000 and its other premium offering Travel Associates’ average trip value of $10,500.

“So we know they’re willing to pay for these services, and this segment is unlikely to be commoditized,” added Kavanagh. 

Post-Covid Transformation Program

Both companies have significantly evaluated their business models following the tough Covid period, according to Kavanagh.

Scott Dunn exited one of their brands, Imagine Travel, and it has also exited its chalets and Villa product. Flight Center, in turn, offloaded a couple of the brands running in different markets, notably Universal Traveler. The companies would not be looking to exit any underperforming brands, he added.

“Underperforming brands within our companies have reasonably been addressed for now.”

Support and Operational Efficiency

Sonia Davies, CEO of Scott Dunn, said the company was excited about joining a big global organization like the Flight Centre Group as it would significantly improve its capabilities regarding tech and modern CRM systems.  

“It might not sound sexy, but we want to upgrade our telephony system because we are almost like a call-center operation. We speak to all of our guests over the phone. We also don’t transact over the internet. Flight Center have the tech and a brand new shiny CRM (customer relationship management) system, and we want to be able to do much more personalized and bespoke marketing to each of our individual guests.”

Flight Centre has also signed a three year partnership with digital infrastructure provider Orro, expected to address high redundancy across the groups’ 26-country strong network, by improving network visibility and reducing network connectivity costs.

While some analysts have raised concerns that losing key Scott Dunn staff would not bode well for the company, Davies stated that “joining a company better known as the travel geeks of the industry, would certainly improve the long-term career aspirations for her team” of about 200 employees. 

“We were profitable last year, and we’re seeing that continue even with the macroeconomic challenges in 2023,” Davies said, with the company doubling its profits in 2022, compared to pre-Covid 2019.

Ultimately Scott Dunn’s strategy remains unchanged, especially within the U.S. market, where the company continues to differentiate itself, “with customized experiences, not scheduled tours, nor do they sell through the trade.”

UPDATE: Average trip values for Flight Centre and Travel Associates have been included in this article.

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Tags: flight centre , luxury , tour operators , travel agents

Photo credit: Scott Dunn offers tailor-made holidays including the Northern Lights from Iceland and Northern Canada. Photo: Nicolas Leclercq. Unsplash Nicolas Leclercq, Unsplash

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Home » News » FCTG announces foundation cohort of new Luxury Travel Collection

FCTG announces foundation cohort of new Luxury Travel Collection

The Luxury Travel Collection (LTC) has unveiled its Member Portfolio, announcing the foundation cohort of luxury member brands that officially joined on 1 December 2023.

The new Member Portfolio includes Carole and Phil Smethurst with Bicton Travel and Claremont Travel & Cruise; Stuart Ingram and Destination HQ; Stephen Green and Travel Experts and Hilary and Holly Weir of Dream Maker Travel.

Robyn and Murray Sinfield and Home Travel Company will join from 1 February 2024.

Global managing director of the Luxury Travel Collection, Dani Galloway, said this celebrated group of industry professionals, under the Member Portfolio banner, will perfectly complement Travel Associates and Scott Dunn in the luxury market.

Fiona Armaro, Alan & Carole Smethurst, David Armstrong, Alisha Stedman BICTON with Nikki Glading

“The Luxury Travel Collection is now the leading global house of luxury travel brands. Our hand-selected members have established their stellar professional reputations by elevating travel to the very highest standard imaginable, with discerning clients at the centre of their business strategy,” Galloway said.

“Establishing this portfolio of celebrated members was the obvious next step in building an unparalleled luxury business.”

The Luxury Travel Collection’s Member Portfolio is headed up by general manager, Nikki Glading, who joined the business in May.

“It is incredibly rewarding and exciting to work with this group of famous travel brands to deliver the best luxury travel services in Australia. We see such a bright future for the Member Portfolio which we’ll continue to grow with more of Australia and New Zealand’s best luxury travel brands attracted to our bespoke ecosystem,” Glading said.

