A new luxury membership is rewriting the terms of premium travel. Not by pointing affluent professionals toward deals, but by handling everything for them and, for those who prefer a more hands-on experience, equipping them with the insider knowledge to move through the luxury world entirely on their own terms.
The Upgrade Society offers members access to private jets, five-star hotel suites, and exotic cars at 60 to 90 percent below retail. This is not a discount code platform. It is a dedicated concierge desk operating on direct vendor relationships built over years at the highest levels of the luxury world.
At the helm is Kris Buban, a luxury lifestyle strategist who counts heads of state, professional athletes, and ultra-high-net-worth families among his active client roster. Buban currently operates More4LessMotors LLC, a high-net-worth concierge firm, maintains a collection of Rolls-Royces and other luxury vehicles, and is a member of Whispers, Rolls-Royce's invitation-only global community. He holds a Master's in Business Management from Oxford Brookes University with a specialization in entrepreneurship and has been featured across major international publications.
What Members Actually Get
Founding membership is priced at $5,000, with a $997 annual renewal. It includes three components: access to a proprietary vendor network spanning aviation, hospitality, and automotive; a personal concierge desk that handles sourcing, negotiation, and execution on behalf of members; and The Upgrade Society Playbook, a comprehensive insider guide to luxury access the company values at $3,500.
The numbers are hard to dismiss. Members currently access private jet flights for $6,000 that list at $83,000, a 93 percent reduction. Five-star hotel suites that retail at $6,000 per night are available to members at $590. These are not distressed inventory plays or last-minute dumps. They are the result of relationships with brokers, operators, and hoteliers that take years to cultivate and cannot be replicated through a Google search or a credit card points strategy.
More Than a Discount Platform
What separates The Upgrade Society from travel-hack courses and credit-card optimization programs is the service model itself. Members who want full concierge support get a team that negotiates rates, coordinates with brokers and insiders, and executes bookings without them lifting a finger. Members who prefer to stay in control get the playbook, the network access, and the education to do it themselves at the same level.
The target demographic is clear. Affluent professionals and entrepreneurs between 27 and 55 who already fly business class, stay at luxury hotels, and drive premium vehicles. People in the top quartile of US household income who are not looking to compromise on quality, only on what they pay for it.
What's Coming
The Upgrade Society is building toward 200-plus members within 18 months. Tiered membership levels are in development, including a Sovereign Tier engineered for ultra-high-net-worth clients. A standalone digital product, The Upgrade Society Apperitif, is being positioned for a broader audience, aiming for 5,000 customers annually. Concierge services are expanding into international markets, and a calendar of exclusive member events and retreats at luxury properties worldwide is in development.
The long-term vision is what Buban describes as "the Soho House of lifestyle optimization," a private membership that becomes synonymous with insider access to premium experiences at any scale.
The founding membership tier is currently filling. The market being tested is simple, and the proposition is increasingly difficult to ignore. Luxury access as a managed service, for the people who already live it.