As the moon passes between the Earth and the sun Monday, Andrew Bazos will be cruising at 17,000ft, rosé in hand, having dropped $2,000 to watch the solar eclipse from a private plane’s window.
He will not be alone: private plane company Blade has sold out 14 flights from New York — costing from $1,975 to $3,750 — which will let people see the 5-minute astronomical phenomenon from the air.
With days to go, people who want to catch the once-in-a-generation total eclipse are shelling out four and five figures for exclusive experiences.
Bazos and other New Yorkers are adventuring far and wide for the chance to catch the first total eclipse in the US since 2017 when the sun vanishes in the “zone of totality” from Mexico’s Pacific coast on a north-easterly route through Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before passing through Canada’s maritime provinces.
“It’ll be my first eclipse. I’m splurging on myself for this one,” Bazos, 61, an orthopedic surgeon and the founder of CrowdRX, which provides medical services at arenas and large venues, told The Post of spending around $2,000 for Blade’s package.
Having just missed the Northern lights on a recent trip to Iceland, and the last eclipse in 2017, the science buff is banking on the stars aligning when he watches from above Buffalo, New York on board Blade’s Pilatus PC-12.
On board when it takes off from Westchester airport at 1 p.m. flying over the path of totality in Buffalo Monday, flying along the moon’s path as it moves northeast as the sun becomes fully covered — without having to land — for the three hour experience that will last around three hours.
“I’m a science nerd. I love astronomy. It’s totally worth it,” Bazos told The Post of booking the flight, which now has a waitlist of New Yorkers in the 300s. “I jumped on the opportunity.”
And he almost missed it.
“It sold out within 15 minutes of sending the email. We couldn’t add flights quick enough,” Roisin Branch, chief marketing officer for Blade told The Post of the Solar Eclipse package that rolled out with 14 flights of 112 people.
Others are picking their venues carefully.
Daphne Schlick, 52, who works in legal services and her husband, Josh Winterfield, 43, a science teacher, have been planning their trip to Kingston, a city in Ontario, Canada where the eclipse will be visible for the once-in-a-lifetime event.
And in case weather does not permit, they’ve spent hundreds of dollars in deposits at hotels in Youngstown, Ohio; and Auburn, New York.
“We have a telescope, our glasses and a filter for the camera,” Schlick told The Post, of shelling out $100 for a special filter for their Cannon camera, and dusting off their telescope from the last partial eclipse viewing they saw in Battery Park in 2017.
“We’ve booked other hotels in different cities next to the zone of totality just in case Kingston is cloudy,” Schlick said, adding that she and her husband, from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, are taking vacation days for the family trip.
“This is the only time we’ll be able to see it with our kid – we won’t be alive whenever the next one is going to be.”
Menny Woolstone, 43, who lives in Tribeca and works in financial technology, is shelling out around $5,000 road tripping from downtown Manhattan to Weston, Vermont for a solo spa vacation at the five-star boutique hotel, The Weston, for the cosmic event where he plans on taking plenty of photos to share with his son.
“I’m all about experience. I’ve traveled all over the world. I figured, ‘Why not get out of New York City and have a getaway?” Woolstone told The Post of driving up Sunday morning staying through Tuesday.
“I’m doing it myself to get away from the hustle and bustle. I love science — why not get some relaxation in with the solar eclipse?”
