These days, luxury travel isn’t just about the fancy hotel room, the sleek town car or the concierge who can secure last-minute dinner reservations at the hot new restaurant. Instead, today’s luxury travelers are looking for customized high-end experiences with exclusivity, access and a connection to their own life story.

As a luxury travel expert with four decades of experience, Angela Hughes knows how to find these ultra-luxe gems across the map. She’s the CEO and founder of Trips & Ships Luxury Travel, where she leads a team of 140 advisors specializing in premium to ultra-high-net-worth bespoke travel experiences. She also created Luxury Travel University, a private consulting and training platform designed to help travel professionals in the competitive luxury market. Here, she shares her top picks of luxury brands for every type of travel, from cruises and hotels to planes and trains. Plus, she offers tips for advisors looking to level up and sell big in the luxury space.

Luxury Brands for Every Type of Travel

Ocean Cruise Lines

Forget the term “luxury cruises.” A newer player in the cruise market, Explora Journeys has rebranded that term into “ocean journeys”— and those journeys are top on Hughes’ list of the best ocean cruises. The company, a part of the MSC Group out of Geneva, Switzerland, focuses on wellness and design with its five ships traveling across the globe.

“Every single stateroom you walk in has great bedding, great amenities,” Hughes said. “You can come in entry-level and really love it.” Hughes highlighted the little details like lined drawers, high-end blow dryers and lush shampoo. “For me, that’s my top pick this year.” 

She also recommended Seabourn’s yacht-style ships for their attentive service, ocean-front suites with verandas and delicious food menus. This global, Carnival-owned company sets itself apart with its Expedition Cruises, featuring zodiac tours, submarine experiences and cultural connections for “a remote off-grid experience with a luxury feel,” Hughes said.

River Cruise Lines

For those looking to sail the rivers rather than the seas, Hughes suggested Riverside Luxury Cruises, which “absolutely has the best food in cruising as a whole.” These luxury river cruises in Europe explore the Danube, Main, Moselle, Rhine, Rhône and Saône rivers on three resplendent ships. Even with the luxury look, the energy onboard doesn’t feel stuffy. Instead, the brand strives to reach a younger audience drawn by food, wine, design and unique shore excursions.

“Jennifer Halboth, the CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises and the Riverside Collection, is turning that into a boutique luxury brand on the river,” Hughes said. 

For a few other top picks, Hughes suggested AmaWaterways, where the “ships are just getting better and better,” and Uniworld, known for its highly stylized European decor, artwork and tapestries.

Hotels and Resorts 

Unparalleled Italian elegance puts Baglioni Hotels & Resorts at the top of Hughes’ list. The resort manages several properties in Italy, including in Florence, Rome, Milan, Sardinia, Puglia and Venice, as well as one resort in the Maldives. 

“Baglioni is coming in as a quiet luxury brand. It’s hyper-personalized, and it’s got a great European feel,” she said. 

Hughes said the Baglioni Hotel Luna Venice is among her luxury favorites. Guests are whisked to the resort on a private boat through Venice’s famed canals and then offered suites overlooking the entire Grand Canal. It offers “the perfect waterfront location in a 12th-century palace” near Saint Mark’s Square and high-end shopping. Even better? With attentive service, guests never have to haul their own luggage across Venice’s famously treacherous cobblestone streets.

Meanwhile, a bit farther south, Baglioni’s family-friendly Sardinia property features “rugged natural beauty” with regional food, wellness, gardens and a homey feeling. 

If your luxury client is looking for other hotel options across the globe, the minimalist, ultra-high-end Aman is always a safe bet. As Hughes put it, “nobody’s going to beat Aman.” Her other top picks include The Belmond, with its focus on heritage, and Auberge Resorts, with its unique design and food.

Airlines

Once you’ve found the ideal luxury destination for your client, the next question is how to get there. When it comes to in-flight pampering, Singapore Airlines is the “top dog” with its plush bedding, beautiful suites and decked-out lounges, Hughes said. Passengers in suites and first-class cabins can expect gourmet meals, wine pairings, champagne and plenty of privacy. Similarly, Emirates offers exquisite first-class accommodations that Hughes described as “out of this world.” As Emirates puts it, first-class on its A380 is “as close as it comes to your own private jet.”

“I’m seeing a lot of my high-end clients go for the wow factor of these airlines,” she said. 

Finally, Hughes also recommended Virgin Atlantic because of its clubhouse-style lounges with high-end design, stylish decor and vast food options. Plus, “when you arrive at Heathrow, you feel like a rockstar with them,” she added.

