Wheels Up partners with Barneys New York to grow membership

Private aviation company Wheels Up is making fashion more of a priority for its clients. The company is launching a two-tiered e-commerce site in the next month. One site will be for all those customers who call headquarters looking to buy Wheels Up baseball hats, the other will be for men's and women's apparel and accessories.

Wheels up is also partnering with Barneys New York to offer their members special benefits. Earlier this month, a Wheels Up lounge also opened in Nantucket, Massachusetts at the boutique Town Pool.

In addition to being a hangout where members can recharge their phones and watch sports on flat screen TV's, it is also meant to help potential clients learn about the benefits of flying private. According to chief brand officer Mark Sage, Wheels Up is returning next summer and is looking to adopt the retail format in other ways.

Wheels Up is currently looking into the process of cobranding merchandise for the members-only section of their site.

The prices for Wheels Up services include a one-time initiation fee of 17,500 dollars and 8500 in annual dues, plus fixed hourly rates for occupied flight hours to board a King Air 350i. The company, which is about to celebrate their third anniversary, expects to reach more than 3000 members by the end of the year.

They are already partnered with Zegna, Theory, and Blushington. As part of the "renewal appreciation kit," members who sign up for another year will receive a Barneys gift card. On Barneys end, their top card members who sign up for Wheels Up memberships will also get added benefits.

Image: Wheelsup.com