We booked this trip for 3 couples, all family. We booked through trip advisor/Westwind airlines. They were very accommodating, friendly and knowledgeable. John was our agent and he answered all our questions! On the day of our trip, We were greeted by Lindsey at the office and informed to use the bathroom, get some snacks and water for our day trip, and introduced to out pilot Josh. We were informed two young ladies would join our group and they were slot of fun.
Westwind air was clean, staff very friendly and really took care of us!
We loaded the plane and was off on time, precisely at 7:30 am. We arrived at the west rim about 8:30. We unloaded and weāre taken by bus to the west rim entrance, gift shops and restaurant. Josh took us to the gift center, bathrooms, and then we were lead up to the west rim skywalk. We packed away all our belongings and went out on the skywalk. The only disappointment of the day was the glass skywalk... it was dirty and the gentleman taking our photos was not into our group.. we came out with 12 photos of three couples... the two other gals included with our group had a photographer who was really into these ladies... this photographer took a lot of poses and pictures of these young ladies. After this session we went down to the gift shop at the skywalk rim and were given about a half hour to shop. We then were lead up together to the dining room, where we seated at three tables and given a choice of four menu options and drinks. The food was excellent. We spent about an hour here, then back to the gift shop. We then were bussed to Eagle point where we could hike and had beautiful views of the canyon and got some great panoramic photos.
We then were bussed back to the terminal where we walked to the helicopter area. We were instructed by video of what to expect on the helicopter tour, and waited about 45 minutes or so for the helicopter. We were in the helicopter headed to the canyon basin. This was exhilarating and breathtaking... upon arrival we were let off the helicopter and walked down a slope and steps to the Colorado river where we boarded a pontoon boat and was taken on a guided tour down/of the Colorado river. Theresa, our tour guide was very informative and took a lot of time with our group. We then climbed back up the stairs to wait for the helicopter and again loaded and taken on a scenic ride back up the canyon side back to the terminal. It was the highlight of the trip! We then walked back to the terminal where our pilot Josh met us and we walked back to the plane terminal and loaded up and headed back to Phoenix. We arrived back at 3:30. It was a fun filled exciting day. The airplane flight was so gentle and smooth, as was the helicopter ride!
We feel this was the best way to witness the Grand Canyon. We saw and experienced more in this 8 hour day then we ever could have on our own. All costs were included for entrance, skywalk rim, lunch, bussing, helicopter and boat ride. We did tip our pilot, our helicopter operator and boat guide.
This was definitely worth the cost of the trip! Every aspect of the trip was well thought out, entertaining and accommodating!