Guided Tours

Travelers this year are loving Luxury Gold, known for its tailor-made group travel options, Hughes said. The company, which is a part of TTC, offers travelers a chance to customize their tour based on specific interests, like art, gardens, military history or sports. Itineraries run the gamut with Luxury Gold. For example, options might include dinner with a New Zealand rugby player, a chance to meet a Hiroshima survivor in Japan or a chauffeured experience through the French countryside in a Citroën 2CV, to name a few. Luxury Gold also offers a host of limited-edition tours, which can appeal to travelers looking for a truly one-of-a-kind, exclusive experience. 

Hughes also highlighted the century-old Tauck, which she said “always shines in that space” with its vast array of destinations and its exclusive access without crowds. A few highlights on offer include a private cocktail reception in the Alps and an Imperial evening in Vienna at Palais Pallavicini. Tauck’s small group journeys average around 24 guests, and its “even smaller” group journeys come in at just 15 guests per experience. 

For one more option, add Abercrombie & Kent’s small-group experiences to your list. A resident tour director takes small groups under their wing for journeys across the globe, from safaris in Botswana to adventures in Lapland. Hughes underscored the brand’s dedication to not just ultra-luxury, bespoke tours but also to sustainability and philanthropy.

Trains

Train travel is having a moment right now, from Peru to the U.K. to France, offering travelers a chance to step back in time. For Hughes, Belmond is the go-to. This early adopter of the slow travel movement invites travelers to climb aboard its suite of trains, including the Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu, the Royal Scotsman in Scotland and the Eastern & Oriental Express in Asia. 

“Trains brought back this revitalization of the 1920s vintage [aesthetic],” Hughes said. 

As a part of the company LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), Belmond is no stranger to the ultimate high-end detailing. For example, guests on its five-night Scottish Rail Experience relax in mahogany-clad cars and get pampered at the Bamford spa while chugging through Edinburgh and winding through lochs. Or board the Art Deco masterpiece Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for a journey from London to Venice. This luxury sleeper train boasts enough polished wood, sumptuous upholstery and antique fixtures to take passengers back in time to the Golden Age of travel.

For an understated but still luxurious competitor, Hughes suggested the Swiss rail system, which offers first-class seating for its passages around the mountainous country. There’s even the dreamy Chocolate Train, a stately Pullman train dating back to 1915 that runs between Montreux and the Cailler-Nestlé chocolate factory at Broc. The journey also includes admission to the La Maison du Gruyère cheese factory. 

“Hidden experiences like Gruyère are super exciting for people,” Hughes said. “Even for someone like me, who’s been to Switzerland a million times; I was like, ‘Whoa, how did I miss this?’”

Tips for Advisors Selling Luxury Products 

Sell on Emotion, Not Price

Luxury clients aren’t just buying a trip, Hughes explained; they’re buying a feeling. Rather than booking your clients at the most touristy, sought-after attractions, instead look for unique experiences. Think eating fondue in a cozy Alpine town, visiting a museum after-hours through a private entrance or dining with a local chef. Advisors can leverage their relationships and connections to make experiences like that possible for luxury travelers.

Advisors can use language like “exclusive” and “private” to help emphasize the value of the journey. Hughes also recommended helping clients connect with their heritage and legacy when applicable, perhaps helping them visit places connected to their own family’s history. 

Make Connections — Online and In-Person

Now that you know how to talk to luxury clients, how do you find them? 

Social media, especially Instagram and TikTok, can be used to showcase destinations to potential clients, as Hughes can attest to with her 20,000 followers. But it’s not just about posting a pretty beach photo; instead, she recommended creating interesting videos about destinations and aspirational, high-end imagery that tells a story. 

“The way that we sell travel is through stories,” she said. “Use content that’s inspirational and aspirational.” 

But social media isn’t the only important avenue for finding new clients. Advisors must also build in-person relationships through good old-fashioned networking. Confidence is the key to developing those connections, so do your research and position yourself as an authority. 

“Too many advisors are going to just social media only and not real relationship building,” Hughes said. “You've got to get out and talk to real people. You'll never sell high-end travel if you don’t socialize with people who are going to buy it.” 

Understand How Commission Works for Luxury Products

In her years of experience, Hughes has seen some advisors become committed to one particular brand, even though that brand doesn’t offer the best payout. Instead, she suggests looking for brands where you can earn your best commission. Even a difference between a 10% or a 15% yield makes a big difference, especially on a luxury budget. 

Take boats, for example. Though a yacht experience may fit a luxury client’s interest, yacht bookings typically don’t offer a great yield for the advisor, whether you’re buying through a broker or a destination management company. Perhaps there are other options the traveler could consider, giving them an equally luxe experience and you a bit more money in your paycheck.  

“If you want to be making a lot of money in travel, you’ve got to determine what your highest yield brands are, and then you’ve got to stick with them,” Hughes said. “You can’t be too scattered across your portfolio.”

Orginally appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of The Compass magazine