“Our business is a family, where people are the most important element to success. Welcoming Carole and Phil, Hilary and Holly, Stuart and Stephen into our family to build the foundation of this independent luxury brand house is an exceptional milestone. Together, we’ll build the most memorable partnership in the Australian luxury travel industry.”

Nikki Glading & Stephen Green: TRAVEL EXPERTS

The Luxury Travel Collection’s Member Portfolio is by personal invitation, and based on shared values of Influence, Distinction, Vision, Dynamism and Empowerment.

All members are defined by their proven luxury credentials, along with:

• Entrepreneurialism
• A commitment to exceptional client service
• An alignment to luxury business values
• High performance & profitable results
• A reputation for luxury
• A high percentage of luxury preferred product

“We are incredibly passionate about the strength of the partnerships we are establishing as we build an incomparable house of luxury travel products, unparalleled experiences and services,” Galloway concluded.

The Luxury Travel Collection also launched its B2B website .

Email the Travel Weekly team at [email protected]

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FCTG acquires Australia’s best-known luxury travel event, Luxperience

BNE, Thursday 11 May 2023 - Flight Centre Travel Group FCTG has announced the acquisition of luxury travel event, ‘Luxperience’ from event management specialists, Diversified Communications Australia.

Luxperience will be positioned within the Group’s global Luxury Tavel Collection, which includes the Travel Associates and Scott Dunn brands, and like those businesses, the well-known event will continue to operate on its own merits as a separate business entity and will not be brand-aligned.

James Kavanagh, Global CEO of Leisure for FCTG says the company saw the acquisition of the boutique event as an opportunity to strengthen its luxury leisure offering to suppliers, advisors and clients.

“ Luxperience is very well-known in Australia and New Zealand, it has a strong reputation as a great quality annual hosted buyer event connecting high-end experiential travel advisors with elite suppliers.

It is the only event of its kind in Australia and was therefore the right fit for the Group’s growing Luxury Travel Collection. As we emerged from the pandemic and luxury travel began to rebound, we felt the addition of a bespoke, luxury B2B event like this would strengthen our portfolio and provide opportunities for business growth and diversification,” Mr Kavanagh said.

The Luxperience brand and model has operated in Australia since 2012 to support the development of meaningful relationships between travel agents and buyers with the right suppliers, products, and experiences. Travel agents must be pre-qualified and approved to attend based on their luxury sales history.

David Longman, Managing Director of Diversified Communications Australia said the business was pleased with the outcome, saying that Flight Centre Travel Group’s far-reaching products and partnerships would make the ideal platform to advance the Luxperience brand in the market.

" Diversified Communications is confident that FCTG is not only well placed to advance the Luxperience brand and leverage its far-reaching networks, luxury products and partnerships to ensure the sustainable growth of this incredible asset, but will also ensure that the strong brand equity that has been delivered will be continued with the same care and attention to detail that Luxperience is known for.”

To preserve the brand equity, brand reputation and to maintain consistency of relationships and connections, experienced Luxperience Event Director, Lynn Ormiston, will transfer across with the business and will continue to lead the portfolio and offering.

A boutique version of Luxperience will take place this year from 13 – 17 November 2023 at the International Convention Centre, Sydney.

The luxury, annual hosted buyer event was initially acquired by Diversified Communications Australia in 2017 from owner, Helen Logas, and the company successfully ran the event in 2018 and 2019. Well-subscribed virtual events followed in 2021 and 2022 during COVID.

Event Enquiries: [email protected]

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Moscow Destination Guide

Moscow holidays.

Welcome to Russia’s city with the most. Home to the most billionaires in the world, the most people in Russia and the most expensive cup of coffee you’re likely to find anywhere, Moscow is no longer the city you know from Hollywood Cold War movies. Now a glitzy, cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Moscow’s attractions stretch way past the Red Square and the Kremlin. With majestic theatres, designer shops, distinct cuisine and a fast-paced nightlife, constantly changing Moscow is a city that radiates life in every direction.  

