Overview
If you've got a long-held dream of seeing the South Pole and have a bit of spare cash to burn, then you'd best get in quick to score a seat on the upcoming Antarctica flights out of Australia.
Sightseeing group Antarctica Flights is taking bookings for a series of rare, sky-high charter tours, departing Sydney (November 18), Perth (January 26), Melbourne (December 31 and February 10), Brisbane (November 10, 2019) and Adelaide (November 24, 2019), to cruise above the dazzling Antarctica Treaty area for around four hours. This year, for the first time ever, it's also flying out of Hobart (which means less travelling and more sightseeing) on November 25.
Each flight path is carefully chosen to maximise viewing from both sides of the plane and to ensure the best views should the weather turn nasty, while some passengers will rotate seats to allow everyone an equal shot at the spectacular scenery below.
Travelling on a QANTAS 747, the whole trip clocks in at around 12.5 hours — depending on your departure city — during which you'll hear from expert Antarctic explorers, talking about the polar environment and its fascinating history.
All that, while enjoying some better-than-average QANTAS plane food, full bar service and, in the lead-up to the views, a spot of in-flight entertainment — classic flick Happy Feet, or some Antarctic docos, of course.
As expected, this kind of plane trip doesn't come cheap — you're looking at forking out $1199 to be seated in the very middle of the plane, a whole four seats away from any window. Other options, including the Economy Class Standard ($1999), the Economy Class Superior ($2999) and the Premium Economy Class ($3299) involve seat rotations throughout the flight, so passengers can spend time both close to the window and further away.
Of course, you and your favourite travel buddy could drop $7999 each on Ice Class tickets to have a window seat and the one next to it all to yourselves for the entire flight.
Also worth noting is the super indulgent New Year's Eve flight out of Melbourne, which could have you ringing in 2019 with onboard Champagne, a live jazz band and a bird's eye view of Antarctica.