Love Cloud, an airplane charter business, offers private flights that help couples take their relationships (and relations) to new heights.
Brandon Nguyen kissed his wife Katherin Nguyen before takeoff on a Jan. 15 flight with Love Cloud to celebrate her birthday.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
By Shane O’Neill
Feb. 5, 2022
For $995, Love Cloud will fly you and a partner in a private airplane for 45 minutes so that you can have sex.
Granted, you don’t have to have sex on the plane. You could pay $1,195 to get married on board. For $100 more, it can be booked for a romantic one-course meal; for $1,595, you’ll get three courses. With any package, an extra $300 will get you a bottle of bubbly and ride to the tarmac in a limousine.
But according to Andy Johnson, 40, a pilot and the founder of Love Cloud, its Mile High Club Flight, which comes with a commemorative membership card signed by the pilot, remains the business’s most popular offering.
“You come with a smile on your face, and you leave with a bigger smile on your face,” said Mr. Johnson, a fast-talking father who is from Virginia and lives in Summerlin, at the western edge of Las Vegas.
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He spoke with great passion and good humor about his business, which operates out of the North Las Vegas Airport, calling its two Cessna 414 planes “magic carpets” and gleefully recounting the kinks and quirks of some of its more memorable clients, including a couple that showed up dressed as a pilot and flight attendant. Love Cloud mostly books couples, but has accommodated groups of three or four, with an additional fee of $200 per person.
Those who buy the Mile High Club Flight will find a plane decked out with a twin mattress on the floor and several pillows, all ensconced in red satin. A curtain separates the passengers from the pilot, who wears noise-canceling headphones and remains in the cockpit for the duration of the flight. Yes, the plane and its bedding are cleaned after each trip.
Customers who purchase a Romantic Dinner Flight will find the mattress replaced with a table, chairs and a small bar. But aside from the optional champagne, no alcohol is served on Love Cloud flights.
Tony Blake, a partner in Love Cloud Vegas, readies one of its two Cessna 414 planes for takeoff.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
On the company’s Mile High Club Flights, a curtain is used to separate the passengers from the pilot.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
“We help keep people from divorcing, I’ll tell you that right now,” Mr. Johnson said. That may sound like hyperbole, but some customers said that the experience was good for their relationship.
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Chris Gutierrez Lopez, 30, a customer-support agent who lives in Rohnert Park, Calif., surprised his partner of 10 years, Diego Fuentes, with a Love Cloud dinner flight in November 2021 after the two went through a rough patch.
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“I was in trouble with my partner, so I had to make sure it was more for him than me,” Mr. Lopez said in a phone interview. “That’s why I got the romantic package rather than the mile high.” Once on board, the two were served a three-course meal from Mezzo Bistro, a restaurant in Las Vegas, which provides the food on all dinner flights.
His plan was a success. “When we finally got into the airplane, he was smiling ear to ear,” said Mr. Lopez, who added that, if they book another flight, he plans to do things a bit differently. “Next time it’s mile high,” he said.
Brandon Nguyen kissed his wife Katherin Nguyen before takeoff on a Jan. 15 flight with Love Cloud to celebrate her birthday.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
By Shane O’Neill
Feb. 5, 2022
For $995, Love Cloud will fly you and a partner in a private airplane for 45 minutes so that you can have sex.
Granted, you don’t have to have sex on the plane. You could pay $1,195 to get married on board. For $100 more, it can be booked for a romantic one-course meal; for $1,595, you’ll get three courses. With any package, an extra $300 will get you a bottle of bubbly and ride to the tarmac in a limousine.
But according to Andy Johnson, 40, a pilot and the founder of Love Cloud, its Mile High Club Flight, which comes with a commemorative membership card signed by the pilot, remains the business’s most popular offering.
“You come with a smile on your face, and you leave with a bigger smile on your face,” said Mr. Johnson, a fast-talking father who is from Virginia and lives in Summerlin, at the western edge of Las Vegas.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
He spoke with great passion and good humor about his business, which operates out of the North Las Vegas Airport, calling its two Cessna 414 planes “magic carpets” and gleefully recounting the kinks and quirks of some of its more memorable clients, including a couple that showed up dressed as a pilot and flight attendant. Love Cloud mostly books couples, but has accommodated groups of three or four, with an additional fee of $200 per person.
Those who buy the Mile High Club Flight will find a plane decked out with a twin mattress on the floor and several pillows, all ensconced in red satin. A curtain separates the passengers from the pilot, who wears noise-canceling headphones and remains in the cockpit for the duration of the flight. Yes, the plane and its bedding are cleaned after each trip.
Customers who purchase a Romantic Dinner Flight will find the mattress replaced with a table, chairs and a small bar. But aside from the optional champagne, no alcohol is served on Love Cloud flights.
Tony Blake, a partner in Love Cloud Vegas, readies one of its two Cessna 414 planes for takeoff.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
On the company’s Mile High Club Flights, a curtain is used to separate the passengers from the pilot.Credit...Roger Kisby for The New York Times
“We help keep people from divorcing, I’ll tell you that right now,” Mr. Johnson said. That may sound like hyperbole, but some customers said that the experience was good for their relationship.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Chris Gutierrez Lopez, 30, a customer-support agent who lives in Rohnert Park, Calif., surprised his partner of 10 years, Diego Fuentes, with a Love Cloud dinner flight in November 2021 after the two went through a rough patch.
Sign Up for Love Letter Your weekly dose of real stories that examine the highs, lows and woes of relationships. This newsletter will include the best of Modern Love, weddings and love in the news. Get it sent to your inbox.
“I was in trouble with my partner, so I had to make sure it was more for him than me,” Mr. Lopez said in a phone interview. “That’s why I got the romantic package rather than the mile high.” Once on board, the two were served a three-course meal from Mezzo Bistro, a restaurant in Las Vegas, which provides the food on all dinner flights.
His plan was a success. “When we finally got into the airplane, he was smiling ear to ear,” said Mr. Lopez, who added that, if they book another flight, he plans to do things a bit differently. “Next time it’s mile high,” he said.
The Mile High Club, Complete With Membership Cards (Published 2022)
Love Cloud, an airplane charter business, offers private flights that help couples take their relationships (and relations) to new heights.
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