Absolutely stunning - pilot Alex Schmitt was excellent. A full 70 minutes in the air taking in the views of the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. Thoroughly recommend this tour.
The trip was amazing and a must do if you can. Transfer to the airfield was simple and easy to arrange prior to departure. The helicopter was comfortable and our pilot (Michelle) was very friendly and provided an interesting and knowledgable commentary and conversations whilst on the tour.
So now I am home and reflecting on my credit card bill it shows it was 500 for the 2 of us and frankly that was a bargain as I had expected this to be much more expensive, given the option of an 8hr round trip by bus or car this is certainly the better choice.
We both agreed that this operator lived up to its name as this was indeed a 5 star service. The pickup was on time, the whole operation very professional and there was no pressure sell to buy additional items such as photos or videos. The safety debrief was clear and they even offered travel sickness tablets and free drinks for anyone who needed it at their location in Boulder City both before and after the flight 20 min air conditioned mini bus trip.
We were fortunate enough to be seated in the front of the helicopter with 4 in the back but the view was pretty spectacular from all angles and I felt the flight was actually more like 90 minutes compared to the 70 advertised. I believe some of the shorter flights may land in the canyon but I was happy to have more flight time as it presented a great chance to take pictures and video.
If you are booking online you need to also call the local number for this operator 24hrs in advance to confirm details, including your weight but again we did this Sunday evening and they were still open as this really is a professional operation, don't forget to take photo ID with you on the day of your flight.
Please be aware that July is Monsoon season and there can be thunder storms which may lead to cancellations, so my advice would be if this is on your bucket list book it early and don't leave it to the end of your visit to Vegas as we had to reschedule due to adverse weather and delay traveling to Palm Springs for half a day. Luckily at the point of the initial pick up the operator made this clear so we used that time to drive to Hoover Dam as its literally 30 minutes away and flew the following day.
Expect to see lots of other helicopters flying around the same area, which in itself is an interesting sight but the pilot was in radio contact on a regular basis to confirm we were kept well away from other traffic.
The helicopter is small and offers excellent visibility and although we were traveling at over 100 knots it felt like 20 mph and was a lot less top gun than I had anticipated, thus you seemed to have plenty of time for questions and photos.
All passengers have headphones and microphones and we found the senior pilot had an excellent knowledge of the area and the geology, which made for a very educational visit, I can't imagine a trip to the visitor centre perched on the cliff top would offer the same amount of information if you visited by car.
So would I use 5 star again or would I recommend them, absolutely yes and on reflection this was the highlight of our 2 week holiday we covered almost 2000 miles in our Mustang and visited LA, Morro Bay, San Francisco, Yosemite, Independence, Vegas and Palm Springs but this experience is one not to be missed folks.