September 17, 2020
"It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history. People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying."
Said a spokesperson for Qantas, quoted in "Australian air carrier’s seven-hour scenic ‘flight to nowhere’ sells out in 10 minutes" (WaPo). The plane will take off and land in the same place — no stops along the way — in order to comply with the coronavirus restrictions. People paid $575 and $2,765 (U.S. dollars) for this plane ride. I guess the big price difference reflects the importance of a window seat.
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48 comments:
Dumb. Too much time and money on their hands.
It takes all kinds.
I guess the big price difference reflects the importance of a window seat.
i guess it reflects the big difference between coach and 1st class
It should have just stayed on the tarmac until it had to return to the terminal over fuel concerns.
Japan is doing the same thing. The planes are better off flying than parked, maintenancewise, and this helps pay for it.
For the same reason I take the dog for a car ride once a month. It gets the oil out of the bottom of the sump and back onto the moving parts, preventing rust of the latter. Otherwise I'd never use the car.
So far the dog doesn't pay but sharing gas cost would be nice.
It is beyond my comprehension that anyone could enjoy the experience of public air travel.
I've had to do a second rivet repair on this pair of crocs too. They're hardly ever used on pavement these days, just lawn; so the soles are not wearing out as fast as the other parts of the shoe.
A half-inch Chicago screw replaces the missing plastic rivet nicely.
Extra maintenance from non-use.
Australians are tremendous travelers.
If you are ever in a truly odd place in the world, someplace nobody has any sane reason to be, and you find another white person, odds are he's an Aussie.
Althouse may not get along with those characters.
I know these people very well.
"It is beyond my comprehension that anyone could enjoy the experience of public air travel."
This, in spades.
Hardin, you should set up a GoFundMe for your monthly motoring excursion.
Australia is so big you'd think you could get the experience of travel just by flying from one side to the other.
Re: Japan, are there flights to nowhere? I know domestic travel has restarted, but I hadn't seen any adverts for flights to nowhere. There's plenty of international flights (I flew from Tokyo to the US Sunday because my visa expired) but foreigners are still largely prohibited from entering the country. Japanese can fly to/from the US without restriction -- just have to quarantine 14 days at home after returning.
“A half-inch Chicago screw...”
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Felt I got one of those (but a lot bigger) every time I paid my property taxes. So I moved away and haven’t looked back.
Mileage Run...
Kinda cool to fly over major landmarks. I once departed Seattle to fly to Denver and soon after we were airborne the pilot was informed we were delayed because the pope and the President were meeting on the tarmac near our gate in Denver. So instead of meaningless circles we rerouted to take a lap around Mt. Rainer, then landed in Denver in time for a front row seat for the Pope and President exchanging greetings.
I can see being interested in a scenic plane ride, but those prices don't make sense to me.
Even with Covid shutdowns, there have to be ways to buy better entertainment for $2k+ a seat.
I thought this was the Qantas Antarctic sightseeing flight. That usually sells out. This seems to be only a sightseeing tour of Australia. Only 134 seats available, selling out quickly isn't much of a surprise.
I miss air travel but not enough to want to sit on a plane wearing a mask for 7 hours.
What about climate change?
I always thought a cruise to nowhere would be nice. Just get on a ship and steam in a circle and eat and drink 'til you burst. Who needs ports?
The plane will take off and land in the same place
Going nowhere fast.
That reminds me of yesterday:
He : [get's up]
She: Where are you going?
He : Nowhere.
She: I'm coming with you even though I'm going to a different nowhere.
He : "A Different Nowhere" sounds like a book.
Reminiscent of the luxury cruise ship in The Magic Christian, with Peter Sellers and Ringo Star. It never left the dock. Very funny movie, BTW. IIRC, John Cleese also had a bit part as an art dealer.
This is crazy and EXPENSIVE to take such a stupid trip.
When we are bored and want to get out of the house, away from the property, we get in our car and take a day trip. Drive somewhere to have lunch. Drive somewhere to have a picnic lunch by a lake. Drive on some roads that we haven't been on lately. Get out and walk around or take a short hike. Collect some rocks! Take some photos. It is nothing to drive 300 miles or more in a day.
I can't imagine wanting to pay to be stuffed into an airplane with a bunch of total strangers on a trip to nowhere.
Also...like rhhardin....we start up our "collectible" vehicles, and some equipment that we don't use as often, and just let them run idling for a while. Other ones** we drive weekly or daily. Maintenance is important.
BTW: Your dog is really a freeloader. Free rides and home made food. :-)
(**we have a total of 6 trucks plus my car)
Status symbolic trip.
I wonder what they charge for the carbon offsets.
Saw Althouse's above the fold and thought "oh goody - an Althouse story about aviation which gives the curmudgeons their millionth opportunity to remind everyone how much they hate air travel." Was correct.
