DL is seat blocking a number of window seats on the left side of aircraft. Just speculating, but perhaps it's so those without window seats can take turns at sitting at one.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...78d84e4ba1.png

Maybe those seats will have special fees.

I flew to STL in 2017 and watched the eclipse on the banks of the Mississippi in Chester, IL, which apparently is the home of Popeye. There were all sorts of gloom and doom predictions about the traffic, but it wasn't that bad. I easily made it for my flight back home early that evening.

Flying to DFW this year. Was able to score a rental car and will probably watch from Ennis, TX.

We went with my wife's parents to Hopkinsville, Kentucky for the one in 2017. Weather was perfect - I'm glad I got to see it since I don't have high expectations for this one. (We'll be driving an hour south into Ohio this time, but it's cloudy more often than not in April.)

I thought about the flight, but it was already sold out when I first heard about it.

Rather than take my chances with a gimmicky flight like this which I think may not actually be as cool as experience as it sounds, I am thinking about a same day in/out flight to one of the airfields that are in the zone of totality. From what I can tell DFW is in the totality zone. Having seen the last eclipse from Nashville, I have to decide if a repeat experience is worth what looks like about $2000 in airfare per person. Had I not seen the last one, I probably would but it's not a bucket list item for me anymore.

Part of the coolness of the experience is the weather that goes with totality which you won't experience on an airplane. The temperature drops suddenly by about 10 degrees, the wind picks up, animals, birds and insects get restless and all around the 360 degree horizon it looks sorta of like a sunset. And of course there is no experience in the world like looking at a gaping black hole with orange flames around it in the sky where the sun would normally be. Much of that would be less spectacular from inside a plane I think.

While the plane flights do seem gimmicky to me, they have one thing going for them: They will be above clouds no matter what. :idea:

Ever seen how high those cloud tops sometimes go in the Midwest in April? Cumulonimbus clouds can exceed 60,000 feet. But your overall point isn't missed.

Planes don't deliberately fly into cumulonimbus clouds. But your overall pedantry isn't missed. :D :D :D

The hell they don't. But probably not on eclipse days.

Having been in a single engine Cessna during one, it was great. You get to experience much longer totality as you're moving. However I'm not sure how well can enjoy onboard a commercial jet.

It could be interesting if there are seat poaching attempts on the eclipse flight. If DL shuffles seats or the GA does it just before boarding, the only recourse could be to cancel the trip.

Since this one apparently sold well, I'm surprised that DL isn't trying to market a couple more eclipse flights starting from different airports.

Hooray! On the map I used it looked to be a bit west of the path.

I'll be on the roof deck of whichever of the parking ramps is closest to the Grand Hyatt.

Price being equal, would you rather have:
a) Economy class window seat on left side of the AUS-DTW fight or
b) First class aisle seat on left side of the DFW-DTW flight (with the eternal hope that a window seat opens up before takeoff).

I’m a bit surprised how quickly First sold out on these two flights. Having flown business on United’s inaugural SFO-BNE, I know how well they treat J pax for special flights (private lounge area/food/events prior to flight, extra/flight specific amenities on board).
I wouldn’t expect the same treatment here, but at least for the DFW flight, first class aisle seats (that were singles, not pairs, I watched them as they got scooped up) sold out while there were still available window seats in economy.

Here is a link to a useful map.

Mexico - USA - 2024 April 8 Total Solar Eclipse - Interactive Google Map - Xavier Jubier

Totality is just about of 3 minutes at DFW.

Howdy everyone! My friends have this flight (1010) booked and I have to say I’m jealous just for the experience.

DL is blocking tons of seats on the flight and we have seat alerts setup for the release of any of the window seats, but anything else you can think of to do?

would be neat if they are intentionally lightening the load to let more people check out the window 👍