1. What is Marchay?

2. Who is Marchay for?

3. What is included in the membership?

4. What is a private travel community and what are its advantages?

5. Is Marchay a travel agent?

6. What services does Marchay provide to its members?

7. Are there any destinations Marchay cannot book?

8. What are the coverage hours?

9. What if there is an issue during a trip?

10. What does the name “Marchay” mean?

11. How is Marchay using Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

12. What does the membership include?

13. How much does Membership cost?

14. Is there a minimum annual spend?

15. Are there any other fees associated with the service?

16. Can members refer other members?

17. How can I join?

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1. What is Marchay? 

Marchay is a curated, membership-based luxury travel club and community. Widely recognized as one of the world’s premier travel services, Marchay’s unique model provides members and their families with highly personalized, expert and sophisticated travel advice and execution that they can trust, in addition to a wide range of non-public benefits and resources.

2. Who is Marchay for?

Marchay is for smart, sophisticated and affluent individuals and families with a deep passion for travel. Our community includes entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders in a variety of industries, all of whom have struggled to find a travel solution that matches their taste and quality demands. Despite Marchay’s diverse membership, all members share a passion for exceptional life experiences.

3. What is included in the membership?

• A dedicated team of travel experts, led by a Senior Advisor, to guide and plan your travel throughout the year. Marchay advisors are widely recognized as the best in the industry.
• A highly personalized advisory relationship that is unbiased thanks to our fiduciary structure, so you can trust it completely.
• Unlimited, end-to-end bespoke trip planning and execution for members and any accompanying guests.
• A curated global network of top local suppliers including drivers, guides and unique tours and experiences. Proactive management of the suppliers to ensure exceptional on the ground experiences.
• Access to pre-vetted private homes and villas.
• A 24/7 flight team charged with finding members the best flight solutions for commercial and private aviation.
• Members-only benefits (through preferred partnerships with every major luxury hotel brand) at over 1,200 hotels globally.
• Negotiated corporate rates at select city hotels for member work travel.
• Shared ideas and recommendations based on member feedback, advisor expertise, extensive industry relationships and on-ground partners.
• Multiple modes of communication with dedicated team through e-mail, phone, and WhatsApp.

4. What is a private travel community and what are its advantages?

There are numerous benefits to Marchay’s private, membership-based structure. The relationship between the travel advisory team and member is based on long-term mutual satisfaction and trust. Marchay Advisors are in-house and fully salaried, with bonuses reflecting overall member satisfaction and retention. In contrast, traditional travel agents are compensated solely based on commissions, often times leading to a misalignment of incentives. The Marchay structure and culture align interests and create an advisory relationship based on advocacy and support for members, not transactions.

The membership generally shares similar travel habits and needs, as well as being highly educated, discerning, and collaborative. Every aspect of Marchay revolves around providing an exceptional experience to this group. This extends to team hiring, partners, systems, processes, communication, and resources. Marchay members feel they have found a travel “home” that truly cares for them.

Marchay takes a holistic approach towards our collective and continuously expanding expertise. Members travel all over the world and share their feedback, contributing up-to-date travel intelligence for the benefit of all. This also guides Marchay to continuously improve our service and best practices. Further, we leverage the expertise and exposure to destinations and vendors of our travel advisors across the company towards building out itineraries and making recommendations for members.

As a closed group based on mutual selection, Marchay offers its travel advisors and local partners great members with whom to work. This enhances Marchay’s reputation as having the best “clients,” which in turn gives us access to the best vendors and service providers. Member quality, along with the Company’s fiduciary structure and generous benefits, also makes Marchay a uniquely prestigious job in travel, allowing the company to demand and attract top talent in the industry.

5. Is Marchay a travel agent?

No, Marchay was created partly in response to the shortcomings of the travel agency model, specifically its commission-based incentives and inconsistent quality.

In the absence of this misalignment, Marchay advisors recommend exactly the right fit for members, not what maximizes commission. Marchay’s culture is rooted in being a fiduciary for its members’ travel spend, particularly advising when spending more on a particular hotel or experience is worth it and when it is not. At its core, this is about creating trust and peace of mind.

6. What services does Marchay provide to its members?

Marchay members receive unlimited end-to-end trip planning by their own dedicated team of travel advisors, who are widely recognized as the best in the industry.

Whether it’s a birthday safari for an extended family or a two-night trip to New York City, Marchay plans all types of travel for its members, from trip ideation to execution. As part of our private group, members access Marchay’s global network of highly vetted local partners, guides, and vendors, including villas, yachts, and private aircraft. Additionally, Marchay provides concierge services (e.g., restaurants, tickets, guides, drivers) associated with curated trips.

