How Seven-Figure Bookings Are Reshaping the Travel Industry

Last year, the luxury host agency SmartFlyer closed 330 bookings north of $100,000 — a 40% leap from the year prior. Bookings of $500,000 and up grew 75% year over year, and the agency’s top 20 trips of 2025 ranged from about $500,000 to more than $2 million.

Who knew that becoming a “million-dollar advisor” could one day be a term used to define just one booking, rather than a whole year’s worth?

According to this issue’s cover story, the number of ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) Americans — those with $30 million or more in assets — continues to rise. In our current K-shaped economy, these are the folks at the top who are continuing to accumulate wealth at a steady clip. So, what do they value?

What’s growing fastest for us isn’t just luxury for the sake of flash — it’s complexity.

"What’s growing fastest for us isn’t just luxury for the sake of flash — it’s complexity,” said Erina Pindar, chief operating officer and managing partner of SmartFlyer. “The highest-value trips require orchestration, access and precision, not simply higher accommodation rates.”

Pindar says that advisors are “increasingly functioning as a private travel office” — managing long lead times, inventory constraints, specialist partners and real-time risk and logistics. Bookings such as private island celebrations and multidestination safaris require trust, technical depth and hands-on coordination across multiple suppliers.

But it’s not just UHNW clients expecting more — entry-level luxury travelers see the same experiences on social media and want them, too.

Indeed, SmartFlyer is seeing a barbell effect on its business, with UHNW clients on one end and price-sensitive travelers on the other. The latter group is managing tighter budgets with tradeoffs such as length of stay, air class and destination. But they’re still turning to advisors for custom trips that deliver on expectations. And today’s million-dollar advisors will be the ones who can execute, no matter the cost.