I've done a handful of these things, and they seem categorically different from being in space: even low Earth orbit _feels_ noticeably different from skydivin

I've done a handful of these things, and they seem categorically different from being in space: even low Earth orbit _feels_ noticeably different from skydiving etc (I'm also making the assumption that it's safer than eg paragliding). I suppose we're just starting from different assumptions about what captures the imagination of the average person. At the very least, I'd be surprised if the average current spaceflight customer was more driven by status than by excitement about space per se.