VH- OEB goes walkabout on Captains Choice.

[markis10]

From the QF source (she left 6 hours late, what a trip!)

26th April 2013 - VH-OEB Departs on Captain’s Choice South American Tour.
Boeing 747-48E VH-OEB departed Sydney as QF6034 this evening for a Captain’s Choice tour of South America. The full itinerary is:


26th April - Sydney - Buenos Aires
28th April - Buenos Aires - Iguassu Falls - Rio de Janeiro
1st May - Rio de Janeiro - Havana
4th May - Havana - Panama City
6th May - Panama City - Guayaquil
9th May - Guayaquil - Lima
10th May - Lima - Cuzco
13th May - Cuzco - Easter Island
14th May - Easter Island - Sydney.

 

[docjames]

Is that the tour itin or the 744 flights? I'd be surprised if it flies to Cuzco and Ifuazu (usually these are local flights not in the 744).

Sounds like a great trip. A photo of the 744 at HAV would be quite cool!

 

[simongr]

These trips sound awesome - but would have to do them in J or F of course!

 

[love_the_life]

Yeah - the price for the tour is positively eye watering No room for ASAs there - remember a C/Choice group on Silversea when were were in the Arctic (from whence my avatar comes). It was over $28,000 pp for the 3 week tour in economy flights and the lowest grade cabin. Surprisingly there were 43 people on the tour (not us!) - including some who had done 6 or 7 C/Choice tours. If the latest offering is anything like the experience we saw in the Arctic there will be some very age challenged people so wonder how they will manage the altitude in Cusco and the steps at Machu Picchu.
I remember looking up the price for interest but sadly cannot remember it now

 

[markis10]

Is that the tour itin or the 744 flights? I'd be surprised if it flies to Cuzco and Ifuazu (usually these are local flights not in the 744).

Sounds like a great trip. A photo of the 744 at HAV would be quite cool!

They stay on the 744 the whole trip except for May 6-9 where they leave the 744 at Guayaquil.

 

[nlagalle]

Sadly no SC's or FF points...

 

[love_the_life]

Sadly no SC's or FF points...

Too true - obviously no good for a SC run

 

[Hvr]

So do they get lounge access based on status or class of travel?

 

[markis10]

So do they get lounge access based on status or class of travel?

You would hope lounge access is included at 25k for a Y seat. Interesting that this is the third time this bird has done the same trip!

 

[docjames]

I'm surprised the 744 can get in and out of Cuzco.

 

[kpc]

I'm surprised the 744 can get in and out of Cuzco.

Don't remind me about the altitude sickness I suffered in Cuzco.....with the high altitude, would need a long runway...

 

[markis10]

I'm surprised the 744 can get in and out of Cuzco.

Not a problem considering it 3.4 km long and the 744 will hardly be at MTOW, AA used to run 757s into there and still hold rights.

 

[kpc]

Not a problem considering it 3.4 km long and the 744 will hardly be at MTOW, AA used to run 757s into there and still hold rights.

Of course the frequent fog at Cuz is another issue...for the amount of traffic it gets, the airport building is really too small!

 

[docjames]

Mex 3900m @ 7300ft elevation (744s can make EU from there)

Cus 3397m @ 10860ft.

Cus-ipc is 4058mi

Mex-lhr is 5541


By way of comparison. Must be tight without a fuel stop at a lower altitude.

 

[Shelf]

IIRC all seats in Y have a shadow.

 

[love_the_life]

IIRC all seats in Y have a shadow.

I remember that they advertised that there are only a small number in the tour so that there will be lots of vacant seats - but it is still Y size, even if you lift up the armrests.
Must be pretty hairy coming into Cusco as the airport in bang in the middle with housing all around. It was bad enough in a Airbus 319 and certain breathlessness as we left the plane added to the thrill (though luckily we did not suffer from AMS much at all).

 

[RB]

Despite the shadow seating etc I think I would opt to look outside the Captains Choice pricing. There are quite a few of their trips (that involve cruising)that can be booked direct with massive savings

 

[Sprucegoose]

Do we know what the composition of the crew is? any backups riding shotgun?

 

[samh004]

Was going to question what would happen when the 744's disappear from the fleet, would they take an A380, but if there's questions over some of the runways already, I can't imagine it'll happen, at least there.

 

[oz_mark]

Was going to question what would happen when the 744's disappear from the fleet, would they take an A380, but if there's questions over some of the runways already, I can't imagine it'll happen, at least there.

Some of their tours have been on 767s in the past. If A380s were an issue (and that is sometime in the future), I imagine that A330s could be used.