Flying first class to Taipei on Starlux, this reviewer got something most LAX travellers never see: a send-off from PS, the private terminal concept on the airport's south side. Had he paid out of pocket, The Salon — the shared-lounge tier of the experience — would have cost $1,295 per person per visit. Starlux is currently the only airline at LAX that includes it free for first class passengers.
PS began at Los Angeles and has since expanded to Atlanta, Dallas and Miami. The pitch is simple: skip the main terminal entirely. You arrive up to three hours before departure at a standalone building near the FBOs and cargo facilities, settle into a lounge, clear security at a dedicated TSA checkpoint, then get driven across the airfield straight to your aircraft. At LAX, that drive takes roughly ten minutes to most terminals — a bonus for plane spotters, since you cross the whole airport at ground level.
The Salon itself is intimate: one large room split by a wall, with four seating areas plus some high-tops. On a late-night visit there were barely a handful of other guests. What it lacks in square footage it makes up on the plate. The welcome is caviar and champagne, the signature PS Martini comes with olives stuffed with — what else — caviar, and the kitchen turns out restaurant-quality dishes like grilled corn salad and branzino with vichyssoise. You can order anything to go if you'd rather eat onboard. There's also a higher tier, The Private Suites, offering fully private rooms for guests who want zero contact with other travellers.
Here's the honest catch, and it's refreshing to hear it said plainly: PS is not a time-saver. For international flights you still need to arrive two hours early, and anyone with TSA PreCheck can clear a normal terminal in comparable time. The value is in the hassle you don't have — no queues, no crowds, no juggling luggage through security — turning the usually stressful pre-flight stretch into the most relaxed part of the trip. The writer's take is that the price is actually fair given the staffing and airline coordination involved, but it's a splurge for special occasions, not a routine habit.
It's also worth noting how the brand has evolved. It launched with The Private Suites, aimed at high-profile people who wanted to fly commercial without being seen. The Salon flipped that idea into something deliberately social — a lower-priced communal space where, presumably, part of the appeal is networking with others willing to spend four figures on a pre-flight martini.
Who is this for? Wealthy travellers marking an occasion, celebrities avoiding terminal crowds, and — lucky them — Starlux first class passengers, for whom it's bundled in. For everyone else, it's an interesting glimpse of where ultra-luxury ground experiences are heading, and a reason to consider Starlux when booking that LA–Taipei route.
One Mile at a Time