The Sir Edmund Hillary Club
Exclusively for our most loyal travelers
O.A.T. travelers are not only among the most experienced world travelers in the country, they’re also the most loyal. On any given adventure, you’re likely to encounter people who have taken trips with us not just once, but multiple times.
We named our loyalty club after Sir Edmund Hillary both to celebrate the adventurous spirit of our very best travelers, and to honor the memory of the man himself. The late mountaineer and humanitarian was a mentor to Harriet and Alan Lewis and a longtime friend of O.A.T.—you can learn more about this special relationship here.
As a club member, your benefits begin automatically when you reserve your third trip, and increase after you travel with us five and ten times.
What Are My Benefits?
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- $250 credit on multiple trips within a calendar year—save $250 on your second trip, and on each additional trip within the year. Multiple trips don't need to be back-to-back.
- Notifications about new adventures and departure dates added to existing trips—before they’re introduced to the public.
- Input on new O.A.T. adventures—as our most experienced travelers, your feedback can help us choose and develop new O.A.T. itineraries.
- Subscription to our loyalty magazine, Dispatches—(now accessible online).
- Priority luggage service to ensure delivery directly to and from your hotel room or ship cabin.
- Selection of gifts specially chosen for club members that you may wish to bring on your next adventure*
*Please note: All travelers on a safari adventure will receive a complimentary duffel bag, and all travelers on an Antarctic or Arctic expedition will receive a complimentary parka instead of a club member gift selection.
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- 6% Frequent Traveler Credit toward your next adventure—After your 5th trip and on every subsequent trip, we’ve increased the maximum value of your Frequent Traveler Credit from 5% to 6% for the first year following your return.
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- $350 credit on multiple trips in a calendar year—Your credit for additional trips within the calendar year will increase from $250 to $350 per person. This credit applies to any subsequent trip—they don’t need to be reserved back-to-back.
- Additional $100 Vacation Ambassador Credit—Earn an additional $100 credit for every traveler you refer, in addition to the rewards you already receive as a Vacation Ambassador.
- $200 per person savings on Private Adventures—You can reserve a Private Adventure for an additional per-person cost above our published price. For our very best travelers—and for every member of your private group—we’ll deduct $200 per person from this additional cost.
Your Benefits at a Glance
A quick snapshot of how your benefits increase over time
| Benefit | Upon reserving your first trip |
Upon reserving your 3rd trip | Upon completing your 5th trip |
Upon completing your 10th trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent Traveler Credit toward your next adventure* | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| Additional Travel Credit for multiple trips in a calendar year | $250 | $250 | $350 | |
| Vacation Ambassador credit for each new traveler referred | $100 | $100 | $100 | $200 |
| Reduced per-person rates on an O.A.T. Private Adventure | $200 | |||
| First announcements of new adventures and departure dates | ||||
| An exclusive gift to bring on your adventure | ||||
| Free subscription to exclusive newsletters | ||||
| Input on new itineraries | ||||
| Priority luggage service |
*Frequent Traveler Credit is worth a percentage of the advertised cost of your trip (less any discounts), applicable toward the next O.A.T. or Grand Circle trip you take within one year.
Why Sir Edmund Hillary?
A note from Harriet Lewis
Alan and I first became acquainted with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1992, just after we established our non-profit Grand Circle Foundation. While most people know of Sir Edmund as the climber who finally conquered Everest, we knew him first and foremost as a humanitarian. In fact, right up until his death in 2008, he displayed a brand of heroism that was in many ways even more inspiring than his ascent of Everest.
After his famous climb, Sir Edmund devoted the rest of his life to giving aid to the Sherpas of Nepal, the people of his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay. Through the organization he founded, the Himalayan Trust, he built schools, hospitals, and even airfields for the underprivileged people living in Everest’s shadow. Sir Edmund knew what values were most important in life: “There’s no doubt,” he said, “that my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain.”
While the extent of Sir Edmund's humanitarian work certainly spoke for itself, there was something more about him that particularly spoke to Alan and me. We were immediately struck by his humility and modesty; for all his achievements, his demeanor seemed more suited toward the unassuming beekeeper that he once was than the world-famous mountaineer he had become.
Over the years, Sir Edmund Hillary became a close personal friend of ours. And he was an honorary board member of Grand Circle Foundation. It was Hillary’s unselfish capacity to move beyond his celebrity to focus on the less fortunate that inspired us to put his name to our Sir Edmund Hillary Club.
We began this club not just to reward the well-traveled, but to recognize those travelers who reflect the same generous nature and adventurous spirit of a very special individual—someone who also just happened to be one of the greatest adventurers of the 20th century.
