On July 26, 2022, a Virgin Atlantic flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Los Angeles made an unscheduled stop at Salt Lake City in order for an unruly passenger to be removed. Surprisingly, fellow passengers didn’t focus their anger on the passenger, but rather on Heathrow Airport and the airline, with one fellow passenger telling the Irish Sun, “I was [at the airport] for five hours and barely made my flight. People were not happy, people were very agitated.”

This summer’s travel chaos at the world’s airports has been well documented, with canceled flights, long lines, and upset passengers. Restaurants haven’t fared any better, with lots of news stories about brawls occurring there as well. Recently, this chaos spread to “the happiest place on Earth,” Disney World, when a brawl erupted at its Magic Kingdom.

Increasingly, those with the means are trying to cocoon themselves when they travel, dine, or recreate, and this is creating strong growth in what I’m terming “exclusivity stocks.” While there is risk that stagflation or a recession could bring on a decrease in spending even by the very rich, the currently low prices of the stocks mentioned in this article create an enormous upside possibility.

Exclusivity in Airports

For years, the flying elite haven’t had to fight for an electrical outlet at an overcrowded airport departure gate, but rather they have enjoyed luxurious airport lounges. These lounges, which the New York Times recently described as “bastions of civilization in airport terminals,” provide bars, snacks, free WiFi, and even beds and showers in some of them.

For years, American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), and United Airlines (UAL) have provided airport lounges for their first class and business class passengers. Now, credit card companies are getting into the act. The Platinum Card from American Express (AXP), which costs $695 annually, comes with access to multiple airport lounges, and American Express operates its own Centurion Lounges and Escape Lounges, which the company describes as allowing card members to “… escape into luxury before flying, enjoy food and drink from award-winning chefs and top mixologists, and get away from it all in thoughtfully curated spaces designed for work or relaxation.”

Holders of the Capital One (COF) Venture X card, which costs $395 a year, will have access to new lounges that are being built at the Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, and Washington Dulles airports. In 2023, JPMorgan…