Top Attractions »

Moscow’s attractions range from the Muscovy of old, to retro-chic Soviet-era monuments and now to modern Moscow and all of its excesses. These days the Kremlin is still the geographic and cultural heart of the city, with many of its main attractions, including the Red Square and Iberian Gate located close by.  The city is surprisingly easy to explore on foot. Magnificent St Basil’s Cathedral is within a few blocks and so too is GUM, the State Department Store in Soviet times. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and Tretakov Gallery are not to be missed by art lovers and make sure catch a glimpse of the iconic VDNKh station to get an idea about what Soviet Russia was like.

Launch Moscow photo gallery »

Eat and Drink »

These days Russia is undergoing a wining and dining revolution. While in the past many of its cultural leaders were found in literature, these days food is where some of the most creative things are happening. Beetroot ice-cream, anyone? If so try the recently re-opened Shinok. For the adventurous, hard to find Delicatessen provides a modern update to Russian traditions with seasonal dishes including caramel oxtail pudding and pan-fried calves’ brains with egg yolk. Chicago Prime provides something for more conservative palettes, with burgers and American fare, while the Volkonsky chain of cafes combine the best of French and Russian baking at a reasonable price. 

Where to Stay

Though still notorious for high hotel prices, things have taken a backwards price step in Moscow recently with an increasing number of budget and mid-range hotels opening. The Metropol Hotel, National Hotel, and Savoy Hotel are all well priced luxury hotels close to the centre of town. The five-star neoclassical Hotel Baltschug Kempinski may be hard to beat but at up to $700 a night, the price definitely is. If your budget is strict, Hotel Sputnik, Maxima Slavia Hotel and Hotel Globus all have rooms for prices you won’t lose sleep over. Remember to book ahead in Moscow.

A tourist attraction in its own right is GUM, a stunning 19 th century shopping mall with a long Soviet history. There you’ll find many high-end boutiques and the interesting Gastronom No. 1, a gourmet supermarket fitted out in true Soviet Union style, with security guards dressed in vintage suits. Tsvetnoy Central Market is home to Moscow’s up and coming fashion designers while much better priced items can be found at Izmaylovo Market, which is a great place to stock up on Russian souvenirs such as dolls, fur hats, amber and Soviet paraphernalia.

Moscow Like a Local

Getting around Moscow like a local is easy. Pretty much any car in Moscow can be a taxi for the right price, simply stick your arm out on the street and watch the cars line up. Many unofficial taxis known as ‘gypsy cabs’ cruise the streets looking for customers but they’ll quite literally try and take you for a ride if your haggling skills aren’t well versed. The easily recognisable official taxis charge about the same so if bargaining isn’t for you, Moscow’s extensive metro network is a very cheap way to get around and much of the station architecture is so beautiful it’s a tourist attraction itself.

Sharing our Experiences

No more visas to russia for sa, yay ».

9 May, 2017  by  Flight Centre

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Premium economy class flight deals, premium economy multi-city flight deals, about flying premium economy class.

Flying Premium Economy is a great way to upgrade your included benefits without the price tag of a Business Class fare. With larger seats, express check-in and various other benefits depending on the airline. At Flight Centre, our dedicated Premium Economy travel specialists can book your airfares at the best available price. Take advantage of our premium service and knowledge, and have your consultant also book your luxury accommodation and arrange your transfers, tours, travel insurance, car hire and more. For all your Premium Economy enquiries, call 1300 193 314 .

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At Flight Centre, our Premium Economy Class travel specialists can arrange flights and accommodation to suit your desired travel style. While classes and services vary between airlines, most of the major airlines offer Premium Economy as a premium alternative to flying Economy Class. Check with your local consultant for more information.

Premium Economy flights bridge the gap between Economy cabins and Business Class comforts. Premium Economy passengers may either be seated in their own cabin, their own seating section, or in Economy cabins but with added benefits such as extra baggage, meals and more.

