Flying Private Is Your Ticket In

Scarlett Johansson's pops her cork for Moët & Chandon

There’s an old secret in the nightlife demimonde, and I’m gonna let you in on it, right now.  Are you ready?  People will always want to go where they’re told they cannot.  Ta-dah!  If you say that a place is very exclusive, people will line-up to get in.  If you create a mystique and allure around your venue by setting a very tight door policy, that line will stretch around the block. 

VOYEUR model

Add a doorman with some flair and personality (who’s willing to become the target of flying beer bottles and hurled insults), and you’re good to go.   Whether it was Mark Beneke, who could see to the back of the crowd at Studio 54; or Kenny Kenny, who could look right through the crowd at Palladium (and passive-aggressively suggest that those not on The List might consider trying Webster Hall); or Armin Amiri who just ignored the crowd at Bungalow 8, altogether – a good doorman and a strong guest-list have always been a club operator’s tickets to ride.

But, what do you do if you want to get into a club having its white-hot moment in the spotlight, and you aren’t privy to that sought-after spot on the almighty List?  Well, sometimes money works (I’m hard-pressed to think of any venue in Las Vegas that can’t find a table for someone waving-around a Centurion card…).  It’s like that line from The Mask where the doorman asks “Uh, are you on the list?” to which Jim Carrey’s titular character whips out a pile of cash and replies “Noooo – but I believe my friends are.  Perhaps you know them: Franklin, Grant, and Jackson?!?”

VOYEUR Pin-up Girl

Ah – but what about in other towns?  Okay, let’s take Los Angeles, for example.  Say you’re in Las Vegas, and you’ve read all the hoopla about Voyeur, where the Republican National Committee charged nearly $2,000 for a recruiting event to court local “eagles” (what they call the young up-and-comers in the GOP), and where Heidi Klum had her Halloween Party, and where a newly brunette Lindsey Lohan was turned-away at the door, etc…  What wouldn’t you give to sit in one of the corseted wing-back chairs in the Eyes Wide Shut-themed venue; sipping your cocktail while observing pairs of girls performing in tastefully erotic vignettes?  Well, buck-up, little camper, and grab your riding crop, because thanks to longtime Las Vegas nightlife consultant, Jimmy Foster – the dream is well within your grasp!

Foster’s company, Whispering Giants, is presenting a new concept in packaged nightlife, called Flying Private.  The concept is simple: in one night, a group of 30 people congregates at a local bar or restaurant, is driven to the Atlantic Aviation Terminal, boards a chartered jet, flies to a nearby metropolis, is driven via limousine to a trendy venue, takes-over a VIP section of the club, then – at 2am, returns to the FBO, flies back to Las Vegas, is driven back to the restaurant, where everyone gets in their own cars and drives home (or avails themselves of pre-arranged transportation, to avoid driving under the influence).

It’s quite enterprising, really.  Like a party-barge only in the air.  For the second official outing of Flying Private, the approximately ten-and-a-half hour itinerary is as follows:

6:00-7:30pm:  Hors d'œuvres and Cocktail Reception at Bar Mandarin
7:30-7:50pm:  Ground Transportation by Alan Waxler Group
7:50pm:  Board Flying Private Dornier 328 Jet powered by Lucky Jets
8:00pm:  Depart for Los Angeles
9:00pm:  Arrive at Bob Hope Airport – Burbank, California
9:15-10:15pm:  Ground Transportation by Exotic Car Rentals
10:15 pm:  Arrive at VOYEUR Nightclub
10:30-2:00am:  Let the good times roll at VOYEUR Nightclub
2:15-3:00am:  Ground Transportation by Exotic Car Rentals
3:00am:  Board Flying Private Dornier 328 Jet powered by Lucky Jets
3:15am:  Depart for Las Vegas
4:00am:  Arrive at Atlantic Aviation – Las Vegas, Nevada
4:15-4:35am:  Ground Transportation by Alan Waxler Group
4:35am:  Arrive at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas

Jade Jagger wields the $250,000 Jagger Ice Dagger for Belvedere Vodka (PHOTO: Terry Richardson)

Thanks to presenting sponsor, Gregory’s (located in the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian), and partner sponsors including Belvedere Vodka and Moët & Chandon Champagne, the cost for this entire adventure is a mere $700.  No – really!  Most times, you’ve gotta spend that much just to have a mediocre table at Voyeur; forget about the jet, the free champagne and vodka on the flight, and the limo-service; not to mention being able to avoid the hassles one encounters by flying commercially (i.e. lines, security, waiting, crying babies, etc.).  Plus, you’ll be bypassing the whole rigmarole at the door, with a VIP Host coming-out to greet the party, and escorting y’all, en masse, to the VIP Room.  No muss, no fuss, just fun!

Gianmarco Lorenzi studded boot

But the party doesn’t end, once you’re dropped-off at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas; because the nice folks at Gregory’s have included a $400 gift certificate for everyone flying privately into the wild blue yonder; 'cause, let’s face it: if you don’t know some pretty young thing who’s itching to wriggle herself into a pair of distressed Balmain metallic jeans, tuck ‘em into a pair of knee-high studded don’t-f*ck-with-me boots by Gianmarco Lorenzi, and top the look off with one of Benedetta Novi’s delicious ribbon-trimmed leather coats – well, you’re just not looking hard enough!

Flying Private Series #2
VOYEUR Nightclub – West Hollywood, CA
Saturday, June 26th
$700/person

Get into it!