Press

I Tried Miami’s New $1,295 Private Airport Terminal Hidden Inside a Historic Pan Am Landmark—Here's What It's Like

There’s a new, luxury way to fly out of Miami, and the journey begins inside a historic landmarked building.

PS, the private terminal service that lets travelers bypass the public airport, opens its newest location this month. As the first guest to try it, Travel + Leisure got the inside scoop on what it's like to fly out of the former Pan American Airways headquarters.

The new terminal sits inside a 1960s Brutalist building where the most glamorous airline of its era once trained its flight attendants. PS will officially open the 34,000-square-foot private terminal on June 30 at Miami International Airport (MIA).

"Pan Am revolutionized commercial air travel, and it's such a privilege to be bringing this building back to life," Amina Belouizdad Porter, the CEO of PS, told T+L, noting the structure had sat largely empty for some 30 years. She likened the PS MIA experience to “walking into an embassy abroad,” with a sense of grandeur and safety.

It's the company's fourth outpost in the United States, following the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opening earlier in June, and the first in Florida. Like every PS location, the concept lets travelers skip the public terminal entirely. There’s a private entrance, dedicated Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening, and a chauffeured BMW straight to the plane on the tarmac. Behind the scenes, a dedicated control room coordinates with airlines and ground crews to keep things moving.

[...] On the art front, PS commissioned local Argentinian artist Nina Surel, whose work includes a stoneware mural of interlocking ceramic tiles and a mosaicked reflecting pool. The broader art collection, curated by Creative Art Partners, features works that pull from the building's aviation past. Even the food and drink program has a local influence with Cuban-inspired dishes and an in-house culinary team led by executive chef Matt Roman.

Click here to read more.

Photo: Jenna Peffley/PS
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[...] On the art front, PS commissioned local Argentinian artist Nina Surel, whose work includes a stoneware mural of interlocking ceramic tiles and a mosaicked reflecting pool. The broader art collection, curated by Creative Art Partners, features works that pull from the building's aviation past. Even the food and drink program has a local influence with Cuban-inspired dishes and an in-house culinary team led by executive chef Matt Roman.

Click here to read more.