Premium passengers are privy to all the benefits of Economy Class as well as additional benefits and priority treatment. Seats are generally larger and can include greater recline, adjustable head or lumbar support, extra legroom and footrests. Often an upgraded economy meal is included, priority check-in, bonus frequent flyer points plus more.

Premium Economy class cabins also offer a higher standard of flight attendant care. Some flights also provide passengers with blankets, pillows, noise cancelling headphones and amenity kits to ensure the journey is as comfortable as possible. Meals, beverages and entertainment are usually complimentary.

Premium economy flights offer the frequent traveller a practical alternative to Business Class. If you'd like more specific information about Premium Economy flights, refer to your airline for further details. To book your Premium Economy fares or for more information, contact our Premium Economy travel experts on 1300 193 314 .

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Review: Air France Airport Lounge At Paris CDG Terminal 2F (Schengen)

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How To Access The Air France Airport Lounge At Paris CDG Terminal 2F

Style & character, food & drink.

Sep 22 2024, 8:11 am We experienced the Air France Business Class Airport Lounge At Paris CDG Terminal 2F (Schengen) before a flight from Paris to Venice on Air France, which I have also reviewed.

Air France has several business lounges at its home airport in Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Air France flights to European Schengen Zone countries operate from either Terminal 2F or 2G, with Terminal 2F serving as the main terminal building and Terminal 2G as a satellite terminal connected by an inter-terminal bus.

According to the Air France website you can enjoy complimentary access to their lounges: For yourself and a guest, if you are traveling in the La Première cabin (which is their business class and includes European business class flights). For yourself, if you are traveling in the Business cabin with a Standard or Flex fare.

You may also enjoy complimentary access: For yourself and a guest, if you have Flying Blue Platinum status. For yourself and a guest, if you have Flying Blue Gold status. For yourself and a guest if you have SkyTeam Elite Plus status. Your guests must be with you at the lounge reception desk. They will be allowed in depending on availability and must be traveling on an Air France, KLM, or SkyTeam flight departing on the same day.

Some reports suggest you can pay to access this lounge for €60 EUR, so it’s worth asking at the entrance if you want to enter without a Business Class flight ticket. Lounge membership cards such as Priority Pass are not accepted at Air France business lounges at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Charles De Gaulle Airport is a hotchpotch of rather ugly concrete buildings. It is not a beautiful airport and is a nightmare to navigate, with an extremely slow bus service on offer to connect the Terminals.

We flew into CDG on British Airways and experienced the British Airways Club Europe breakfast on an early flight. Once we had disembarked, we had to transfer from our flight through security (again!) and then took the airport bus to Terminal 2F, which is used by Air France and its SkyTeam partners for all Schengen flight departures.

I have detailed the how to transfer between terminals at Paris CDG in case you’re stuck in a similar situation. The bus takes a long time to get passengers between terminals, so bear that in mind when planning your flights.

How To Transfer Between Terminals At Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

If you need to transfer between terminals at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) you can take a free shuttle bus. It's not difficult to make the transfer, but it can be both confusing and lengthy as there is only one bus, which stops at all the terminals. This bus also stops for planes maneuvering around the airport, which slows the transfer down even further.

Our bus driver drove across the airport tarmac and had to wait for maneuvering planes to drive past. However, after what seemed like hours, we arrived at Terminal 2F, which is weirdly beautiful.

The main building is spherical in design, like a long concrete tube containing shops and lounges. It looks horrible from the outside, but from the inside, the thousands of small window slits which let the light in a speckled fashion is rather stunning. I loved walking through this unusual concrete terminal, and the Air France lounge was similarly magnificent in design.

The Air France business lounge is centrally located in Terminal 2F, used by Air France and its SkyTeam partners for all Schengen flight departures. Unlike navigating the muddle of Terminals at CGD, this lounge is easy to find. Simply follow the “salon/lounge” signs with the Air France logo.

This spectacular Air France lounge opened in August 202. It is a split-level lounge with a lower and upper floor linked by lifts and a gorgeous windy stairwell, one of this lounge’s main features. It had double-height windows to one side with wonderful views over the planes.

