Not many 29 year olds own a three million dollar Bugatti Veyron Mansory Vivere.
Houston Crosta, owner of Las Vegas based exotic car rental company Royalty Exotic Cars, is one of them. The gated multi-million dollar home, Mercedes AMG S63 daily driver, dozen Hublot watches and $15,000 custom gold .338 Lapua Sniper Rifle are just extras.
None of which came easy.
The Las Vegas native began his entrepreneurial journey in 2015 renting out motorized scooters, walking along the strip for eight hours a day with a sign on his back, handing out flyers to any passerby who cared enough to take one. I met Crosta back in 2016 while visiting Las Vegas for a story on French Montana.
Two years and fifteen employees later, Crosta’s rental company is now the highest rated exotic car rental experience in Las Vegas according to Trip Advisor. This commitment to customer service has paid off: Royalty does over $500,000 a month in revenue.
Since then Royalty has amassed a fleet of over 36 ultra-exotic cars, 8 motorcycles and 30 Polaris Slingshots (Royalty is the largest renter of Polaris Slingshots in the United States, and is the only one in the country with automatic transmission Slingshots available).
He credits part of his success to unlimited mile rentals, a practice virtually unheard of in the exotic car rental world prior to Royalty, says Crosta. "I was the first person to ever do that. No one ever did that before. Add in unbeatable service and I changed the way other people have to do this business. If you open an exotic car rental company right now without unlimited miles, with bad [customer] service, well... why would you even do it?"
He's happy about how much he's changed the rental scene, but car rentals were just the beginning. His next focus is bringing the "royalty experience" to the skies in the form of a luxury regional airline.
The idea came to Crosta while brainstorming ways to offer more value to his existing customers. “Hotels are expensive, restaurants are tough, hyper-competitive, a lot of options... well, what about flying here?” Crosta said. “Airlines have a bad reputation right now.”
“If you fly United, it's like going to jail. You get treated like... well, you know what. It’s uncomfortable. First class is ridiculously priced and it’s only a little bit better. Then there’s the TSA who make you feel like scumbags no matter where you sit on the plane.”
Most consumers are in agreement with Crosta according to recent survey data.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) showed the airline industry ranked in the bottom-third of all consumer facing industries, as first reported in a 2017 CBS Money Watch report. Meanwhile, the TSA consistently ranks dead last among all federal agencies based on annual Best Places to Work surveys. Furthermore, 87 percent of frequent flyers said the TSA does a "fair or poor job" with airport security, as per survey data first published by The Hill in 2015.
“Everybody wants to come back to us because we take care of them, really good care” Crosta said. “We teach them how to use cars. We make sure they’re comfortable. With them, you're paying to be treated like... you know, so why not pay to be treated to luxury?”
Regional flights from Burbank, Orange County or San Francisco direct to Las Vegas hover between $300 to $400. For a hundred dollars more than the average price, Crosta plans to upgrade that experience in a major way.
“With that price you still have to deal with gates, counter people, TSA, all of that. With us and what we’re planning, you can get there just fifteen minutes before takeoff. You’ll have luxury seats, with your food and entertainment waiting for you. It’s clean, fast and easy, too” said Crosta.
“Plus, because Royalty Exotic Cars exists, if you need a Lamborghini, it’ll be waiting for you at the terminal. If you need a Rolls Royce Ghost, the flight attendant can give you your keys. Now if I told you I can do all that for 500 bucks, would you do it?”
Sold.
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