At Bloomberg Pursuits, we love to travel. And we always want to make sure we’re doing it right. So we’re talking to globe-trotters in all of our luxury fields—food, wine, fashion, cars, real estate—to learn about their high-end hacks, tips, and off-the-wall experiences. These are the Distinguished Travel Hackers.
Ashley Glasson is brand director of LNA clothing, which was founded by her twin sister, Lauren Alexander, and friend April Leight. The California cool clothing brand, known for its rocker-chic basics, expanded into swimwear this year; the second LNA swim collection arrives next month.
Glasson prefers Delta Air Lines for international trips, but has a newfound love for Alaska Airlines domestically. She says it’s efficient, with a strong frequent-flyer program. “I get upgraded 95% of the time, and when they say ‘priority boarding,’ half the plane doesn’t get on.” Her annual mileage tally is from 100,000 miles to 125,000 miles. She lives in Beverly Hills with her dog.
Don’t take that sleeping pill on a plane until this exact moment
A friend of mine likes to take certain sleep aids when she travels. One time, though, she called me from a terminal while wandering around—her flight had been delayed and she’d had to get off. I wasn’t sure if she was going to make it back onto her plane. So when traveling with a sleep or relaxation aid for those longer-haul flights, you should always wait for the captain to announce “in-flight team, seats for takeoff.” Never find your seat, get settled, and take the pill, only to find yourself sleepwalking off the plane from unforeseen maintenance issues that have you deplaning and delayed.
When considering making a hotel your regular haunt, ask this unlikely question
I stay at the Ludlow in New York because it feels like home now—I’m there once a month. The best perk about being a regular is that most hotels keep a folio on you, noting what you like. This person likes to stay in corner rooms on high floors, for example, or they prefer red to white wine. But what really makes a difference is if the hotel staff doesn’t change over too often. Most of the staff at the Ludlow have been there for as long as I’ve been staying there. It’s a good test of a hotel: Ask the staff how long they’ve worked there. If they’ve been there for a year-plus, that’s a good sign to me.
Treat the airport lounge like a jet-set version of Cheers
And when you’re a regular flyer on a certain route, get to know the people at the airline lounge and put in requests for what you like. Some people don’t go to the airport to go to a lounge, but I like it. When I started going to the Alaska Airlines lounge at JFK—which is a very, very good lounge—they didn’t have Aperol and didn’t know what an Aperol spritz was. So I asked them about it. Now it’s on the menu.
Staffers at airports can provide more info than the airlines themselves