The upper level sits on a mezzanine, so it has a balcony edge from which you can look down at the people on the lower level.

This huge atrium gives the lounge an airy feel and makes it a fabulous place to spend time. Because the window at the front of the lounge was curved, it let huge amounts of light into this space, making this lounge bright and sunny. When we were sitting on the upper level, we were bathed in sunshine from above because of the curvature of the window. It was almost as if we were outside.

There is loads of seating in the lounge arranged as cafe tables and sofa seats. Oddly, most of the seats are bolted to the floor, so you can’t move the chairs around, but there is plenty of space throughout the lounge.

At the end of the upper level is a Clarins Spa. I’m not sure if this was a fee-based spa. It didn’t look busy, so I assume it was.

The food in the lounge is not nearly as good as the food in British Airways Galleries lounges. There are no delicious curries, and the hot dishes are very limited.

For breakfast, there is a small omelet, which is available with two sausages throughout the morning. Otherwise, most of the buffet is cold, with fruit and yogurts on offer earlier in the daytime, with plenty of bread and patisseries to fill up on.

To be honest, the omelet, sausage, fruit, and yogurt breakfast items weren’t particularly appealing, and you needed to go to the corner of the lower level to a special counter that was often unmanned to collect your omelet and sausages. They weren’t laid out on the buffet.

As lunchtime approaches, the staff delivered an extensive array of salad items, ham and salami sandwiches, and a huge counter of meats and hams. You can make up any sort of meat or cheese sandwich from the rolls, and there were saucepans, which should have been full of something hot, but remained empty while we were there, so perhaps some hot food would have appeared eventually.

I almost missed their really good cakes, which were also available from around lunchtime. These are the highlights of the lounge, as the rest of the lunch buffet is OK but not great. Even in the summer, it was cold and unappealing.

I loved their crunchy vanilla cream puff cakes. They also served one of these with the Air France Business Class in-flight meal, and they are delicious. While I loved the lounge setting, the food let it down, with the exception of the vanilla cream puff cakes.

There are beers, wine, and spirits if you fancy an alcoholic beverage as well as coffee machines and large fridges stocked with all the usual suspects: Coke, Diet Coke, water, Minute Maid canned fruit juices, etc. There was a huge choice of drinks. The beer in the fridges was Kronenbourg 1664.

The spirits on offer included vodka and Riccardo. I’m not much of a spirit drinker, so I didn’t recognize most of the bottles, but there was plenty to choose from, and you could make up a proper drink with all the sundries, including lemon, salt, and some hot spicy sauces.

What was massively useful in this lounge was the Air France service representative on the upper floor of the lounge. British Airways had promised to link our luggage from our British Airways flight from London to the Air France flight we were taking down to Venice, but when we watched our air tags, we noticed our luggage seemed to have stopped in the carousel area of the terminal we arrived in.

Feeling rather panicked, I checked our tags with the kind Air France representative at the desk on the upper floor of the lounge, and she told me that our bags had not been linked to our onward flight and would not have been coming with us if we hadn’t checked with her!

Our bags were destined to stay in Paris while we headed to Venice! Thankfully, the Air France lady connected our bags to our ticket, and all was well. It made me appreciate having an Air France help desk in the lounge. I don’t know what we would have done without this lady’s help. We would have arrived in Venice bagless and very sad!

As an aside, we saw several frantic passengers at the luggage carousel in Venice with missing bags, as none of the bags from our British Airways flight appeared to have been rerouted, so it is worth checking your luggage has been tagged properly on flights connecting from British Airways to another airline. The process does not seem to be automatic.

Once we left the lounge, we headed straight to our departure gate for our Air France Flight. Our gate was ridiculously busy, more like a busy train station than an airport, so we were doubly grateful for our lounge access to avoid the crowds.

While this Air France lounge has a fabulous layout and futuristic design (in a good way), the food let it down and wasn’t that appealing, at least when compared to the best British Airways lounges in Terminal 5 .

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