Some of us love it and miss it, you know. (Not enough to try to put a mask on my toddlers though, which is a shame because Mr. Pants is sitting on around $15k in credits for cancelled business trips so we could have some fun if it were feasible to actually get our family on a plane.) And do any of you know how completely batshit insane Australia's -- well, specifically Victoria's and extra specifically Melbourne's virus "strategy" -- has been? If you were an Aussie you'd be pants on head nuts too. I can see this seeming like a decent way to spend an afternoon.
Qantas is a nice airline. I flew them from Cairns to Sydney once and they played Mr. Bean; this was back in the day when there was one big screen in the front of each cabin. It was fun to listen to the whole airplane cracking up together. They also handed out Vegemite branded playing cards which remain one of my favorite travel mementoes.
tcrosse said... I always thought a cruise to nowhere would be nice. Just get on a ship and steam in a circle and eat and drink 'til you burst. Who needs ports?
Sounds just like a regular cruise ship experience :-)
Or a charter fishing trip. Go on the boat, drink a lot and pretend to fish.
Ahaha haha haha Ha.
Back when I was in London every few months there was always a dozen or so VW campers parked along the Embankment. They were for sale by Aussies to other Aussies. They would buy a camper and spend 6 months driving around Europe, then go back to London and sell the camper to the next Aussie. That was the shopping spot for campers.
I despise air travel so the appeal of this is lost on me personally, but I get why some people might like it. ALthough I do question the point if you don't happen to have a window seat.
In Mexico they have a tequila train, you get on the train and drink tequila for hours and go to a distillery, (I have never been.) I suspect this flight is an excuse for the 'Strayans to sit around and drink beer all day and not be able to leave. Kind of like how the Finns like to take the boat over to Estonia to drink all day, Estonian girls call them mooses, for their intellect and mating habits.
"I always thought a cruise to nowhere would be nice."
Are the covid cruise ships still out in the ocean? There were thousands of crew members out there just waiting for somewhere to dock.
I miss our 16 hour flights to Oz.
They are just trying to avoid Althouse's criticism of travel. "We're just flying from A to A, like, around the block. What's wrong with that?"
Assuming, of course, none of the passengers wears shorts.
Off-shore might not be under the mask mandates. You could have regular parties ten miles out. Like Prohibition, sort of, only you run the liquor out to sea to the party yacht instead of in to shore to the speakeasy. This would be a floateasy. Very easy. Maybe you could go out to a big "pirate cruise" ship - get your hair done, shop, gamble, dine sitting down. The SS Pirates of Penzance. The SS Monte Carlo. Tax free.
Reminiscent of the luxury cruise ship in The Magic Christian, with Peter Sellers and Ringo Star.
Also with Raquel Welch cracking the whip over the guys chained to the oars on the lower deck.
Amazingly odd behavior.
To me.
Crocs, rh ??!!@#$&?!! That tears it.
walkabout : a RITUAL separation from his tribe FOR THE Aboriginal >>>> flyabout : a VIRTUAL separation from his tribe - in 21st Century
Life is a cruise to nowhere.
Michael K said...
Back when I was in London every few months there was always a dozen or so VW campers parked along the Embankment. They were for sale by Aussies to other Aussies. They would buy a camper and spend 6 months driving around Europe, then go back to London and sell the camper to the next Aussie. That was the shopping spot for campers.
---------
I want to do this for AK - is that possible?
BTW: Your dog is really a freeloader. Free rides and home made food. :-)
Dog: The humans feed me and care for me, they must be gods.
Cat: The humans feed me and care for me, I must be a god.
I wonder how many know the origin of the name Quantas?
Queensland and Northern Territories Ambulance Service.
I agree that Australians are great travelers...and fun as hell as a rule.
But this isn't travel and is kind of lame.
There had better be endless, vintage Dom being poured...
Even during the best of times, you couldn't pay me to get on a flight to nowhere.
Good grief.
isn't this sorta kinda likea space tourism where you go into orbit and land
they should all get cadet astronaut pins/stripes whatsits
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Rory said: "Are all the cruise ships are still out on the ocean?"
Many cruising from the US have been in home port but since there is not enough space others have been loitering out on the ocean. Many left the US recently to re-patriate crew as they could not get flights as well as to get away from hurricanes. Very few ships stay in the Caribbean or Gulf during hurricane season, most go to the Pacific or Europe.
I have been keeping up with Disney's ships as we have a westbound Panama Canal cruise booked with them in February which we are not sure we are going to keep. They had been at home port in FL and loitering off the coast since March. A few weeks ago 3 of them went to Brest, France, for drydock and Covid upgrades. I think many other lines must have theirs in Europe as well for drydock and similar upgrades. Most cruise ships are built in Europe, mainly Germany and Italy.
For the true flight aficianado, American Airlines is offering four hours sitting in your economy seat, on the taxiway at Dulles while waiting for a thunderstorm to pass. No A/C, no lavatory, no drinks or snacks, no electronics allowed. Ah, what memories.
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