Beyond what Marchay provides, is how Marchay provides it. Marchay is focused on providing elite, “old school” personalized service to its members. This means members are recognized and known throughout the company, like at an intimate, private club. All Marchay team members can think, problem solve and communicate at a high level and with precision, matching the work quality our members expect in their own careers. In these ways, Marchay is an anecdote to the pervasive low-quality service we all experience every day.

We provide multiple modes of communication for members to easily reach their dedicated travel team through e-mail, phone, and WhatsApp.

7. Are there any destinations Marchay cannot book?

Marchay’s holistic approach and a wide range of resources enable it to create member experiences anywhere in the world. In addition to unique member feedback and insights, Marchay leverages extensive destination network and on-ground, pre-vetted partners. Marchay advisors are constantly building their network and knowledge by meeting with leading vendors around the globe.

8. What are the coverage hours?

Marchay Advisors work New York hours from 9:00am to 6:00pm ET and monitor inboxes after close for urgent matters. There is also an after-hours flight team outside of those hours, as well as in-house weekend coverage.

9. What if there is an issue during a trip?

The Marchay team is always available within our working hours during the week and on weekends to quickly address requests, questions or issues should they arise. As mentioned, we also have an after-hours flight team, and we aim to provide secondary points of contact through on the ground partners. This combination provides a holistic level of back up support for our members.

10. What does the name “Marchay” mean?

The Company was started in Paris, where the verb “marcher” is multi- purpose meaning “to work effectively (ça marche)” “to walk,” or “to go.” All these definitions, in addition to the flexibility and versatility of the verb, reflect some of Marchay’s mission.

11. How is Marchay using Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

While AI will never fully replace travel advisors at the top of the market, we are using AI to make significant efficiency improvements at Marchay. We are using AI to leverage our extensive insider knowledge from our travel advisors, members, and partners on the ground and ensure our data is not only organized but also used to help make sophisticated recommendations to like-minded members with their historical preferences and travels in mind.

12. What does the membership include?

Membership includes unlimited bespoke trip planning and execution for members and their guests. Members have access to Marchay’s curated, global network of local guides, a first and business flight-team, on-the-ground logistics, pre-vetted private homes and villas, and the most elite preferred partner programs for luxury chains and value-added amenities (e.g. breakfast, credits, upgrades).

13. How much does Membership cost?

The annual membership fee is $8,500.

14. Is there a minimum annual spend?

While we do not have any minimum spend requirements, Marchay members typically spend over $100,000 per year on their travel. We primarily plan our member’s leisure travel, but we certainly can assist with their business travel, too.

15. Are there any other fees associated with the service?

The only additional fees associated with the Marchay membership are for some flight and all mileage bookings. There is a $125 per ticket fee for international economy flights as well as all domestic, Mexico, and Caribbean flights and a $250 service fee per ticket for miles/points tickets, most members never pay any fee outside of the annual membership fee, but we are certainly happy to help with these types of ticket bookings if the member prefers. For clarity, there are no fees for international first or business class flights, private charter, hotel & villa accommodations, itinerary-based trip planning, private jets, yachts, or driver services among the several services Marchay provides.

We strive to keep fees to a minimum, of course, but in the end, we don’t want to replace the exceptional service for our members and would rather be a high-touch addition for luxury travel planning. Fees are not considered a source of revenue for us, but rather a tool to optimize how we service our members. When it comes to this particular policy, most members find booking domestic airline tickets to be a better user experience online because of the multiple back-and-forth correspondence due to the high myriad of options. Since implementing this policy a few years ago, the impact for our members has been minimal. Additionally, please note if anything is ever outside of the membership fee scope, Marchay will inform the member.

16. Can members refer other members?

Most new members come through referrals. Marchay does not advertise. Current members understand Marchay’s value and know who will be the best fit for the group. For each accepted member who joins Marchay, a complimentary three-month extension will be added to the referring member’s account.

17. How can I join?

Marchay welcomes all people who fit its travel profile and who can make a positive contribution to its community. Prior to acceptance, each prospective member has a phone interview to review their travel and the program to determine if it is a mutual fit.

To learn more or schedule a phone interview, contact Marchay at membership@marchay.com. If both parties decide to move forward, the prospective member is assigned to the most suitable travel team based on their profile. Partner clients will receive accelerated onboarding.

Upon returning the forms, the member (together with any relevant family members) will be contacted by their dedicated team for an introductory call and to discuss in more detail their travel style and requirements, as well as their plans or desires for upcoming travel. While onboarding calls, and travel communication, can be conducted by personal assistants, Marchay strongly prefers and selects members who will be personally interacting with the Marchay advisory team.